Oklahoma C Andrew Raym Learning How to Prepare as a First-Year Starter
NORMAN — The Oklahoma offense has picked things up in recent weeks.
Turning to backup true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 3-ranked Sooners have dropped 50 points in back-to-back weeks.
And while Williams has electrified the team, turning heads across the country, he isn’t he only reason for OU’s improved offensive success as of late.
The Sooner offensive line has continued to improve, learning from a shaky start to the season, and they appear to be hitting their stride.
A big reason behind the improvement has been the development of sophomore center Andrew Raym.
The Broken Arrow High School product starting the season backing up Robert Congel, but since the third offensive possession of the Nebraska game, the center job has been his.
Raym, who is playing center for the first time, has plenty to learn about the position, but he’s getting better said OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
“He’s extremely inexperienced. He just has not seen the things that previous guys have,” Bedenbaugh said ahead of the TCU game. “…When we come in here Monday and we have a game plan, you’ve gotta process it, you gotta do it. That’s part of being the center.”
Learning how to prepare for a game is something all young players go through and Raym has been no different, Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
“He's had to grow up. That’s is a big part of it -- just maturing and learning how to prepare,” Riley said. “How to work. And he always wanted to play. There's a difference between wanting to play and doing everything possible to get yourself ready to play.
“…I give him credit. We’ve had some — there's been some uncomfortable moments throughout the process and most of the time there is. But he's learned, he has started to grow up. He’s started to understand how to prepare.”
The entire offensive line has improved as Raym has gotten steadier and steadier at center, posting perhaps their best three performances as a unit over the past three weeks.
And as a result, the offense has prospered.
The OU offense averaged 48.0 points per game over the last three weeks against Kansas State, Texas and TCU, rushing for 233.3 yards per contest — a stark contrast to OU’s first three games against FBS opponents.
The Sooners are averaging 104.3 rushing yards per game more over the past three weeks than they did against Tulane, Nebraska and West Virginia, helping to open up windows for both Spencer Rattler and Williams in the passing game.
Raym said that his success has started with a greater understanding of how to break down opponents in the film room as the season has worn on.
“(I’m) really learning how to break a defense down,” he said during a Zoom press conference on Tuesday. “Understand what’s going on, tendencies, what defenses are going to do in certain formations. I think that’s what’s really helped me the most is learning how to break down film.”
Raym’s increasing ability to break down film hasn’t come all on his own, however, as he’s had plenty of help learning how to best utilize his time studying his opposition, he said.
“I meet with Coach (Bedenbaugh) and he has taught me the majority of what I need to look for and how to study the film,” he said. “(The offensive line gets) together all the time and teach each other all the time. Show things that I see that they might not see and that they see that I might not see.”
Still, the young center has plenty of work he can do to continue growing in the future, well beyond the 2021 season.
“When he got in there, he needed to get a lot stronger,” Riley said. “I mean, that was the biggest thing is, he's always been very talented, very athletic, but his strength was definitely an issue early on, and he's going to have to continue to improve that drastically as he goes on.”
But all in all, the Sooners are happy with the development of Raym, and the hope in Norman is that the young center is only scratching the surface of what he can be for the program in the future.
“I think being in some position battles and having to really fight for playing time has been good for him because he's had to really go after it,” Riley said. “So he's getting better.
“He played a good game for us the other night against TCU against a challenging defense and a challenging front, so I think a positive sign. But he's going to have to continue to do those things. If he does, he's got a chance to be a really good player."
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