‘They played physical’: Offensive line provides a lift in the Sooners run game
Oklahoma’s matchup with Florida State was going to be a difficult one upfront. The Seminoles came into the Cheez-It Bowl with a top-20 defense and boasted a really good group up front.
With Andrew Raym and Chris Murray out due to injury and Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris opting out, the Sooners started several players that were backups for much of the season in their 35-32 loss to the Seminoles.
Making their first starts were Jacob Sexton and Savion Byrd. Aaryn Parks took over for Sexton, who was injured on the first drive of the game, and received his first extended action in a Sooners uniform. Tyler Guyton made just the fifth start of his career. Robert Congel and McKade Mettauer were the only players up front that had started more than Guyton’s five games coming into 2022. Congel, who’d been a backup to Raym for most of the season, was starting his third straight game to close 2022.
It wasn’t always pretty. Oklahoma struggled in pass protection at times, but the Sooners’ offensive line helped OU have a great day on the ground, rushing for more than 250 yards. True freshmen Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk each ran for more than 100 yards. It was the first time since 1985 that the Sooners had a pair of freshmen run for more than 100 yards in a game.
The Seminoles came into the game allowing only 148 rushing yards per game at 3.9 yards per carry. Against a tough Florida State team, the offensive line rose to the occasion.
“The guys up front, they played physical, they played with purpose,” coach Brent Venables said after the loss. “The players played with a tremendous amount of physicality and toughness that we’ve asked from them. Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh did a great job getting these guys ready. … I love the sense of desperation they played with up front.”
The Sooners received a sneak peek of what the future holds at offensive line in 2023. Certainly, there will be questions about how they performed in pass protection, but their work in the ground game was fantastic.
Take the sacks out of the equation, and the Sooners rushed for 289 yards at 5.9 yards per attempt.
It was a strong showing for guys getting their first extended playing time at the college level. With three starting jobs up for grabs as Harrison, Morris, and Murray head to the NFL, the offensive line’s efforts in the Cheez-It Bowl provided the start to the retooling process upfront.
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5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s 35-32 loss to Florida State
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Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners' 35-32 loss to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl
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