NORMAN — Branson Hickman remembers his first time at Owen Field.
Hickman, then the starting center for SMU, came with the Mustangs for their Week 2 matchup with the Sooners in 2023. Though the Sooners won that game 28-11, it left a lasting impression on Hickman.
“I remember a lot," Hickman recalled on Thursday. "I remember it was red and white everywhere. It was pretty cool. We came out of the tunnel, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is big-time, real college football right here.’ I just knew that was something I wanted to be a part of one day.”
Hickman got his chance when he entered the transfer portal during the offseason.
The Sooners had an urgent need to find experience on the offensive line, putting the position group at center stage as the spring continued. That happened to coincide with Hickman's decision to look for another opportunity after four seasons at SMU.
There were a lot of reasons — including that past experience at OU — that brought Hickman to Norman. But one of the biggest was the opportunity to play for OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
"Coach B’s one of the main reasons why I came here," Hickman said. "Obviously, he has a proven track record. He puts guys in the NFL, and he also has guys succeed in college. It’s like, why would you not want to play for Coach B?”
There's a lot of excitement for Hickman, entering his fifth collegiate season, as he helps usher the Sooners into the SEC. But he knows it'll be a challenge, too.
The offensive line has been the primary question mark since the end of last season. With the departures of Andrew Raym, McKade Mettauer, Walter Rouse, Tyler Guyton and Cayden Green, the Sooners are largely rebuilding their offensive line with relatively-inexperienced players or newcomers who arrived this offseason.
The Sooners did a lot to add experience via the portal with the additions of Febechi Nwaiwu, Michael Tarquin and Spencer Brown, but Hickman was the prize acquisition.
Hickman spent the last three seasons as the starting center for SMU, logging 33 starts and 2,426 snaps during that stretch, per Pro Football Focus. He led the entire SMU offense in snaps each of the last two seasons with 956 and 952 snaps, respectively. Last season, he earned PFF season grades of 79.7 in total offense, 83.1 in pass blocking and 77.4 in run blocking.
But he doesn't just add experience to the offensive line as a whole, he also adds much-needed depth to the center spot, particularly with Troy Everett suffering a significant injury early in the spring.
Still, there's a lot of new pieces on the offensive line, and Hickman knows a big focus in fall camp will be building real chemistry.
"It’s not easy," Hickman said. "No one will say it’s going to be easy, but it helps going through summer together. (OU strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmit) put us in a great position to work real hard and get together. We had guys host stuff on the weekends so that everyone could be around each other and not just hang out when you’re in the facility. That’s the biggest thing. You got to be around each other outside the facility, build real bonds, not just, ‘Hey, we’re double-teaming this guy here.' You've got to hang out together.”
Another focus for Hickman personally is understanding the need to establish himself as a leader, while also continuing to adjust to his new program. It also helps that he's excited about the Sooners' young guys, particularly Eddy Pierre-Louis.
“You've got to grow into it," Hickman said. "You've got to earn people’s respect, but we got a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. We have a lot of leaders, so it’s never good to have one guy leading the whole group; it’s a lot of guys collectively talking, getting the group going. I feel like that’s what we have here, and it’s what you want in an O-line room."
There's still a lot of growth individually for Hickman and collectively as a unit that's needed, but his experience is well-documented among his teammates. That's a huge source of confidence, particularly for starting quarterback Jackson Arnold.
"I met him for the first time after our spring game and hung out with him that night and from there we’ve just been building our connection," Arnold said. "There's not a lot of team that we do in summer obviously but once fall camp starts, that connection will really ramp up.”
“Just knowing that the guy who is snapping me the ball and basically controlling the O-line has that experience is very comforting for me and I know that I can rely on a guy like that.”
The Sooners are just a few weeks out from their season opener against Temple, and there's a lot of pressure on the offensive line to find its stride heading into the debut season in the SEC. Hickman will be, ironically, at the center of that progress, and he's getting a bit of a late start since he arrived after the spring.
He's ready for the challenge.
“I feel great," Hickman said. "We've got a lot of guys that are working really hard. We built a good relationship, good bond in the summer, a lot of guys hanging out together. Being a transfer, I’m thankful for the guys, since I came in a little later than everyone else, and they brought me in like I was one of their own. It’s been a good experience so far, and it’s been a good first two days.”
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