Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Five Sooners who will have breakout 2023 seasons

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's D.J. Graham (9) runs the ball and is hit out of bounds by Kansas State's Josh Hayes (1) in the fourth quarter during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kansas State Wildcats at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. Kasnas State won 41-34.Ou Vs Kstate
Oklahoma's D.J. Graham (9) runs the ball and is hit out of bounds by Kansas State's Josh Hayes (1) in the fourth quarter during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kansas State Wildcats at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. Kasnas State won 41-34.Ou Vs Kstate /
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Oct 15, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Jovantae Barnes (2) runs with the ball as Kansas Jayhawks safety Marvin Grant (4) defends during the game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Jovantae Barnes (2) runs with the ball as Kansas Jayhawks safety Marvin Grant (4) defends during the game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

RB Jovantae Barnes

For most of the 2022 season, freshman Jovantae Barnes played second fiddle in the Sooner running game to All-Big 12 second-team selection Eric Gray.

Barnes carried the ball 116 times in 2022 for a net 519 yards, an average of 4.5 yards per carry, and five touchdowns. That’s a little more than half the rushing attempts for Gray and nearly 1,000 fewer yards. Gray also was used a lot as a receiver out of the backfield. The upshot is, Barnes will have some big shoes to fill in the coming season, but he also won’t have to carry nearly as full a load because of the depth Oklahoma has at the running back position.

Barnes acknowledges that 2022 was mostly a learning year for the former four-star running back prospect out of Las Vegas who was rated No. 3 at his position in the 2022 national class by Rivals.

“It feels like I’m more locked in,” Barnes said during one of OU’s media availabilities during spring practice this year. “I know more, and I’m more advanced than I was last year. I was basically a high school player on the college field just really learning everything.

“But it feels like I’ve already been here,” he said. “I’m more comfortable with everybody, and I just know more than I did last year.”

Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk, both members of OU’s 2022 recruiting class are expected to be the one-two punch at running back to start the season and they are ideal complements to each other with Barnes the more physical runner and Sawchuk the faster and shiftier of the two.

This could well be a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts, similar to the way it way with the duo of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine or Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks.

That two-back, complementary approach will work to OU’s run game benefit but, more importantly, it also will bring out the best in Barnes’ game.

D.J. Graham

Tyler Guyton

Dasan McCullough

Jovantae Barnes

Rondel Bothroyd

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