Peyton Bowen's versatility on display for Sooners' defense
NORMAN — With Justin Harrington and Dasan McCullough both out against Tulsa last weekend, the Oklahoma coaching staff made the call to start Peyton Bowen at the cheetah position.
Bowen, who isn’t fully comfortable yet at the cheetah position, embraced the challenge. The true freshman finished the game with a team-high two pass breakups — he nearly intercepted both of them — and played the third most snaps (48) behind Danny Stutsman and Jaren Kanak, per Pro Football Focus.
While Bowen’s naturally more confident at safety, he was happy just to see snaps on the field.
“It was great because you want to get on the field as fast as you can,” Bowen said when asked by OUInsider on Monday.” If it’s at a different position, it’s at a different position. That’s why it was good that I was learning all those positions like I was doing this summer so I can get in whenever I need it. Like SMU, I was in at (three different positions). Today, I was the starting cheetah. So it’s a good experience.”
It’s that versatility, and willingness to accept a challenge, that has helped Bowen already establish himself as a big part of the Sooners’ defense.
Bowen has played 112 snaps through the first three games, the sixth-most on the defense, per Pro Football Focus. He’s been moved around quite a bit during his time on the field, too. 20 of his snaps have come in the box as a linebacker, 35 as a free safety, 56 in the slot and one on the defensive line.
Playing multiple positions has come with a little bit of a learning curve, Bowen said, but he attributes his versatility to the coaching staff.
“I think it’s a trust thing,” Bowen said. “They want to give the freshmen their chance. (Head coach Brent Venables is) not scared to play a freshman, so he just wants to throw me in the fire. If it's at different positions, it’s at different positions. He just wants to see what I’m best at and what I need to work on as well.”
Venables acknowledged that the Sooners hadn’t initially planned on moving Bowen around the defense while they were recruiting him as a safety at Guyer High School. But the Sooners have been impressed with Bowen’s knowledge of the game, moving him around to five different positions during fall camp.
“There's nothing easy about it,” Venables said Tuesday. “But he was here mid-year, (and he’s a) really smart guy. Football comes easy for him. He's highly skilled, very instinctual, confident, eager to learn and work. So he's created opportunity for himself. And he'll just continue to get better the more he plays."
Bowen’s versatility has stood out to veteran teammates like Stutsman.
“He does a tremendous job of just getting in position,” Stutsman said. “... He's done such a good job. (Coming in as a) young guy, it's not easy to do. He comes out there and balls out every day. He practices really hard, and I'm really proud of him for what he's accomplished.
“He handles himself like a veteran in the locker room, and that's what you want to see from a young guy coming in.”
The Sooners will likely need Bowen to play a big role again this weekend against Cincinnati (11 a.m. Saturday, Fox Sports). With Harrington out for the foreseeable future, and veteran safety Reggie Pearson’s status uncertain, Bowen will likely be asked to play snaps at both cheetah and safety.
When it comes to cheetah, Bowen’s ready for the challenge.
“I think I need to get more comfortable there and explore that more and make it more of a challenge to get myself more comfortable.”