With the threat of severe weather looming, 20,509 fans watched the Oklahoma offense beat the defense, 22-21, with a last-minute scoring drive during the annual Red-White spring game.
After back-to-back seasons of a backyard draft where two captains were chosen to assemble the teams, a roster hampered by injuries forced OU to return the game to its original offense-versus-defense format, with offense as White and defense as Red.
Highly touted redshirt freshman Trey Metoyer wowed many when a YouTube video of his one-handed touchdown catch in the Sooners’ first spring scrimmage surfaced on the Internet, and the former five-star recruit lived up to the hype with his performance Saturday afternoon.
Over the course of the game, Metoyer tallied six catches for 72 yards.
“He’s got incredible hands, ability to make plays adjusting to the football, all the things you saw today,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “He can run, and he really relishes the moment. He’s a competitor for a young guy.”
Metoyer spent last season at Hargrave Military Academy after failing to qualify academically at OU.
“I haven’t been in a real game since [the U.S. Army All-American game],” Metoyer said. “Back in Virginia, we didn’t really have a big crowd or anything, but if felt good to come out here today and perform.”
Heisman-hopeful quarterback Landry Jones only played one series with the first-team offense before sitting out the remainder of the game.
“I didn’t know how much I would play,” Jones said. “I didn’t know what coach Heupel wanted me to do today or anything like that, so after that first series I figured it might be coming close for me to be done.”
Most of the reps at quarterback were split between backups Drew Allen and Blake Bell, and redshirt freshman Kendal Thompson saw some time under center as well.
Jones said the younger quarterbacks had a good showing.
“Kendal, at the very end, put together a nice little drive,” Jones said. “Drew and Blake obviously did a good job of leading the team and putting us in good situations. So I thought all-in-all it was a pretty positive scrimmage.”
Bell led the team with 179 yards and a touchdown on 14-for-19 passing.
“I think he has improved in a great way,” Stoops said. “This didn’t surprise me. I’ve seen him continually improve.”
As time expired to end the first quarter, junior receiver Jaz Reynolds managed to sneak behind senior safety Javon Harris for the game’s first touchdown — a 60-yard throw from Bell.
The pass rush of Jamarkus McFarland and Jordan Phillips flushed Bell from the pocket, forcing him to roll to his right as Reynolds broke off his route and went deep.
Harris couldn’t adjust to the ball in the air, and Reynolds raced into the end zone — punctuating the score by emphatically dunking the ball on the goal post.
As a result of his post play antics, Reynolds was flagged for excessive celebration, and sophomore kicker Michael Hunnicutt missed the extra point that followed.
“I figured I’d let that one go,” Stoops said.
However, Hunnicutt redeemed himself with a 29-yard field goal one series later and demonstrated his leg by booting a 40-yarder into the wind right before halftime.
“Michael, as windy as it was, had a couple of longer field goals that just missed but still hit it well,” Stoops said.
Thompson looked good late, manufacturing a game-winning drive for the White team that was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Danzel Williams with 31 seconds left on the clock.
The Sooners’ offense operated almost exclusively out of the pistol and shotgun formations, something that might concern some after Oklahoma struggled to run the football last season following a season-ending injury to Dominique Whaley.
OU used a stable of running backs Saturday, but the defense was able to control the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game.
“Early on, I didn’t feel like [the defense] played the run like they should, but then we settled in and were a little more gap responsible,” Stoops said. “I thought, for the most part, that they showed good discipline.”