Oklahoma transfers were everywhere in action-packed college football Thursday night

Former Oklahoma Sooners were everywhere you flipped your TV to on Thursday night.

It’s hard to keep up with today, but at least 13 different players who transferred from OU at some point during their careers played during a full slate of college football on just Thursday night alone to kick off Week 1. Some were even big-time contributors for their new team after barely seeing the field in Norman.

Here are some notable performances from the former Sooners.

Andrel Anthony, WR, Duke

Anthony was one of six wide receivers OU lost to the Transfer Portal over the offseason and was also someone we saw almost zero of last season because of injury.

His Duke debut went well, though, catching a 27-yard touchdown. Anthony finished with three receptions and 51 receiving yards in Duke’s 45-17 win against Elon.

Lewis Carter, LB, UCF

It was rough going offensively, but Carter led the defense that propelled UCF in its 17-10 win over Jacksonville State in Scott Frost’s return.

Carter was UCF’s leading tackler with nine, plus a half tackle for loss.

Gavin Freeman, WR, Oklahoma State

After ultimately redshirting his first year in Stillwater last season, Freeman saw a ton of action on Thursday night.

Freeman caught a team-high five passes for 46 yards with a 10-yard TD in OSU’s 27-7 win over UT Martin. He was also busy on special teams with three punt returns for 17 yards.

Kalib Hicks, RB, Oklahoma State

Hicks also crossed Bedlam lines this offseason. After being way down on the Sooners’ pecking order the past two years, Hicks started for the Cowboys in Week 1. He was clearly OSU’s top back with 21 carries for 56 yards, while averaging just 2.7 yards a carry.

Jaquaize Pettaway, WR, East Carolina

Pettaway was part of the Sooners’ wide receiver mass exodus in the Transfer Portal this offseason, but it doesn’t look like he ended up in the Promised Land.

Now at the Group of Five level and making his ECU debut in the Pirates’ 24-17 loss to North Carolina State, Pettaway caught just one pass and he went backward for a two-yard loss. He also had a rush, which again went for a loss of two yards.

Hollywood Smothers, RB, NC State

In that same game on the other side, redshirt sophomore Hollywood Smothers, who spent just one year in Norman in 2023, led the Wolf Pack with 76 rushing yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 30 yards.

Smothers is in a good spot at NC State, but he would have been in a crowded backfield and buried on the depth chart if he stayed at OU.

Tawee Walker, RB, Cincinnati

Although quarterback Brendan Sorsby was Cincinnati’s leading rusher in its 20-17 loss to Nebraska, Walker was still the Bearcats’ lead back with seven carries for 53 yards.

Read more about OU football