New Oklahoma QBs Beville, Booty Have Been 'Great,' 'Intelligent' and Will Be 'Fun to Watch'

ARLINGTON, TX — Aside from their social media profiles and the stats they racked up at their previous colleges, Oklahoma fans might not know too much about the Sooners’ new backup quarterbacks.

Especially since neither Davis Beville or General Booty participated in spring practice.

So let’s allow OU’s Big 12 Media Days contingent to shed some light on what they’ve gleaned of Beville and Booty from summer workouts.

“Davis and General are great,” said junior receiver Marvin Mims. “Two different guys.”

Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby will continue to gather information on his new QBs as they begin practice on Aug. 4. He needs to figure out who’s best equipped for backing up starter Dillon Gabriel, and he needs to decide if that’s a transfer from Pittsburgh (Beville) or a junior college transfer (Booty) — or a true freshman (Nick Evers) or a walk-on (Ralph Rucker) or last year’s transfer from Penn State (Micah Bowens).

There’s plenty of time for Lebby to lay out his depth chart before the Sooners take on UTEP on Sept. 3. In fact, the process has already begun, and will continue through July.

“Davis and General are great guys,” Gabriel said. “Really funny. We have a great time in that QB room — Ralph, Nick, the whole room is just a very healthy room and one that I’m proud to be a part of.

“But for Davis, man. He’s been spinning the ball. As well as General. But most importantly, I think playing the QB position, you’ve got to be very cerebral. Very smart. Very intelligent when it comes to plays. I’ve seen a bunch of guys who can sling it really well but just can’t put that side of it together. But knowing that they have that … when we talked ball, they’re very intelligent about it.”

Brent Venables said he knew the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Beville “from his high school days” in Greenville, SC, while Venables was defensive coordinator at Clemson. The last two years, he backed up first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett, then, after being thrust into action because of injury, turned in a gritty performance in the Peach Bowl loss to Michigan State.

“My sons played against him in high school,” Venables said. “Great player, great athlete.”

Venables, a 29-year assistant, is also inherently familiar with the 6-3, 194-pound Booty’s lineage. His dad is former LSU wide receiver Abram Booty. His uncles, Josh Booty and John David Booty, played quarterback at LSU and USC, respectively — Josh for Nick Saban and John David for Pete Carroll. Both uncles spent a brief time in the NFL as well.

And the progenitor of all this football greatness was Johnny Booty, who quarterbacked Arkansas and Mississippi State and became a legendary coach in Louisiana.

Venables said he knew Booty’s backstory just “as a fan of college football” watching his dad and uncles.

“I think this has a chance to be a great story,” Venables said. “Not because of his name, but just because of how he got here. It goes back to sometime in October and November when the SMU quarterback (Tanner Mordecai), the TCU quarterback (Chandler Morris), the Southern Cal quarterback (Caleb Williams) and the South Carolina quarterback (Spencer Rattler), all of a sudden decided this wasn’t going to be their home anymore.”

All that QB exodus from Norman accelerated the Venables and Lebby timeline for restocking the quarterback room. Now the job feels complete.

“Having both of them is great — two great guys,” Mims said. “I think this is week four with them. They’re still learning a lot about the offense as far as being comfortable with the offense. They’re great guys and gonna help a lot when it comes to this season.”

Said Venables, “It’s going to be fun to watch.”