Oklahoma's Fall Camp Skill Position Battles 'Iron Sharpening Iron Every Day'

NORMAN — When Courtland Guillory said he believed the "offense would do some damage" in 2026, it may have come off as a player praising his teammates.

But even in his relative short time in Norman, Guillory isn't one to say things he doesn't believe. He's a rather genuine person who wears his emotions on his sleeve. It's an attitude that served him well as the first true freshman to start at cornerback for the Sooners since 2015.

Sure, Oklahoma's offense has a lot of questions to answer this season. But going against Guillory, Eli Bowen and company has to count for something, doesn't it?

"It's really fun guarding (the wide receivers)," Guillory said last week. "It's fun because you know you gotta bring your all because they ain't gonna let up."

One of those pass catchers pushing back against a strong secondary is Elijah Thomas, who hopes to build off of a special teams breakout year in 2025 for a consistent role on offense in 2026. Echoing what John Mateer said a week ago, when the offense has success one day only to get pushback from the defense the next, Thomas feels the back-and-forth is leading to growth.

"I’d say it’s iron sharpening iron every day," Thomas said on Tuesday. "It’s 50/50. It’s never someone whopping another person. It’s just good on good."

The hope is that these battles lead to better production on offense, but also more takeaways for the defense. They don't need to be reminded that it took them five games to generate their first turnover a year ago — it's been an offseason rallying cry.

"I feel like that's what we practice every day in practice is forcing turnovers, whether it's punching the ball out, interceptions, tips and overthrows," Guillory said. "That's been the thing that we've been forcing, and we going to make (those) plays happen.”

These offseason battles are also leading to what any coaching staff wants — internal confidence. The wide receivers have all said they've been made better by going against this secondary. The defense, which has had the upper hand over the last two years in the program, began echoing those sentiments this offseason.

"I'm excited to go against them every day," Parker Livingstone said earlier during Fall Camp. "They make me better, I make them better. It's a fun competition.

"Courtland, Eli, Peyton (Bowen), (Michael Boganowski). They're fantastic. They push all of us receivers in one-on-ones and team. They make us better, and we make them better. Iron sharpens iron," he added.

"Iron sharpens iron" — must be a Brent Venables thing.

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