Oklahoma football: QB Davis Beville’s calling is ready-mode

The 2022 Oklahoma football offense is set at the quarterback position. Dillon Gabriel is the clear-cut starter. But what if something happens, and he isn’t able to go? What happens then?

One thing we know about the game of football. It’s a violent sport and injuries happen, most of the time when you least expect them.

If Gabriel can’t go, it’s next man up. And that man is redshirt junior Davis Beville, who came to Oklahoma by way of the University of Pittsburgh.

After last season, Oklahoma lost two former five-star quarterbacks, Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams, plus highly regarded 2020 recruit Chandler Morris, who had decommitted from Arkansas to come to OU. All three exited the Sooners via the transfer portal following the departure of Lincoln Riley.

Those moves left the Oklahoma quarterback cupboard virtually bare, with one scholarship QB (Micah Bowens) and a walk on (Ralph Rucker) on the roster. The two had thrown just two passes between them in their short time at OU.

Caleb Williams was actually still on the roster when Brent Venables arrived on the scene, but no one on the planet actually expected Williams to remain a Sooner.

Williams, in fact, made the formal move to the transfer portal on Jan. 3, and a little less than a month later confirmed what everyone had expected all along, joining his former coach at USC.

Beville, who is seven inches taller than the 5-foot, 11-inch Gabriel, won the backup role beating out fellow transfer General Booty, who comes out of the junior-college ranks, and freshman Nick Evers.

Talking about the quarterback competition for the backup role, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said in an interview with The Oklahoman, “Davis created predictable outcomes. That’s what we’re looking for. We want to be able to call a play and have a really good idea of what’s going to happen before he snaps it. He’s done that. He’s taken care of the football.

Beville’s Division I experience was also an important factor in his earning the job as No. 2 on the depth chart.

“He’s played ball,” Lebby said. He’s an older guy. He gets it, he understands it, and he’s been through it.”

Most of all, the OU offensive coordinator is looking for stability at the quarterback position.

Beville was redshirted his freshman season at Pittsburgh in 2019 and appeared sparingly in six games his first full season the following year. Last season, he saw action in three games, completing 17 of 22 passes (77 percent completion rate) for 207 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

His most extensive action in the 2021 season was in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Michigan State, replacing Pittsburgh starter Kenny Pickett, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Beville completed 14 of 18 passes in the game for 149 yards and a touchdown.

Backing up Beville are General Booty and highly touted freshman newcomer Nick Evers, a consensus four-star prospect who originally committed to Florida but decommitted in favor of Oklahoma after Venables and Lebby came to OU as part of the new coaching staff.

Booty, who has the perfect first name for someone who plays the quarterback position, spent one season at Tyler (Texas) Junior College. He threw for 3,115 yards and 25 touchdowns last season and ranked second in the country at the junior-college level.