Oklahoma football: It happened one year ago today…Boom!
By Chip Rouse
Other than the continuous cycle of national award watch list that kickoff this time every year, July is the calm before the storm, so to speak, every college and Oklahoma football offseason.
With preseason training camps just a month away, you might think this is the wind-down time for college coaching staffs and their families just ahead of the onrush of a new season.
The one activity that doesn’t have an offseason or go on hiatus at any point in the calendar year is recruiting, and the summer months, particularly following the 2020 pandemic year, can be an especially busy period.
Oklahoma is expecting a busy month of July, coming on the heels of the ChampU BBQ event held in late June, the first major on-campus recruiting activity with coaches present and able to have in-person interaction with recruits since the year-long dead-period restrictions were lifted on June 1.
Riley and his staff have already had two commitments from attendees at the ChampU BBQ — No. 2 RB prospect Gavin Sawchuk, a 2022 commit out of the state of Colorado, and four-star offensive lineman Jacob Sexton, who pledged to his home-state Sooners on Saturday — and are anticipating several others before the month is over.
One of those top targets OU is hopeful of landing this month is the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, Malachi Nelson, who is from Los Alamitos, California, a half-hour’s drive south of downtown Los Angeles. Nelson has said he will announce his decision on July 18. His choice appears to be between OU and USC, but the current rumor mill is saying he is leaning toward Oklahoma.
Nelson would continue Oklahoma’s string of recent five-star quarterback recruits that has solidified the Sooners’ national designation as the new “Quarterback U” in college football.
Nelson would join current OU starting QB Spencer Rattler, who was a five-star commitment to the Sooners in 2019 and the nation’s No. 1 QB recruit in the 2020 class, Caleb Williams, who announced his commitment to Oklahoma in a major announcement exactly one year ago today on July 4, 2020.
Williams was an early enrollee and participated in the Oklahoma annual spring game. On his first play on Owen Field, the top recruiting prospect tucked the ball and ran for 18 yards. He ended up with 61 rushing yards on six carries, but was equally impressive throwing the football. He completed 10 of his 11 passes, including one throw for a touchdown.
His commitment to the Sooners a year ago had an impact that extended beyond him. Williams became an active recruiter for the OU program after pledging himself, and his influence and close friendships with other top prospects around the country helped lure a couple of other top targets to Norman
The 2021 edition of Oklahoma football appears to be well-fortified at the quarterback position, and that should extend for several more seasons.