GAME TIME: Previewing the Red/White Game
Time/TV
The game “kicks off” at 4 p.m. inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Bally Sports Oklahoma (formerly Fox Sports Oklahoma) has the broadcast with Toby Rowland, Dusty Dvoracek and Jessica Coody on the call.
Game Format
You think Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch aren't competitive?
Saturday's game will feature the offense (wearing white) versus the defense (wearing red) in two 15-minute halves.
Grinch and Riley have agreed upon a scoring system in which the defense will start with 21 points and gain an additional 3 points for turnovers, fourth-down stops and missed field goals. The defense will also be rewarded 6 points for defensive touchdowns and 2 points for safeties. The offense will be rewarded with standard points for field goals and touchdowns.
Grinch or Riley ... who ya got?
COVID precautions
Seating capacity will be reduced to approximately 25 percent for the spring game.
Just like the 2020 fall football season, tailgating is prohibited on OU campus grounds and parking areas.
OU's mask policy still applies regardless of vaccination status.
Anyone who wants to complain about these protocols needs to remember: this thing was canceled last year. If these rules don’t work for you, stay home and watch it on TV.
Pregame
OU's “Party at the Palace presented by Allstate” pregame fan festival — on the lawn immediately north of the stadium — runs from 12-3:30 p.m. Many of the usual Party at the Palace elements will be featured Saturday, including a variety of food trucks (Midway Deli, Meating Place, Audrey's Taco's, Meat Monkey, Tiff's Treats and Kona Ice) and live music sets from 1-2 p.m. and 3-3:30.
Three positions to watch
Knowing a handful of players at almost every position will be held out as a precaution, here are three positions to keep an eye on Saturday without reading too much into. If you see a player isn’t dressed out, it’s because he’s nursing an injury.
Justin Harrington
OU Athletics
Defensive back
Nowhere is the competition for playing time more intense than at defensive back. Senior free safety Pat Fields has sat out this spring recovering from surgery, which allowed senior Justin Broiles to have what Lincoln Riley called his best spring. Delarrin Turner-Yell is back at strong safety. But Tennessee transfer Key Lawrence and 2020 juco transfer Justin Harrington are capable of taking important reps there. Both have also been working at other spots this spring — Lawrence at nickel and Harrington at corner.
Speaking of nickel, Jeremiah Criddell has earned the trust of the coaching staff, but is that enough to hold off someone like Lawrence, or an explosive talent like freshman Billy Bowman? And is this a spot Harrington could fill?
And corner has been intense this spring. Harrington provides a big, physical, explosive presence there, but he’ll be hard-pressed to beat out Woodi Washington, D.J. Graham and Jaden Davis. They all have big-game experience there and have delivered big plays. And the allure of Joshua Eaton and Latrell McCutchin can’t be overlooked.
Marvin Mims
OU Athletics
Wide receiver
Even Marvin Mims — the one guy who was both a playmaker and remarkably consistent last season — is worth keeping an eye on Saturday. Mims has switched positions to the slot so Lincoln Riley can move him around easier and get him in mismatches. He’ll motion a lot and move around, but that’s a big role for a sophomore.
Another wideout to watch is Jadon Haselwood — if he’s near 100 percent. If he’s still hobbled or not full speed from his ACL now 12 months ago, it makes little sense to play him. But if he is, can he put those prodigious physical gifts to work against this secondary?
And Mario Williams is the freshman on which virtually everyone has heaped praise. Energetic, enthusiastic, ebullient — and fast. One of the fastest players on the team. Concluding his first semester on a college campus, what’s his role look like?
Andrew Raym (right) and Robert Congel (left)
OU Athletics
Center
Whither Creed Humphrey? For the first time in three years, the Shawnee product isn’t here. He’s training for next week’s NFL Draft and leaves the center position in what look like capable hands.
Will it be Andrew Raym? The Broken Arrow product says, like Humphrey, he’s dreamed of wearing “OKLAHOMA” across his chest all his life. He also said he likes being in command of the offense.
Will it be Arizona transfer Robert Congel? He’s got experience snapping the football in a Division I football game. That counts for something, and he’s shown a remarkable ability to adapt and learn new systems.
Will it be 2020 UCLA transfer Chris Murray? He’s also played in big games in his career before getting to OU. And he even played center (a little) for the Bruins, although, like Raym, he’s been a guard pretty much his whole time at OU.
