2021 Oklahoma Sooners Football Team
The 2021 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 127th season for the Oklahoma Sooners. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They are a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. The team was led during the regular season by Lincoln Riley, in his fifth and final year as head coach. Riley departed Oklahoma for USC on November 28. Former Sooners head coach Bob Stoops was named the interim head coach and led the team to their win in the Alamo Bowl. Offseason Position key Offseason departures Recruiting Transfers Outgoing The Oklahoma Sooners lost seventeen players via transfer portal for the 2021 season. Incoming The Oklahoma Sooners add nine players via transfer portal from the 2020 season. Returning starters Offense Defense Special teams † Indicates pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. Riley previously served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma for five seasons from 2017 to 2021, where he won four consecutive Big 12 Championship Games. Playing quarterback himself as a walk-on player at Texas Tech Red Raiders football, Texas Tech and known for his "Air raid offense, Air Raid" offensive scheme, Riley has mentored three Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Caleb Williams) as well as another starting NFL quarterback in Jalen Hurts. As a fifth-year head coach, he has produced over 28 draft picks including 5 first-rounders, but is 3–4 in end-of-season bowl games and 0–3 in the College Football Playoff. Early life Riley ran track at Muleshoe High School in Muleshoe, Texas, Muleshoe, a small town of roughly 5,000 in W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Center (American Football)
Center or centre (C) is a position in American football. The center is the innermost Lineman (American football), lineman of the offensive line on a football team's Offense (sports), offense who passes (or "Snap (gridiron football), snaps") the ball between his legs to the quarterback at the start of each Play from scrimmage, play. During the period of the one-platoon system, centers frequently played defensively as "middle guards", off the opposing center on the opposite side of the line as with a modern nose tackle. Others played off the defensive line of scrimmage as linebackers. Roles The center's first role is to pass the football to the quarterback. This exchange is called a snap. Most offensive schemes make adjustments based on how the defensive line and linebackers align themselves in relation to the offensive line, and what gaps they line up in. Because the center has an ideal view of the defensive formation before the snap, they typically make the first line call. Thi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lineman (American Football)
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (DL). A number of National Football League (NFL) rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, whose job is to help protect the quarterback from getting sacked for a loss or fumbling. The defensive line is covered by the same rules that apply to all defensive players. Linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. Offensive line The offensive line (OL) consists of the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, two guards who flank the center, and two offensive tackles flanking these guards. In addition, a full offensive line may also include a tight end outside ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Offensive Tackle
Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the person to whom they are addressed * Pejorative words * Profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ..., strongly impolite, rude or offensive language * Political correctness, non-offensive language See also * * Offense (other) * Offender (other) * Charm offensive (other) {{disambig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kickoff Returner
A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position such as wide receiver, cornerback, or running back. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a kicking specialist. According to All-American Venric Mark, "Returning punts is harder. You have to judge the ball more, you have to know when to fair catch and when not to. You can't be a superhero and try to catch everything. With kickoff returns, you catch the ball and—boom—you're going." Kickoff returner A kickoff returner (KR) is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible for catching the opposing team's kickoff and attempting to run it towards the end zone to score a touchdown. If the ball is kicked into his own end zone, the kick returner must assess the situation on the field while the ball is in the a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Placekicker
In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist. The term derives from the attempted scorer kicking the ball "from placement" of a teammate holding the ball rather than by individually drop-kicking the ball through the goal posts. Specialized role The kicker initially was not a specialized role. Before the 1934 standardization of the spheroid, prolate spheroid shape of the ball, drop kicking was the prevalent method of kicking field goals and conversions, but even after its replacement by place kicking, until the 1960s the kicker almost always doubled at another position on the roster. George Blanda, Lou Groza, Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung are prominent examples of players who were stars at other positions as well as being known for their kicking abilities. When the one-platoon syst ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Halfback (American Football)
A halfback (HB) is an Offense (sports), offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the offensive backfield and Carry (gridiron football), carrying the ball (gridiron football), ball on most rush (gridiron football), rushing American football plays, plays, i.e. a running back. When the principal ball carrier lines up deep in the backfield, and especially when that player is placed behind another player (usually a Blocking (American football), blocking back), as in the I formation, that player is instead referred to as a tailback (TB). Sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as they are an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as additional wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the primary responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking, either to protect the quarterback or another player carrying the football. The term "halfback" has seen a decline since ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guard (American Football)
In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an Lineman (gridiron football), offensive line player who lines up between the center (American football), center and the offensive tackle, tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for Blocking (American football), blocking. Right guards (RG) is the term for the guards on the right of the offensive line, while left guards (LG) are on the left side. Notable guards in the National Football League include Chris Lindstrom (Atlanta Falcons), Quentin Nelson (Indianapolis Colts), and Joe Thuney (Chicago Bears). The guard's job is to protect the quarterback from the incoming defensive line, linemen during pass plays, as well as creating openings (holes) for the running backs to head through. Guards are automatically considered Eligible receiver, ineligible receivers, so they cannot touch forward passes, unless it is first touched by a defender or eligible receiver. Pulli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fullback (American Football)
A fullback (FB) is a position in the offense (sports), offensive backfield in gridiron football and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback (American football), halfback. Fullbacks are typically larger than halfbacks, and, in most offensive schemes, the fullback's duties are split among power running, reception (gridiron football), pass catching, and blocking (American football), blocking for both the quarterback and the other running back. Many great rush (gridiron football), runners in the history of American football have been fullbacks, including Jim Brown, Marion Motley, Bronko Nagurski, Jim Taylor (fullback), Jim Taylor, Franco Harris, Larry Csonka, Tom Rathman, John Riggins, Christian Okoye, and Levi Jackson. However, many of these runners would retroactively be labeled as halfbacks, due to their position as the primary carry (gridiron football), ball carrier; they were primarily listed as fullbacks due to their size and did not often perform the ru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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End (American Football)
In gridiron football, an end is a player who lines up at either end of the line of scrimmage, usually beside the tackles. Rules state that a legal offensive formation must always consist of seven players on the line of scrimmage and that the player on each end of the line is an eligible receiver who can catch forward passes. There are two types on offense: the split end, or wide out, and the tight end. On defense, the position name survives in the name of the defensive end; in function, this position no longer corresponds to its offensive counterparts, which are defended more commonly by the edge rusher (which is sometimes a defensive end depending on formation) against the tight end and the cornerback against the split end. It is also used in terminology such as an end run. History Before the advent of two platoons, in which teams fielded distinct defensive and offensive units, players that lined up on the ends of the line on both offense and defense were referred t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Defensive Tackle
A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridiron football position), tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the largest and strongest of the defensive players. Depending on a team's defensive scheme, a defensive tackle may be called upon to fill several different roles. These may include merely holding the point of attack by refusing to be moved, or penetrating a certain gap between offensive linemen to break up a play in the opponent's backfield. If a defensive tackle reads a pass play, his primary responsibility is to pursue the quarterback, or simply knock the pass down at the line if it is within arm's reach. Other responsibilities of the defensive tackle may be to pursue the screen pass or drop into coverage in a zone blitz scheme. In a traditional 4–3 defense, there is no nos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Defensive Lineman
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (DL). A number of National Football League (NFL) rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, whose job is to help protect the quarterback from getting Quarterback sack, sacked for a loss or Fumble, fumbling. The defensive line is covered by the same rules that apply to all defensive players. Linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. Offensive line The offensive line (OL) consists of the Center (American football), center, who is responsible for Snap (gridiron football), snapping the ball into play, two Guard (American football), guards who flank the center, and two offensive tac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |