Not to be dramatic, but the headline is the storyline entering Saturday’s contest between Kent State and Oklahoma.
They say the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores and the Sooners are hoping that’s Michael Hawkins’ story against Kent State on Saturday, perhaps the perfect opponent for the backup quarterback getting his first start of the season, perhaps the first of two, three or more starts, we just don’t know.
It’s his time to shine.
It’s his time to show us something.
It’s his time to offer a great deal of improvement.
OU is going to win the game, of course. Thanks to one of the nation’s best defenses — second in total defense, third in scoring defense and first in a whole bunch of other categories — the Sooners will win comfortably
Even without quarterback John Mateer, recovering from hand surgery following a thumb injury suffered early in OU’s 24-17 victory over Auburn that he somehow played through the rest of the game, the Sooners may still find themselves in a pick-the-score scenario, perhaps topping margins Texas Tech (62-14) and Florida State (66-10) have already enjoyed over the Golden Flashes.
Because one, without turnovers, Kent State will never reach even those scoring totals against OU. And two, even should Hawkins fail to impress with progress from last season to now, OU could still run up the score, anyway.
Remember the 6-foot-1, 206 pounder’s 48-yard touchdown gallop against Auburn last year?
He can do things like that. He could do them two, three or four times against the Golden Flashes.
He can turn short gains into long ones, busted plays into big ones, should-have-been sacks into first downs.
But we know all that already and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle knows it, too. He must know Hawkins could enjoy a big game without offering an improved game, and must call a game seeking real progress, instead.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.