NORMAN — Peyton Bowen wants to be a first-team All-SEC safety this season.
It’s a lofty goal for the Oklahoma sophomore and former five-star prospect in the 2023 class, and one he believes he can achieve. The talent is certainly there, and Brent Venables has referred to him as one of the cornerstones of the Sooners’ secondary this spring. While he has set out that individual goal for himself, though, it’s secondary to the bigger picture for Bowen heading into Year 2 at OU.
“I want to go to a national championship, get into the 12-team (playoff), win a national championship,” Bowen said. “I want to go undefeated. I want to be on (All)-SEC first team, those type of goals individually — and I want the team to succeed foremost.”
To achieve any of that, of course, Bowen knows he will need to take a step forward on several fronts for his second season, namely with his play on the field and his leadership on an Oklahoma defense that is expected to continue to progress in its third year under Venables.
On the field, Bowen’s development has continued on an upward trajectory this spring after a solid debut season. As a freshman last year, Bowen played in all 13 games and made a pair of starts in the secondary—the first coming in Week 3 against Tulsa and the other in the Alamo Bowl against Arizona. He was fourth among Oklahoma’s safeties in total snaps, with 363 on the year.
Bowen finished with 36 total tackles, one sack, five pass breakups, a forced fumble and a pair of blocked kicks, the latter of which led the Big 12. All of that was despite juggling multiple positions — he saw time at both safety and Cheetah as a true freshman — and seeing his playing time limited for much of the second half of the season due to a lower-right leg injury. Had he not dealt with the injury and continued on his trajectory from the first half of the season, Bowen would have likely been considered for Freshman All-America honors like wide receiver Nic Anderson.
