Completed Event: Football versus Auburn on September 20, 2025 , Win , 24, to, 17
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma
OU Opens Spring Practice Monday
March 11, 2024 | Football
NORMAN — As the University of Oklahoma's July 1 move to the SEC draws nearer and nearer, the OU football team opens 2024 spring practice on Monday, March 11, under the direction of head coach Brent Venables, who starts his third season leading the Sooners.
OU, which went 10-3 last fall and 7-2 in its last year in the Big 12 Conference, begins spring ball with 118 players on its roster, including 35 mid-year enrollees who joined the program in January. The 35 newcomers include 22 freshmen (11 offensive, 10 defensive and one kicker) and 13 transfers (nine offensive, three defensive and one kicker).
The Sooners return four offensive players who started at least six games in 2023 (running back Gavin Sawchuk and receivers Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony and Nic Anderson), and seven defensive players who started at least six games (defensive lineman Ethan Downs, linebackers Danny Stutsman, Dasan McCullough and Jaren Kanak, and defensive backs Woodi Washington, Billy Bowman and Gentry Williams). OU also welcomes back its 2023 primary kicker (Zach Schmit), punter (Luke Elzinga), long snapper (Ben Anderson), holder (Josh Plaster), kick returner (Jalil Farooq) and punt returner (Gavin Freeman).
OU's leading returning offensive production comes in the receiving corps, as the Sooners bring back 69% of their receiving yards, as well as four of their top five pass-catchers and eight of their top-10. With 38 catches for 798 yards, Anderson ranked fifth nationally with his 21.0 yards per reception. No Big 12 or SEC player returning in 2024 had as many receiving TDs in 2023 as his 10.
Defensively, OU is well-positioned with the return of 79% of its tackle production from last season, including its top six tacklers and 11 of its top 13. The Sooners also welcome back 77% of their tackles for loss (75.5 of 98), 73% of their sacks (17.5 of 24), 85% of their interceptions (17 of 20), 65% of their QB hurries (37 of 57) and 92% of their pass breakups (45 of 49). Bowman and Stutsman were first-team All-Big 12 performers (Bowman also earned first-team All-America honors from CBS Sports/247Sports), while Downs was a second-team all-league honoree each of the last two years.
The lone new member to the full-time coaching staff since the end of last season is co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley, who serves as linebackers coach. Alley was hired in January after spending the last two seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State. Alley worked under Venables for four years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 (.932) record (tied with Alabama for the nation's best during that span) and won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and two national championships (2016 and 2018).
Monday's practice will be the first in 2024 with Seth Littrell serving as offensive coordinator. Littrell, who won a national title with the Sooners in 2000 as a fullback and went on to serve as head coach at North Texas, served as an OU offensive analyst last season before being named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach ahead of the Alamo Bowl. He replaces Jeff Lebby, who helped the Sooners to No. 3 and No. 4 national rankings in 2023 total offense (507.0 ypg) and scoring offense (41.7 ppg) and is now head coach at Mississippi State. Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley was promoted to co-offensive coordinator before the Alamo Bowl, as well.
OU starts its 130th season of varsity football on Aug. 31 against Temple, the first of four home games to begin the year. Its first SEC contest will be Sept. 21 against Tennessee, which is coached by former Sooners All-America quarterback Josh Heupel. Other league home games will be against South Carolina (Oct. 19) and Alabama (Nov. 23). The annual Red River Rivalry against Texas in Dallas is scheduled for Oct. 12.
OU, which went 10-3 last fall and 7-2 in its last year in the Big 12 Conference, begins spring ball with 118 players on its roster, including 35 mid-year enrollees who joined the program in January. The 35 newcomers include 22 freshmen (11 offensive, 10 defensive and one kicker) and 13 transfers (nine offensive, three defensive and one kicker).
The Sooners return four offensive players who started at least six games in 2023 (running back Gavin Sawchuk and receivers Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony and Nic Anderson), and seven defensive players who started at least six games (defensive lineman Ethan Downs, linebackers Danny Stutsman, Dasan McCullough and Jaren Kanak, and defensive backs Woodi Washington, Billy Bowman and Gentry Williams). OU also welcomes back its 2023 primary kicker (Zach Schmit), punter (Luke Elzinga), long snapper (Ben Anderson), holder (Josh Plaster), kick returner (Jalil Farooq) and punt returner (Gavin Freeman).
OU's leading returning offensive production comes in the receiving corps, as the Sooners bring back 69% of their receiving yards, as well as four of their top five pass-catchers and eight of their top-10. With 38 catches for 798 yards, Anderson ranked fifth nationally with his 21.0 yards per reception. No Big 12 or SEC player returning in 2024 had as many receiving TDs in 2023 as his 10.
Defensively, OU is well-positioned with the return of 79% of its tackle production from last season, including its top six tacklers and 11 of its top 13. The Sooners also welcome back 77% of their tackles for loss (75.5 of 98), 73% of their sacks (17.5 of 24), 85% of their interceptions (17 of 20), 65% of their QB hurries (37 of 57) and 92% of their pass breakups (45 of 49). Bowman and Stutsman were first-team All-Big 12 performers (Bowman also earned first-team All-America honors from CBS Sports/247Sports), while Downs was a second-team all-league honoree each of the last two years.
The lone new member to the full-time coaching staff since the end of last season is co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley, who serves as linebackers coach. Alley was hired in January after spending the last two seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State. Alley worked under Venables for four years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 (.932) record (tied with Alabama for the nation's best during that span) and won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and two national championships (2016 and 2018).
Monday's practice will be the first in 2024 with Seth Littrell serving as offensive coordinator. Littrell, who won a national title with the Sooners in 2000 as a fullback and went on to serve as head coach at North Texas, served as an OU offensive analyst last season before being named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach ahead of the Alamo Bowl. He replaces Jeff Lebby, who helped the Sooners to No. 3 and No. 4 national rankings in 2023 total offense (507.0 ypg) and scoring offense (41.7 ppg) and is now head coach at Mississippi State. Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley was promoted to co-offensive coordinator before the Alamo Bowl, as well.
OU starts its 130th season of varsity football on Aug. 31 against Temple, the first of four home games to begin the year. Its first SEC contest will be Sept. 21 against Tennessee, which is coached by former Sooners All-America quarterback Josh Heupel. Other league home games will be against South Carolina (Oct. 19) and Alabama (Nov. 23). The annual Red River Rivalry against Texas in Dallas is scheduled for Oct. 12.
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