OU safety Billy Bowman announces he's returning for 2024 season
OU fans were looking for some good news, and safety Billy Bowman was there to deliver just that Friday night.
Will he come back? Will he leave for the NFL? Bowman answered that emphatically. The star safety said he will indeed return to Oklahoma for his senior season in 2024.
It’s hard to put a value as to what this will mean. Bowman became a breakout star this season, especially down the stretch.
OU will have at least one strong anchor as it moves to the SEC.
“He means a lot for us,” said cornerback Woodi Washington earlier this season. “You know, Billy, he’s a playmaker. He’s a guy that makes a lot of plays. And he practices hard, so everything that comes up in the game, he’s already prepared for it. And he makes a lot of plays from just being where he’s supposed to be in practice.”
Bowman made play after play after play to help the Sooners to a 10-2 record. He had 61 tackles and four pass breakups. But he became a ball magnet. Bowman was among the nation’s leaders with six interceptions, including returning three for touchdowns. Digging even further, he had a pick-six in each of the final two games.
He set the OU record for interception return yards for a season.
“He’s not a vocal guy, but he’s a true leader,” said linebacker Kobie McKinzie last month. “Kind of one of those guys, he doesn’t say much but when he does say something, you listen to it more because he isn’t necessarily saying something at all times. He’s a warrior, a really good dude. Love him to death.”
It has been an interesting week for OU. The Sooners have now had 12 players enter the transfer portal, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Then there’s the ongoing story of linebacker Danny Stutsman. Multiple sources confirmed to SoonerScoop on Wednesday that Stutsman has informed OU head coach Brent Venables that Stutsman is leaving for the NFL Draft.
But two days later, Stutsman has not said a word publicly, one way or the other. And Venables declined to comment on Stutsman’s status Thursday morning. The waiting game for an official word continues there.
Venables, obviously, won’t decline to comment with Bowman. He was as fired up as anybody about knowing a pillar of the defense will be back in the fold.
The 12th-ranked Sooners get ready to take No. 14 Arizona in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec 28 in San Antonio. And a sigh of relief because, yes indeed, Bowman will be there.
