Roof sees potential for Bowman after injury-shortened season

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Ted Roof was asked which player he thinks will have a breakout season and the first player he mentioned was junior defensive back Billy Bowman.
Bowman isn’t a surprising name to see on Roof’s list. With two years of starting experience under his belt, Bowman has taken on a key role in the Sooners’ secondary and that’s expected to continue moving forward.
Last year Bowman was an All-Big 12 honorable mention despite going down with a knee injury against TCU, and missing the next two games.
In his second game back from injury, the sophomore came away with a pick against Baylor — the first of his career.
Two games later, Bowman got another pick against Oklahoma State.
The Texas native closed out the season with another interception in a key fourth-and-three against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl.
With three interceptions and five pass breakups in an injury-shortened season, Bowman made big strides in his second year in the program.
“He’s a guy that has a lot of experience,” Roof said during the coaches luncheon on Thursday. “He got hurt last year so that slowed down his development. And we missed him when he got hurt, but that’s where the competitive depth comes into play.”
In two seasons, Bowman has appeared in 22 of the team’s 26 games with 16 career starts. Bowman has had to learn to adapt quickly since arriving on campus.
For the first time in his collegiate career, he’ll be entering the season with the same defensive coordinator and the same safeties coach that he had the season before.
“It’s always great to be in a system multiple years in a row,” Bowman said during spring practices. “When I first got here, I was in a new system. Then as a sophomore, another different system. Now going into the same system for the second year in a row.
“It brings experience. We know what we’re working on as a group so we can get those things fixed.”
Bowman isn’t the only experienced safety the Sooners will have at their disposal this season. Senior Key Lawrence has eight career starts included four last season.
Reggie Pearson transferred to Oklahoma from Texas Tech this offseason and could also compete for playing time at safety. Coaches have also been impressed with the play of freshman Peyton Bowen.
“Billy wants to be a leader,” OU safeties coach Brandon Hall said during the spring. “Billy cares. Billy wants to win every rep. The thing about Billy is that Billy’s worst enemy is always going to be him.
“He holds himself to such a high standard, and the good thing for him is that as he gets more and more experience in this defense, I think you’re going to see him start to become more vocal. That’s something that we need at our position the most.”