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Peyton Bowen Playing Loose as he Helps Bring Along Oklahoma's Young Safeties

The senior has steadily improved since breaking through as a freshman, and is looking for more growth in 2026.
Ryan Aber|
Oklahoma Sooners Peyton Bowen is among the Sooners top defensive returners.
Oklahoma Sooners Peyton Bowen is among the Sooners top defensive returners. | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — When Peyton Bowen broke into the Oklahoma safety rotation as a freshman in 2023, he was playing a little tight.

“Freshman year I was always trying to get the plus, not make mistakes and I wasn’t really taking it, I feel, as serious,” Bowen said. 

Now a senior, Bowen is trying to pass the lessons he learned from that season to the Sooners’ young defensive backs while continuing to apply them himself.

“Looking back at it now, I don’t regret anything I did,” Bowen said. “But the way I am now is night and day, I feel like.”

Bowen broke through in a big way last season after steadily growing his role through his first two seasons.

He started all 13 games in 2025, finishing with 47 tackles, including one for loss, two interceptions, a blocked field goal and a team-high seven pass breakups.

“You just see the mental growth, being around Coach (Brent) Venables for four years,” safeties coach Brandon Hall said. “Just the standard that coach demands, just the amount of time and effort it takes to play at a high level defensively. The really cool thing is to watch Peyton go from being this wide-eyed freshman who was just trying to learn everything to now being a leader.

Bowen said there’s still plenty of room to grow for the Sooners defense in their final two weeks of practice before the opener Sept. 4 vs. UTEP.

“Bringing that bottom level of the players up a little bit, just getting that competitive depth back, and that’s what camp’s all about,” Bowen said.

Sophomore Omarion Robinson is one of those young depth pieces Bowen is mentoring.

While Bowen and Michael Boganowski are expected to be the starters at the position, Robinson has made a strong impression during preseason camp, with some help from Bowen.

“He’s, like, a real leader to not just me, but the whole safety group,” Robinson said. “What I’ve learned from him is, whatever I need help on, I can ask him anything and don’t be scared to mess up. When you mess up, you can always learn from it. It’s not the end of the world.”

Bowen said the start of the season was “the biggest light at the end of the tunnel” after a hard preseason camp.

“It’s just really exciting just going out there playing this season with these guys, Team 132,” Bowen said. “This is going to be a fun ride.”

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Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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