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Big 12 spring game recap: Oklahoma

What happened:

  • Landry Jones played sparingly and Ryan Broyles only fielded punts.

  • Drew Allen led the Red team to a 20-14 win by completing 16-of-29 passes for 179 yards and a 16-yard touchdown to Dejuan Miller.

  • Walk-on Dominique Whaley led all rushers with 65 yards on 10 carries.

  • New safety Aaron Colvin led all tacklers with eight stops and had an interception.

  • With the win, the Red team will enjoy a steak dinner, while the White team will deal with a dinner of hot dogs and baked beans.

What we learned:

  • Generally, we'll learn a lot less about the better and more established teams during their spring games, and Oklahoma fits that mold. Coach Bob Stoops said Whaley, a transfer from NAIA Langston University, is in the mix for running back, but let's not forget that FB Marshall Musil led the Sooners in rushing during last season's spring game. He had two carries for 11 yards last season. Stoops doesn't sound like he plans to give a heap of touches to any of his backs, which doesn't bode well for any big numbers, but together, Roy Finch, Brennan Clay and Brandon Williams should be pretty stout.

  • The last time Oklahoma was gunning for a national title, the preseason race for backup quarterback got relevant real quick. They'll be trying to avoid that this season, but Drew Allen looks like he's pulled ahead of Blake Bell for the spot, and inspired some confidence from the fans by a nice showing on Saturday. This won't be the last time you hear this, but Allen is, of course ... one play away.

  • Lane Johnson, a converted tight end, looks like he'll stick at right tackle, where the Sooners had a big hole when Jarvis Jones went down early in the spring with a torn patellar tendon. "It’s going to work out wonderfully for him, and for us. Actually he’s going to end up being a really special player there whether left or right," Stoops said. Oklahoma converted last season's starter, Eric Mensik from tight end to right tackle, so this is hardly new territory. Oklahoma needed someone to fill Jones' role, considering he's likely to miss a few games to start the season, and it looks like Johnson's filled that void.

  • Good to see Miller get back on the field and be effective after he missed the latter part of last season with a torn meniscus. He's a big receiver with a lot of potential, and he should be a nice part of a deep Oklahoma receiving corps. By all accounts, he had a fantastic spring.

They said it:

"I feel like we can be great. We can be one of the best secondaries in the country, but right now we still have a lot of improvement, a lot of things to work on. So I can’t talk about the positives right now because we still have some negatives to correct." -- Oklahoma safety Aaron Colvin.

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