Get the Ball to Drake Stoops, and 'Good Things Happen' for Oklahoma
NORMAN — Fans may clamor for it because he’s their favorite coach’s kid or because he’s a former walk-on who continues to beat the odds or just because he’s just fun to watch.
But getting the football to Drake Stoops more often seems like an easy decision for Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
“It's just unbelievable,” Lebby said Monday during his weekly press conference. “When Drake touches the football good things happen.”
Stoops showed that again on Saturday night against Kent State by catching three passes for 33 yards.
SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN -USA TODAY NETWORK
After the OU offense had struggled mightily in the first half, quarterback Dillon Gabriel got Stoops the football three times in the third quarter, and Stoops produced as usual.
But it was his winding, weaving, tackle-breaking, 18-yard touchdown on second-and-8 that put the Sooners up 24-3, broke the game open and wowed the 83,911 in attendance.
“Drake is talented as well,” Gabriel said, “being in the right spot and making a play. That’s what we needed at that certain time. Making those big plays were key for us.”
At the end of the play, Stoops beat the final Kent State defender to the sideline, then leaped for the pylon, got completely horizontal and extended the football into the end zone.
Drake Stoops
SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN -USA TODAY NETWORK
And he did it all without a shoe.
“Did it without a shoe,” Lebby said with a laugh. “That is a heck of a picture.”
Stoops ran through two tacklers before his dive for the end zone, so somewhere along the line he blew a tire.
“What a baller,” said head coach Brent Venables. “He does that about once every single game. At least once, right? What a fun guy to watch play and compete.”
Venables was an OU assistant under Bob Stoops when Drake and twin brother Isaac would regularly roughhouse with the Sooner players every day after practice. They’d run through the gauntlet with running backs and smack into the big dummies with defensive linemen and smack each other with tackling pads, then at the end of practice would climb and jump into the pile of pads and tackling dummies.
Stoops now has 46 career receptions — including a big one in overtime to beat Texas in 2020 — for 554 yards and five touchdowns.
After walking on in 2018, he was awarded a scholarship by Lincoln Riley in 2019, and he’s been a regular in the lineup ever since.
He caught eight passes for 95 yards in 2019, 15 for 219 and two TDs in 2020, and 16 for 191 and two TDs in 2021. So far this year, he has five catches for 58 yards and a score.
“What a great example for guys because he doesn’t say anything,” Venables said. “He just shows up every day, man, and he just lays it out there every day. He’s an excellent, excellent football player.”
Lebby agrees with that assessment.
“I mean, he's incredibly steady,” Lebby said. “He's the same dude every single day. He's the same way in between those white lines. He's competitive. He's tough. His edge — he's so what Oklahoma football is all about. And so, man, just proud of him. He's been so steady since the day we walked in the door. Excited about where he's going.”
