Oklahoma football: Caleb Williams selected First-Team All-Freshman QB

Oklahoma football quarterback Caleb Williams lived up to his five-star expectations after becoming the starting Sooner quarterback at midseason, and on Monday he was named the first-team quarterback on Pro Football Focus’ All-True Freshman Team for the 2021 season.

Williams was the No. 1 quarterback in the 2021 national class, but he saw only limited action through the first five games in his first collegiate season. The problem was, he was behind Spencer Rattler, the No. 1 QB in the 2019 recruiting class. And to add to that, coming into the 2021 college football season, Rattler was viewed as the preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this season.

So the chances for Williams to see the field were purely situational early on. That all changed, however, in the Red River rivalry game with Texas. The Oklahoma offense had been sputtering, failing to find a consistent footing, in the Sooners’ first five games, and the wheels fell off offensively and defensively in the first quarter of the annual rivalry game, with the Sooners finding themselves trailing by a score of 28-7 before the first quarter was over.

Williams replaced Rattler at quarterback for one play early in the second quarter, and on a fourth-and-one play from the Oklahoma 34-yard line, he broke through the line on a quarterback keeper and rambled 66 yards for a touchdown.

Three OU series later, Williams took over for Rattler for the rest of the game and led one of the biggest come-from-behind victories in Oklahoma history.

In 10 games for the Sooners this season, the last six as the starter, Williams passed for 1,670 yards and 18 touchdowns with four interceptions and averaged over 14 yards per completed pass. What made his so dangerous was his ability and speed to make plays with his legs. He was OU’s second leading rusher in the 2021 season, collecting 408 yards and six more touchdowns.

Williams had four runs of greater than 50 yards and six of 40 yards or longer.

In addition to the Pro Football Focus honor, Williams was also the consensus first-team quarterback on the ESPN True-Freshman All-America Team

Wide receiver Mario Williams and linebacker Danny Stutsman also made the ESPN All-Freshman Team..