Oklahoma WR Andrel Anthony Still Adjusting to Life and Football at Oklahoma
NORMAN — New wide receiver Andrel Anthony snaps his fingers — snap, snap, snap — to describe the biggest change between practice at Michigan and practice at Oklahoma.
“Probably just the tempo,” he said. “No huddling, stuff like that. The tempo and how fast it goes. You have to know your responsibility like that (snap-snap-snap) because the ball is snapped immediately.”
Last year, in his first season as Michigan’s offensive coordinator, Wolverines offensive line coach and former Sooner offensive lineman Sherrone Moore’s offense ranked 61st in the nation by averaging 70.5 plays per game.
Meanwhile, in his first season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator, Sooners quarterbacks coach and former Sooner offensive lineman Jeff Lebby’s offense ranked sixth in the nation by averaging 78.4 offensive plays per game.
That Oklahoma runs more tempo than Michigan is certainly no surprise. But for a player to identify that single element as the biggest difference between the two programs shows what an adjustment it can be.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / John E. Hoover-AllSooners
For Anthony, he’s learning fast and taking it all in — at a rapid pace.
“It’s kind of like, in a sense, unlearning a language and learning a new one,” Anthony said. “It’s not bad. But it is kind of frustrating at times. You want to be perfect, obviously. You don’t want to mess up. But I kind of told myself if I make a mistake, go full speed and I can correct it later. Just get up and control what I can control.”
Anthony thought he was pretty fit. Then spring practice started at OU.
“The first day got me,” he said. “It kind of crept up on me. I thought I was in shape but it was tough. But after that I realized, ‘Oh it’s not that bad.’ I got through it. I didn’t know what to expect, and then after that first day I really realized it’s not bad. I like it though because it catches the defense off guard. You’ll be lined up and ready to go and they’re not even set yet. So it helps us take advantage.”
Anthony grew up in Michigan, so there have been other elements, literally, that have made the adjustment to Oklahoma something of a challenge.
“Well, the weather,” he said. “It got me a couple of times. Just like 85 in Michigan is like, the summer, as opposed to here, we had that like twice last week and I was dead on Monday. But besides that, it’s not too much different.
“Just being at Oklahoma, I love it. I like to just go out and sit on my porch sometimes and relax and be at the house but be by myself a little bit.”
Obviously Oklahoma has immediate openings for help at wide receiver, and Anthony — whose Wolverines won two straight Big Ten championships and played in back-to-back College Football Playoff games — can fit the bill.
At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Anthony is big, physical and fast — really fast. He recently took a deep ball 80 yards for a touchdown in a scrimmage situation at practice. His speed has left an impression on teammates.
“Andrel, he's a very twitchy receiver,” said junior wideout Jalil Farooq. “He's quick, fast and he can make plays. I'm glad he joined the family.”
“Andrel, he’s a burner,” said sophomore receiver Gavin Freeman. “He’s insanely fast. So quick off the line. He’s just a burner. His brain, he’s smart, too, which helps his speed, and can just blow by everyone.”
“He's got a lot of speed,” said senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel. “I think you've seen that with a little bit of his film, but I think he'll fit in just fine.”
Now, Anthony hopes to fit his natural gifts with Lebby’s tempo.
“Football-wise,” he said, ”I mean, it’s like a receiver’s dream to be in this offense.”
And that’s the impression Anthony has left on head coach Brent Venables.
“He’s hungry and super coachable,” Venables said. “That’s been fun to see that.”
