Sooners Land Another UCLA Transfer
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said on March 9, one day before spring practice (and three days before everything was shut down was shut down) that the Sooners need to be better on the offensive line and that shakeups were likely coming.
On Thursday, Riley added another potential piece to the puzzle when OU lnaded transfer Chris Murray from UCLA.
Murray tweeted Thursday afternoon, “God’s plan … and his only. Committed. Boomer Sooner.”
The 6-foot-2, 298-pound Murray was a two-year starter in Westwood after signing with the Bruins from Mater Dei High School in Santa Anita, California, where he won a state championship after moving from Texas.
Murray will sit out the 2020 season as a transfer. He’ll have two years of eligibility left starting in 2021 unless he receives a waiver and regains his eligibility in 2020.
He’s the second Bruin to transfer to OU this offseason, joining wide receiver Theo Howard.
Murray started all 12 games each of the last two seasons, including three at center and nine at guard as a true freshman, then all 12 last year at guard.
He’s reportedly the first freshman to start for UCLA at center in a season opener since 1982.
Riley said to expect wholesale changes on the offensive line this year, and this is likely a byproduct of that.
“I would say the offensive line as a whole – we’re looking at a lot of different combinations right now,” Riley said three weeks ago. “I’ll put it that way. Where guys have played in the past may not necessarily be where they play in the future.
“That was a group that we feel like needs to play a lot better for us. Very simply, we all have to do a better job. Now, granted, the way our group played last year, 99 percent of the teams in the country would have been very happy with it. But our expectations around here on the offensive line are a little bit different than most.”
Murray’s more natural position and most of his experience is at guard, but Riley might draw comfort from the fact that he’s been a high-level starter at center. OU starter Creed Humphrey said no to the NFL this year, but it seems unlikely he would return in 2021 for his senior season. It’s possible Murray could evolve as a candidate there, too.
Chris Murray at UCLA
Don Liebig, UCLA Photography
READ CHRISTAPHANY MURRAY'S UCLA BIO
Either way, Riley wants better play from what was widely considered the weak link of college football’s most prolific offense in 2019.
“I wouldn’t say disappointed, I would just say we just have a high standard here,” Riley said. “You don’t still produce like we did offensively by being bad on the offensive line. We weren’t bad by any stretch.
“But we need to be better and we expect to be better.”
Humphrey’s return was the biggest recruiting get of the offseason for Riley and the Sooners.
“Yeah, certainly having our leader there is important for the development of this group,” Riley said. “Not only just some continuity and all that, but just kind of the mentality of the group as that builds. You need that guy there. I think it will be important for Creed as a player too. The expectations are for him to play his very best ball and it takes a lot to do that. He’s got to get playing the very best he can and leading these guys and that group’s hungry right now and we need them to be.”
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