Consistency, Fearlessness Give Noah Best a Chance to Break Through for Oklahoma

NORMAN — Noah Best didn’t arrive at Oklahoma with the same hype that came the year before with Michael Fasusi and Ryan Fodje.

But like Fasusi and Fodje in 2025, Best impressed during preseason camp and is in position to earn significant playing time as a freshman.

Going into Friday’s season-opener against UTEP (7 p.m., SEC Network Plus), Best is listed as a co-starter at right guard with Heath Ozaeta.

With the injuries to Jake Maikkula and Fodje, Best could be thrown into the fire quicker than he otherwise would be.

That’s something that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle is comfortable with, saying his fearlessness since he arrived has been unusual.

“The most impressive thing about is is that … he never blinked,” Arbuckle said. “It didn’t matter what situation we put him in. It didn’t matter if we put him in a one-on-one against our top guy, it didn’t matter if he was running with the threes in the spring. Every situation was the same and I think that says a lot about an 18-year-old.”

One of those top guys on the defense, defensive tackle David Stone, also has been impressed with Best.

“I love him, man,” Stone said. “I go against Noah a lot now, because during camp it was like. ‘OK, this guy is doing a lot in the pass-rush, and he’s making a lot of noise.’ I’m like, all right, let me go against him. There’s some good reps going against him. He’s good competition. I’ve been seeing him out there dominate at all levels of the game, the run game too.”

Sooners offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh hasn’t had many true freshman start for him during his 13 seasons in Norman.

If Best gets a start this season, he would be just the sixth true freshman to start on the offensive line for Oklahoma during Bedenbaugh’s tenure.

He would join Dru Samia, Jacob Sexton, Cayden Green, Fasusi and Fodje in that group.

“He’s doing an amazing job,” Fodje said. “I feel like last year at this time compared to him right now, I feel like he is ahead of me.”

The Sooners don’t need Best to be perfect, but with a run of strong defenses coming up after the opener, there’s a good chance they’ll need to lean on Best in order to be successful.

“He’s a young kid, so he has a couple mistakes that are young-player mistakes here and there, but man, he has a lot of talent,” Stone said. “He’s very hard on himself. He wants to be the best, so any time I go against him — I whoop his butt sometimes — but I’m trying to coach him, like, ‘Hey, this is what it is. Make sure you anchor a little bit more, try to get my hands down, knock me down.’ It’s good competition. … He’s going to be a special player for our team.”

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google