With double-digit players transferring away and four starters sitting out to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft, Oklahoma will operate with a significantly reduced roster when it faces Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29 in Orlando.
Players who stayed for the bowl held varying feelings as they practiced in the days leading up to Christmas. Some lamented the departures of their former fellows; others focused on the opportunity younger teammates have to step up against FSU.
“It’s always tough,” said tight end Brayden Willis, who will likely declare for the NFL once the bowl game passes. “We would love to keep everybody, but unfortunately that’s just not how it works sometimes.”
The transfer portal, which processed more than 3,000 FBS players last season, according to ESPN, had already registered over 1,000 players earlier this December.
Players are coming to accept that as normal, and it’s only heightened in Norman, where the roster is still turning over a year after Brent Venables’ arrival as head coach.
“People have decisions to make for their future and careers, and, shoot, we respect it,” said quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who transferred to Oklahoma last offseason. “We know how it is.”
“Best of luck to ‘em, as far as that's concerned,” defensive end Reggie Grimes added. “They’ve served their time here and they've paid their dues.”
Redshirt junior wide receiver Theo Wease and senior running back Eric Gray during the game against Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sept. 17.
For OU, Theo Wease, who recorded over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in his four seasons in Norman, was a major departure via the portal. Others who left never carved out significant roles, Venables affirmed in early December, but they still provided depth the Sooners would benefit from in the postseason.
The losses were compounded by running back Eric Gray, offensive tackles Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris and defensive tackle Jalen Redmond deciding it was time to prepare for their professional futures.
Defensive lineman Josh Ellison and offensive lineman Brey Walker are still practicing with the team despite being in the transfer portal, but two guys isn’t enough to make the practice field look more full.
“It’s different,” leading receiver Marvin Mims admitted. “You definitely have less bodies out here. New faces stepping into new roles. More people, more young guys getting reps, guys that haven’t really played much or had that many reps throughout the year.”
More opportunities for young players can be beneficial for Oklahoma’s future, though. This time last year, Grimes and wide receiver Jalil Farooq were budding standouts whose’ Alamo Bowl performances springboarded them into starting roles in 2022.
Running backs Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk and receivers Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson are freshman skill players who could benefit similarly in the Cheez-It Bowl.
Same for redshirt sophomores Tyler Guyton and Aaryn Parks and freshmen Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor on the offensive line.
In the secondary, Robert Spears-Jennings and Gentry Williams should get some run against Florida State, as well as R Mason Thomas off the edge.
Freshman wide receiver Jayden Gibson during the game against Texas on Oct. 8.
On the interior defensive line, freshman Gracen Halton saw his classmates, Cedric Roberts and Alton Tarber, hit the portal, but he understands their decisions and also the opportunity he now has in the bowl game.
“I feel like that's what's gonna happen (with a) new coach coming in, still (have) guys from last year's class, so that's just what happens in the game of college football,” Halton said.
“It’s just like ‘I love you. I'll see you later.’ Go do your work somewhere else. But that’s just all it is. That's just life. But I love them all, all the ones that left.”
So, the Sooners press on; concerned with No. 13 FSU, which boasts a dynamic dual-threat quarterback in Jordan Travis and a fearsome pass rusher in Jared Verse, but also confident they can compete with the ACC foe despite their winnowed numbers.
“We’re gonna do what we do,” Mims said. “We still have a lot of our good guys out here, a lot of our main guys out here and we’re just trying to keep going.”
And as OU keeps going, it will remember what those who left invested in their former brotherhood in Norman.
“We wish all those guys the best of luck,” Willis said. “And we know that the bond we have established through the years of them being here and the workouts and the blood, sweat and tears that we’ve all been through, that we have a bond that goes way past just being on this football team.”
