Baker Mayfield Heisman statue dedicated Saturday

First-year head coach Brent Venables wanted to impress Oklahoma fans and potential recruits and he did Saturday as an estimated 75,000 showed up to see the OU Spring Game in Norman.

The icing on the cake for loyal fans was the dedication of the statue of Baker Mayfield in Heisman Park at halftime. Mayfield, who won the Heisman Trophy at OU, brought the crowd to their feet one more time.

“I dreamt about having a statue right there and now I do,” Mayfield said. He was joined by former OU Heisman winners Steve Owens, Jason White and Kyler Murray.

“It’s pretty cool to come back to where this all started,” Mayfield said. “It’s a good reset being around family, friends, loved ones, just to have that home base. You always have somewhere to go back to that you can lean on.”

Unlike many OU fans, Mayfield is not mad at former Coach Lincoln Riley, his coach at OU.

“This place is headed in the right direction,” Mayfield said. “I got to talk to [Venables] yesterday in his office for 30 minutes and I was ready to run through a wall. We’re back. We’ve never left, but we’re back. It’s pretty special to have this place packed like this for a moment like this.”

Riley took OU’s starting quarterback Caleb Williams with him to USC but the Sooners got an experienced replacement in Central Florida transfer Dillion Gabriel.

On Saturday, Gabriel hit 19 of 28 pass attempts for 250 yards and a touchdown.

“Again, been really pleased from beginning to end with Dillon and where he is,” Venables said. “And he’s probably his own worst critic, and Coach Jeff Lebby probably would be, too. But I’m looking at just the entire body and his leadership and his consistency, and he’s done a great job all spring. I feel great about him.”

Gabriel was amazed by the crowd in Norman, which might have been the biggest crowd he has ever played in front of.

“And he’s like a Stealth Bomber, man,” Venables said of his new quarterback. “He probably no surprise to many of us in this building. But he’s like an assassin. He really is. He doesn’t let any circumstances affect him. He’s the same guy every day. And that’s what the good ones and the great ones are. They show up every day and have the same mindset. So, certainly a wonderful atmosphere for our guys, truly, truly game like, as far as home game anyway. So, great opportunity for our guys to improve when you got the lights are bright. And so that was great to see for our guys.”

The question mark is depth at quarterback where there is plenty of talent but little experience.

“And we’re still developing behind him,” Venables said “We don’t have quote-unquote answers right now. The portal was a definite option for us. And so we want to get, if we go that route, you find somebody that’s the right fit, right age. There’s just a lot that goes into that. Not that I need to get into all those weeds, but that is a definite concern for us. No question about it.”

In the Spring Game, the White team beat the Red team 21-17.

Freshman tailback Jovontae Barnes scored with a 1-yard rush to put the Red team ahead 7-0 just 89 seconds into the contest. The score was set up by a 48-yard completion from Dillon to Theo Wease.

Gavin Marshall hit a 21-yard-field goal for the White squad to make it 7-3.

The Red team added two more touchdowns in the first quarter as Barnes scored on a 3-yard rush and then Gabriel hit receiver Marvin Mims for a 33-yard touchdown.

Running back transfer Tawee Walker rushed for an 11-yard score. Freshman wideout Jayden Gibson caught a 95-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Micah Bowens.

Brown had 60 yards on 17 carries. Walker ran 13 times for 55 yards. Eric Gray had 53 yards on four carries, with one run for 50 yards.

Kendall Dennis had the lone interception. Marcus Stripling had four tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.

Michael Turk punted five time for 252 yards (50.4 yard average). Josh Plaster had eight punts with a 46.6-yard average.

The 2022 season officially kicks off on Sept. 3 when the Sooners host UTEP in Norman.

Venables invited some big-name alumni to the game and he was heavily cheered when he made a speech before kickoff.

“This is Oklahoma,” Venables said. “The winningest team in the modern era. This place always has been and always will be about the players. This is the home that y’all have built. I want to show them the love and the appreciation for these guys, their work, their belief, their commitment to making this the model program in all of college football.”

Venables wanted a boost for the program after Riley unceremoniously bolted for USC just hours after the upset loss to Oklahoma State.

Venables said the Saturday event is just what OU fans needed.

“You can’t fabricate family. This is what family looks like,” Venables said at halftime. “We only get six opportunities in the Palace (on the Prairie) a year. We need to make the Palace an absolute nightmare for opponents. This place has got to be absolutely demoralizing, deafening. … This is what commitment looks like. We wanted to send a message to college football that there’s only one Oklahoma.”