Amidst other question marks, former Boilermaker wins Sooner spring game
Amidst other question marks, former Boilermaker wins Sooner spring game
Deion Burks makes the most of his first chance in front of his new fans
For years, even as Oklahoma chased additional Big 12 championships on the gridiron, wondering how the Sooners might fare where they were heading over where they remained took center stage.
Yet, Saturday afternoon at Owen Field on a dreary day the powers that be claimed 45,681 attended, though it seemed fewer than that, the production that is OU’s annual spring game felt muted.
Fans did not arrive at a fever pitch, anxious to chant the Sooners’ new conference’s initials — S-E-C, S-E-C — but settled in calmly to watch some football. An homage to Toby Keith was painted on the field, but mention of the next conference, just a few months from reality, was not. Nor was there a country music act waiting in the wings to make it appear bigger than it ever manages to be.
Also, like every other spring game, some of the squad’s biggest names did not see the field, like receivers Jalil Farooq and Nic Anderson offensively and secondary men Billy Bowman and Woodi Washington defensively.
What there was, however, was a star turn from a player whose name you may never have heard, who just arrived on campus, who may play a big role as soon as next season … but maybe don’t count on it for spring game heroes often return to anonymity.
The name?
Deion Burks.
See, never heard of him.
Nonetheless, on an afternoon Farooq, Anderson and Brenen Thompson remained on the sideline, Burks flourished.
Lining up in the slot, he caught five passes, three more than anybody else, for 174 yards, each one from Jackson Arnold, who took all of his snaps during the first half’s two 12-minute quarters, splitting series with Michael Hawkins.
Arnold, by the way, looked reasonably good, too, carrying a presence well beyond his redshirt freshman status, completing 10 of 20 tosses for 233 yards without a pick.
Afterward, Burks was in a giving-the-credit-away kind of mood.
“It’s all J pretty much,” he said, indicating he’s already on a first-initial basis with his quarterback. “Pretty much, we just want to watch that film, [say] where the spot’s at where the defense is probably going to [leave] open and just find the green grass.”
Burks found plenty.
His first touch was a 2-yard reverse, but his first catch, after Arnold converted third-and-8 on the play before with his feet, went for 64 yards and a score.
His next catch, on his and Arnold’s next series, went for 23. His third catch, on their next series, went for 17. His fourth, on their next series, went for 50 and a score, wide open over the middle, like he knew where all the space would be. His final catch, two series later, went for 20.
“To me, this connection came pretty fast,” Arnold said. “First couple of weeks of spring, I was throwing touchdowns to him and he was playing his butt off.”
Burks did not really come out of nowhere. He was a not very good Purdue team’s best receiver last season, catching 47 passes for 629 yards and seven touchdowns.
A three-year player in West Lafayette, he has two years of eligibility remaining given he appeared in only four games as a true freshman in 2021.
Listed at 5-11, 195 pounds the last time he appeared on the Boilermakers' roster, the Sooners have penciled him in at 5-9, 185. Whatever his actual size, he seemed to know what he was doing.
Notable is the fact he lined up in the slot, making him the occupier of Drake Stoops’ old position, though he did not play the position as Stoops did.
Every one of Burks’ catches yielded a first down or a touchdown, every one of them gained in excess of Stoops 11.5 yards-per-catch average last season, not to mention his own 13.4 yards-per-catch average last season.
The smile on Burks’ face in the interview room was huge, like he’s suddenly living his best life.
At one point, off-handedly, he up and said, “Everybody’s together man, [I’ve] just never really seen a locker room this much together like this.”
That sounds like a positive.
Arnold believes Burks can step right in and be a primary target alongside the likes of Farooq and Anderson.
“For sure,” he said. “He showed his ability to play today. It says a lot about Deion, his character, his work ethic.”
So there you go.
A good story.
One to follow.
One to root for if you’re so inclined.
On other topics, can OU bring an adequate offensive line into its new league? Can it almost entirely rebuild its defensive line fast enough to compete in the nation’s most physical conference?
No idea and no idea.
The spring game didn’t begin to answer the Sooners’ biggest questions.
But Deion Burks?
He had himself a day.
The jury is still out on Arnold. He's trying to progress thru his reads and takes too long to throw the ball. He will lead the world in sacks if he doesn't improve quickly. The defense looked terrible early on. Gotta hope that the stars who weren't playing will reverse that. I didn't see a running back who stood out from the crowd. That's not good, but Sawchuck will help with that area of concern. Best thing: There did not appear to be any serious injuries.
Well, thanks for throwing Purdue under the bus. Walters was left a mess by Brohm, and had to try to totally rebuild an offense with Burks, Card, and other newcomers. Burks has talent obviously but the knock on him was that he disappeared too often when Card was on the run and needed help. The radio guys talked about this time and again. Maybe Anthony will never be on the run and need creativity from his receivers. But, yeah, he's great on the initial set.