Noah Best didn’t just hold his own in Oklahoma’s upset of then-No. 1 Texas last weekend. He made the kind of first start that gets noticed by the people inside the building.
Ben Arbuckle pointed to one snap in particular - not one of John Mateer’s late throws, and not Isaiah Sategna’s sideline work that helped set up Tate Sandell’s game-winning field goal - but the Sooners’ first play after the sideline dustup in the third quarter.
Oklahoma had the ball in Texas territory and was still down 17-10 with 3:48 left in the period. Mateer took the snap and found Lloyd Avant on a checkdown. Avant then muscled through a would-be tackle from Longhorns linebacker Rasheem Biles, turning what looked like a short gain into an 8-yard pickup before Jelani McDonald finally dragged him down at the 39-yard line.
Arbuckle liked the effort Avant showed there. But what stuck with him started before the catch and continued after it.
Best, a freshman making his first start at left guard, handled Texas defensive tackle Hero Kanu well in pass protection. Then, after Avant went down, Best was the first Oklahoma player to get to him, giving him a backside tap and a quick shove in celebration.
“He hypes up his teammates,” Arbuckle said of Best. “…Noah just jogged over there and hyped him up, kind of gave him a quick shove.
Talk about being an awesome teammate and building confidence. Noah Best built even more confidence in Lloyd Avant right there.
That stuff is kind of uncommon for a freshman, a young guy.”
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