Inaugural 'Crimson Combine' Gives Sooner Fans a Sneak Peak of Team 131

The first ever Crimson Combine is in the books, marking the end of spring football for the Sooners.

Brent Venables was pleased with the turnout and energy at OU's open practice.

"Thought our fans were fantastic today," Venables said. "Appreciate everybody for being here and just thought it was a wonderful day. It was a lot of fun. It's been a really fun spring."

OU Athletics let fans come in and watch the team go through drills, and some brief 7-on-7 and team periods on Owen Field. 

Wide receiver Deion Burks reminded everyone how dominant he can be when he's healthy. He and John Mateer connected on a couple big time plays, teasing a potential dynamic duo this fall.

Perhaps the best insight came after practice when the media got to pick the brains of those players and coaches. New Offensive Coordinator Ben Arbuckle has coached some of the best quarterbacks in the country the last few seasons, including OU transfer QB John Mateer, and he gave some insight into the mentality of the best gunslingers in the sport.

"The one thing that those guys have is elite confidence, right? And that's the number one thing you have to breed into a quarterback. You have to breed that life into them," Arbuckle said. "I am the baddest dude on this field, right? I am. This is my team. This is my offense. This is my game."

Mateer echoed the response.

"Yeah, he's all about confidence. And as a quarterback, you need it. If you're not confident... You'll be hesitant. If you're hesitant, it's not going to work," Mateer said. "He wants us to try things, especially spring ball. We're going to try the tight window throws to see if we can make them, and he's never like, oh, you shouldn't do that."

Oklahoma's organized spring practices are now over, and it will be all player-led workouts until Fall Camp picks up in August.