Brent Venables breaks down format of Oklahoma spring game

After over a month of practices, Oklahoma will take to the field Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman to wrap-up its spring period with its annual spring game – which will allow Sooners’ fans to get a first look at the team ahead of the 2022 season.

As Oklahoma is heading into its first season under new head coach Brent Venables, everyone involved with the program is excited for the new era – and the spring game will allow them all to see what kind of product the Sooners will have on the field come September.

While all spring games are operated differently, Oklahoma has decided what kind of format it will follow on Saturday, according to Venables, who shared the layout with reporters on Tuesday.

“We’re going to split the squad up,” Venables said. “I’m going to have a Red and White team. Dillon [Gabriel] will play a little bit of quarterback for both sides, but otherwise we’re going to split it evenly – coaches as well. We’ll name the head coaches here another day, as well. We’ll let the players know by Thursday who’s on what team, and then we’ll have it all juiced up on different sidelines.”

Oklahoma’s Red vs. White spring game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET Saturday. Along with the game, the Sooners will be honoring former quarterback Baker Mayfield with a Heisman Trophy statue at halftime.

Venables shares how he will prepare Oklahoma to face adversity

Although Brent Venables may come off as if his team hasn’t missed a single beat, no team is perfect – and he made that clear while meeting with reporters. He said that Oklahoma has already faced adversity and will face adversity again – and he is preparing his players to be able to handle it.

“I’ll be honest – if anyone’s known me, I’ve always had a ton of energy,” Venables said. “I’ve always been very passionate, incredibly demanding. I try to lead from a place of optimism and positivity, but I’m not going to have my head in the sand when things aren’t right. I’m going to be very truthful, very honest.

“We haven’t played yet. I’m not naive, and certainly our coaches and our players aren’t ’cause we strain them – we create a lot of stress for them every day. We’ve had plenty of failure and plenty of tough days. It’s hard to get up in the middle of spring every day and bring your A-game. … It’s hard, it’s not easy. I don’t take it for granted – but if I don’t, they don’t. I can promise you.”