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Despite Slow Start, Oklahoma RB Jovantae Barnes is Ready for More Opportunities

Originally posted on FanNation All Sooners
By Ryan Chapman | Last updated 9/13/23

NORMAN — Jovantae Barnes is used to waiting.

Last year as a freshman, Barnes was patient. He logged his first double-digit carry game at Oklahoma in Nebraska, carrying the ball 13 times for 77 yards in OU’s 49-14 drubbing of the Cornhuskers.

The next week, he didn’t touch the ball against Kansas State before breaking out with 18 rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns in Week 5 against TCU.

Barnes finished the year as the Sooners’ No. 2 back behind Eric Gray, rushing for 519 yards.

He led OU with 108 yards on 27 carries in the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State, and was positioned to take over as the Sooners’ lead back this year.

But it hasn’t materialized yet.

Through two games, Barnes has 15 carries and three receptions, as Tawee Walker and Marcus Major have primarily featured.

OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby intends to change that this week.

“We want to get (Barnes) and (Gavin Sawchuk) going,” Lebby said on Monday. “We absolutely do. That’s something that’ll be important for us this week as we move forward and making decisions for Saturday.”

Barnes said the support from the coaching staff means a lot early in the year as the entire running back room is working its way into rhythm.

“I love it,” Barnes said after practice on Tuesday. “Me and (Coach Lebby) have a strong connection and obviously he’s going to find a way to get his backs involved.

“And like he said we have a deep running back room so whoever is in there is going to get the job done.”

Working his way into the season isn’t a new challenge for Barnes.

He’s drawn on his experience as a freshman to stay patient and instead focus on taking advantage of the snaps he has gotten so far in 2023.

“I’m just blessed to be out here, chasing my dream,” Barnes said. “… I just take my opportunity and whenever I get it I use it. I’ve been doing a good job with that and just making sure my teammates are doing what they need to do and I’m on their butt.

“I mean, Tawee and Marcus have been looking amazing, so I’m just proud of them and what they’re doing.”

Larger roles for Barnes and Sawchuk can add explosiveness to OU’s running game.

The Sooners have broken off three runs of more than 15 yards in two weeks of play. Oklahoma’s offensive line is searching for more consistency up front, but Lebby also wants his running backs to win more one-on-ones downfield.

For Barnes, that often means flat out running over defenders.

“You can kind of tell when you’re watching on TV or if you’re watching in person,” said Barnes. “I talk to myself a lot. And I do seem to want to run people over all the time.”

Still, Barnes wants to be more elusive in the open field.

In 2022, Pro Football Focus credited Barnes with forcing 14 missed tackles, but he’s yet to get credited with a missed tackle so far in 2023.

Running backs coach DeMarco Murray and Barnes identified that as an area he can improve this offseason instead of always running toward contact.

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“That’s one thing I wanted to work on during the offseason is try to work on my packages,” he said, “making sure I can juke people, not just run over people. That’s gonna help me in the long run.”

Regardless, Barnes said Murray is happy with any move that gets past a defender, regardless if its a quick juke that leaves the defender in the dust or a teeth-rattling hit to run over somebody.

Throughout the season, all of Oklahoma’s running backs get plenty of chances in practice to hone in on their skillsets to win those one-on-one battles on Saturday’s.

“You can’t really make up no drills to make people miss one-on-one,” Barnes said. “So just making sure in team reps.. we’re still making a guy miss, making a safety miss if we’re one-on-one with that.

“… I think the coaches do a good job of making sure the safeties come up on that and making sure they’re trying to punch the ball out and things like that.”

Despite the slower start to the season, Barnes still has full faith that both he and Sawchuk will be able to contribute to the Sooners’ running back rotation in a major way.

“I feel like we have a connection that nobody else has,” Barnes said. “Obviously we came in at the same time… So just having that connection — and like people say we’re the 1-2 punch.

“But we’re both waiting. Like any opportunity we get we’re gonna go out there and play for the team and whatever job we have we’re gonna get it done.”