After leading the Sooners through spring practice, summer workouts and fall camp, Lincoln Riley is ready to watch his team go against another.
OU begins its 2021 season at 11 a.m. on Sept. 4 in Norman against Tulane. The game was originally set to take place in New Orleans, but it was relocated due to Hurricane Ida. Along with addressing the game relocation, Riley named three starters for the Sooners’ offensive line unit and gave an update on the team’s COVID-19 vaccination numbers.
Here are three takeaways from Riley’s first game week press conference of the season:
Battles at center, left guard
Three of the five starting spots on the Sooners’ offensive line have been decided.
Riley announced Tuesday that redshirt Tyrese Robinson will start the season at right tackle, senior Chris Murray at right guard and redshirt senior Marquis Hayes will return as the team’s left guard.
Robinson, who started at right guard for OU last season, allowed just two sacks on 400 pass plays in 2020 according to Pro Football Focus. Murray transferred to Oklahoma from UCLA before the 2020 season and saw action in five games last fall. Hayes opted to forgo the NFL draft and return to the Sooners on Jan. 3 after giving up just two sacks on 416 pass plays in 2020.
Riley said there’s still ongoing competition battles at center and left tackle. Sophomore Andrew Raym and redshirt senior Robert Congel are vying for the center spot, which was previously filled by current Kansas City starter Creed Humphrey. Raym played in nine games last season and was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the state of Oklahoma in 2020. Congel, a graduate transfer from Arizona, started in all five of the Wildcats’ games in 2020 and allowed one sack in 2019.
Sophomore Anton Harrison, junior Wanya Morris and redshirt senior Erik Swenson are the favorites for OU’s left guard spot. Harrison played nine games at left tackle in 2020 and was a four-star recruit. Morris, one of three Tennessee transfers the Sooners landed this offseason, made 19 starts in his Volunteer career and surrendered just two sacks a year ago. Over Oklahoma’s last two seasons, Swenson has started in 19 games and earned a unit-best 83.0 season grade by PFF.
“I think we’re getting pretty close. … It’s certainly starting to narrow in,” Riley said. “I think we’ll try to play a few different lineups in this first game to get everybody out there on the field and see how they do in a game situation. But, they’ve been productive. I like the mentality in the group right now and I’m excited to see them play.”
Sooners’ vaccination rate over 95 percent
As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to rise, Riley said over 95 percent of his players are vaccinated and that almost all of OU’s coaching staff is as well. Riley also announced that, currently, no one on the Sooners’ roster is COVID-19 positive.
“I definitely feel better relative to last year,”” Riley said. “I think you feel better because there is some degree of protection. “This delta variant is obviously (a) serious deal. Maybe some of that degree of security or comfort that we felt there for a while has started to be diminished a little bit.”
Last season, 29 players missed OU’s season opener against Missouri State, and 28 of those were in the COVID-19 protocol. Oklahoma finished last season with just one cancellation — a Dec. 12 trip to Morgantown to face West Virginia, called off due to COVID-19 issues within the Mountaineers’ program.
The Big 12 announced on Aug. 17 that teams that cannot play conference games due to in-house COVID-19 outbreaks will not be allowed to reschedule and will be issued a loss. The ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC all issued similar rules this offseason. Regardless of their vaccination status, media members are required to wear a mask during fall availability and OU has held player interviews through Zoom. The team will also be holding post game interviews virtually in 2021.
“Honestly, we're closer right now, from a protocol standpoint, to where we were last year than maybe I thought we would be right now,” Riley said. “There’s still a lot of things that we’re having to modify to try and help ensure that our guys are in the best position they can be, both staff and players. You certainly still feel (COVID-19’s) presence. … We play nine straight weeks. Every positive test from here on out likely means (missing) two games, minimum.
“When it starts costing you games, it’s just a different (feeling). I think it’s on everybody’s mind. … You have to realize what’s going on with this delta variant. We don’t want to get behind or dig ourselves into a hole.”
OU’s ‘extra home game’ not taken lightly
Oklahoma’s Sept. 4 season opener against Tulane was moved from New Orleans to Norman on Monday due to Hurricane Ida’s impact on Louisiana.
Riley said the move won’t affect the Sooners’ preparations for the game, outside of not having to board a nearly two-hour flight, but he wishes his team’s “extra home game” came under better circumstances. He expressed his condolences to all affected by Ida, and he said he’s pleased Tulane and OU came together to make the game happen.
“With me being on the side of it, you don’t really realize all it takes to put together a football game to host this many people,” Riley said. “(It’s) a huge undertaking. … We wanted to be able to do it for Tulane. … I'm sure (the) fans will respond and we'll have a great atmosphere in there Saturday morning. Obviously can’t wait to get started.”
Only the lower bowl of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will house fans due to the OU athletic department’s inability to obtain all of its contracted services providers. The Green Wave will be the designated home team and will collect all net proceeds. Ida made landfall on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph sustained winds. Riley believes the relocation had to happen.
“If they’d told us it was a neutral site or anywhere on the planet,” Riley said, “we'd be ready to play.”
Editor's note: This story was corrected on Sept. 1 at 3:30 p.m. to properly reflect OU's starting offensive line unit.
