Smoke, Shade Influenced McKade Mettauer's and Tyler Guyton's First Oklahoma Experience
NORMAN — Oklahoma’s offensive line had an eventful day in Saturday’s 45-13 victory over UTEP.
Two transfers — left tackle Tyler Guyton and left guard McKade Mettauer — made their first start at OU. Anton Harrison made his first start at right tackle. Right guard Chris Murray and center Andrew Raym were together again. And top backups Robert Congel, Brey Walker, Savion Byrd and Marcus Hicks got playing time. So did reserves Aaryn Parks, Jake Taylor, Jacob Sexton and Nate Anderson.
The Sooners gave up two sacks and too much pressure on new quarterback Dillon Gabriel, but also opened holes in the ground game to average 6.8 yards per carry.
“Saturday, it was everything that I could have expected — and in a lot of ways, more,” Mettauer said.
Mettauer played previously at Cal, but being from Houston, he knew plenty about OU football. Guyton, on the other hand, hails from Manor, TX, and played previously at TCU and — well, he knew about the Sooners, of course. But he also knew something about the crowd at Memorial Stadium.
“I honestly hated it (in 2021),” he said. “I hated playing against y'all just because we were really close to that student section and everybody is just in your ear talking, doing this and that. I actually love playing here. I love the layout of the stadium. I love how I can hear the fans screaming. I love who we are. I love the student section. I love everything about it.”
Guyton was asked to compare his experience at TCU with his one game so far at OU.
“I feel like this stadium, there's a lot more juice and a lot more energy,” he said. “At TCU, I feel like our student section and our fans used to look down on us when we started losing or doing bad in the game. But I feel like Sooner Nation just gives us that energy every single game, every day. Whatever we need from them, we’re going to get it. We feed off the energy.
“If (fans) are going to see this, we feed off the energy, and we love when y'all get live.”
Like Mettauer, Saturday exceeded expectations for Guyton.
“It’s a dream come true,” Guyton said, “especially playing at a school like this with the coach that I have, Coach B (Bill Bedenbaugh). It's a dream come true. His track record and the guys that he has put in the league, it's amazing. It feels amazing.”
Mettauer thought he knew what to expect, but he was immediately caught off guard by one of OU’s oldest traditions.
“One thing,” Mettauer said, “after our first touchdown, I was running down the sideline, and one of the Ruf/Neks shot that gun, and the smoke went all in my face, and I inhaled all that, you know, whatever is inside those things. But yeah, other than that, I think it was awesome.”
Raym offered his take on the new guys, how they played Saturday and what they bring to the offensive line.
“(Guyton) is athletic,” Raym said. “He’s an athlete. When he gets hands on, he’s going to get people off the ball. There’s some more film that needs to be done there, more watching film, more learning the defense, but as a whole I think Tyler did great.
“Having McKade playing next to me playing is fantastic. You can tell he’s got experience through his hands and his footwork. You know, he’s not out of position very often. That makes it a lot easier for me and for the left tackle to just play better, play fast and just play more freely. Because we have trust in our left guard.”
Raym, a junior, said getting Brent Venables his first career win was reason to celebrate.
“That was was probably the most hype locker room I’ve ever seen,” Raym said. “And that was just the UTEP game. I can’t imagine after we beat Texas.”
Guyton and Mettauer know there’s a long way to go this season. Immediate improvements need to be made up front when Kent State comes to town on Saturday night.
But getting that first game in Crimson and Cream under their belt was something they’ll never forget.
“Growing up in Texas, those are the games that I watched,” Mettauer said. “My family went to A&M, but I knew I wanted to break the chain of that. And I wanted to play big-time football, and Oklahoma was just that name and that brand that I wanted to be a part of.”
“Everybody on the offensive line is always giving me juice and always telling me I'm good,” Guyton said. “They give me that extra oomph I need sometimes throughout the day. Especially Schmitty (strength coach Jerry Schmidt). Schmitty is my dude. I feel like I got all of my confidence from Schmitty because he believes in me.”
