NORMAN — There's no doubt that Oklahoma is a step up for Febechi Nwaiwu.

The fourth-year offensive lineman spent his first three seasons at North Texas, primarily playing against Conference USA opponents. Now, he's projected to be a significant contributor for an Oklahoma team that'll play its first season in the SEC against six teams that are ranked inside the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

It'll definitely be a challenge for Nwaiwu. But his stint at North Texas plays a big role in his mentality and is a major reason why he's ready.

"North Texas not being the biggest school and especially me and my situation at North Texas, (it) kind of teaches you how to work extremely hard," Nwaiwu said Saturday. "And then when you’re coming over here it makes it a little bit easier because you’re blessed with a great coaching staff — not to say North Texas has a bad coaching staff at all. They have a phenomenal coaching staff and a phenomenal head coach. But you know what they say. At Oklahoma it’s a little bit different."

In addition to that mentality, Nwaiwu brings valuable experience to the Sooners' retooled offensive line. He started 19 games over the last two seasons and logged nearly 1,600 snaps over that stretch, giving him more than experience than most of the Sooners' offensive line.

He quickly emerged for the Sooners during the spring, taking a lot of the first-team reps at right guard. With OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell — his former head coach at North Texas — on staff and several months in Norman under his belt, there's a real sense of confidence for Nwaiwu with the Sooners.

"You’ve got the legends like (OU strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt) and (OU coach Brent Venables) out there with you to kind of help push you forward and bring that fire out of you if that makes sense, that second gear out of you," Nwaiwu said. "But I think North Texas helped me really be able to be tough and take some losses and not look too much at my wins but keep my head in the right place."

The true sophomore is expected to make his own jump in Year 2, but he's confident he won't be alone.

When asked to predict who would have their own breakout season for OU's defense, Adebawore picked a teammate from his own position group.

"Probably R. Mason Thomas," Adebawore said. "I think he’s one to definitely be on the watch list, because he’s going to have a season."

Thomas was a popular breakout candidate last season before injuries limited him to just 175 snaps. But if the junior defensive end can stay healthy, he projects to be a real contributor for the Sooners' defensive line.

After seeing his role grow substantially towards the end of last season, Lewis projects to be another contributor at linebacker. He's heading into his third season and has taken a ton of first-team reps next to Danny Stutsman, particularly as Dasan McCullough recovers from a foot injury.

There's been more of a leadership presence for Lewis, and he's especially been interested in helping fellow linebacker Lewis Carter. Carter, heading into his second season, played just 30 snaps last season, but Kip believes Carter has a high ceiling ahead of him.

“I’ve seen a lot of development from Lewis Carter," Kip said. "He’s my guy. Anything I know, I try to pour it into him. I just wanna see Lewis be great as I know he can be.”