Oklahoma Position Battles: Backup Quarterback
There is a quarterback competition in Norman, just not for the starting job.
Dillon Gabriel was brought in to lead Jeff Lebby’s offense, and he’s been instrumental in teaching the offense to his teammates.
The picture behind him, however, is far less clear.
Oklahoma’s previous coaching staff burned through quarterbacks at an alarming rate.
Caleb Williams, Spencer Rattler, Tanner Mordecai and Chandler Morris are all former OU QB’s who either already have won another starting job in the case of Williams, Rattler and Mordecai, or could supplant an established starter with Morris at TCU.
The exodus from the most important position at Oklahoma over the past few years left Lebby with little game experience outside of Gabriel.
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During spring football, the Sooners could call upon true freshman Nick Evers, redshirt freshman Ralph Rucker and former Penn State transfer Micah Bowens, who have all combined for a grand total of zero starts at the collegiate level.
And that’s why Lebby and Brent Venables turned to the transfer portal over the summer.
Oklahoma found what it was looking for in the form of not one but two new additions to the quarterback room.
First, the Sooners landed Davis Beville from Pittsburgh.
A former 4-star recruit, the 6-foot-6 product of Greenville, SC, spent three years as a Panther.
Beville never logged a start, but he still played in nine games across the last two years for Pittsburgh, including a key cameo in last year’s Peach Bowl.
Coming into the game as a backup, Beville completed 14-of-18 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Michigan State Spartans.
Adding Beville wasn’t enough for Lebby and Co., as the Sooners mined another transfer less than a week later to land General Booty.
Arriving at Oklahoma from Tyler Junior College, Booty comes from a football family.
His father, Abram Booty, played wide receiver at LSU and his uncle, John David Booty, started at quarterback for USC, and other members of his family found their way to various FBS spots.
General Booty took a different route, however, lighting it up at the juco level.
In 11 games at Tyler Junior College, Booty completed 61.2 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,115 yards and 25 touchdowns while only surrendering 11 interceptions.
Beville and Booty weren’t brought to Oklahoma under any false illusions, but Lebby still expects both new additions to take command of the huddle and run the offense just as Gabriel would.
As fall camp kicks off on Friday, Beville and Booty will get to take the field under their new offensive coordinator with a huge chance to show why they should be the one to back up Gabriel in 2022.
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