Oklahoma football: Breaking down offensive line for 2020
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football has been an offensive juggernaut for the better part of the past half century.
Lincoln Riley’s genius and creativity has added a rocket booster to the Sooners’ offensive machine. In the three seasons Riley has held the head-coaching reigns at Oklahoma, the Sooner offensive has finished second, first and third in the nation.
Yes, the Sooners have had more than their share of offensive weapons at the skill positions and the pipeline remains strong, but make no mistake, all-world talent at the offensive playmaking positions doesn’t get it done all by itself. Without an outstanding offensive line, the best quarterbacks, running backs and even wide receivers can become neutralized very quickly.
Oklahoma is blessed with having one of college football’s best when it comes to the ‘big uglies” in the trenches, as former NFL coach and commentator John Madden liked to refer to offensive lineman.
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Two years ago, in Riley’s second season as head coach, the Oklahoma won the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football. That award-winning group was anchored by a true freshman, center Creed Humphrey, who may have been the best player on that O-line. Humphrey was the Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year and a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, awarded every year to the best center in college football. This past month he was named a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation.
Humphrey was the only player on that 2018 Sooner offensive line to return for the 2019 season. As further illustration of how good the 2018 Oklahoma offensive line was, the four other teammates who flanked Humphrey on that offensive line were selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The group that succeeded the departed starters from OU’s 2018 offensive line were all talented but had very limited game experience. That group, composed of sophomores Marquis Hayes and Tyrese Robinson at the two guard spots and junior Adrian Ealy and junior Erik Swenson at the tackles, along with Humphrey, had to learn and grow on the job. The group jelled together and showed improvement every week.
By the end of the 2019 season, it is safe to say that the guys up front in the Oklahoma offense exceeded expectations, especially having to replace four O-line starters from the previous season.
A measure of how well the 2019 group played together and how well it executed was the fact that Oklahoma offense led the nation for much of the season before finishing No. 3 among FBS teams. And all five of those offensive line starters are back again in 2020, and with good depth behind them thanks to the exceptional work of assistant coach Bill Bedenbaugh, thought by many to be the best offensive line coach in college football.
As good as the Sooner offensive linemen played last season, Riley knows they can still be better.
"“The way our group played last year, 99 percent of the teams in the country would have been very happy with it,” the OU head coach told Sports Illustrated’s John E. Hoover. “But our expectations around here on the offensive line area are a little bit different than most.“I wouldn’t say disappointed. I would just say we just have a high standard here. You don’t still produce like we did offensively by being bad on the offensive line,” Riley said. “But we need to be better, and we expect to be different.”"