California Sooners relish opportunity to play in Rose Bowl
NORMAN — Caleb Kelly is on the hunt for tickets.
With No. 2 Oklahoma heading to the West Coast for the College Football Playoff semifinal, the Fresno, California, native will be fielding plenty of ticket requests from his friends and family willing to make the three-hour drive to Pasadena.
“I’ll be asking everybody for tickets, all my teammates, and then everybody will be asking me for tickets back home,” the linebacker said when asked what it would be like to play in the Rose Bowl after OU beat TCU 41-17 Saturday afternoon.
“I’d get to play in front of my whole family at the same time, haven’t done that since high school. My girl would get to go. It’s going to be awesome if we get to go do that. I’m
praying for it.”
Kelly’s prayers were answered a little before noon on Sunday when the College Football Playoff selection committee announced that the Sooners would face No. 3 Georgia (12-1) in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 (4:10 p.m., ESPN).
“I predicted it!!,”
Kelly’s mom, Valerie tweeted Sunday. “#2 Rose Bowl baby!!! Time for my Cali Boy to come home!”
Kelly isn’t the only player who will be playing in front of a familiar crowd. Six other Sooners are from California, including freshman tight end Grant Calcaterra, who grew up just an hour south of Pasadena in Rancho Santa Margarita.
“I’m kind of glad it’s worked out that way,” coach Lincoln Riley said.
“We’ve played some games east, and this will be good to play a game back out west. That’s a big part of our team now, with several of our guys, Grant Calcaterra also in there, we’ve got several, and we’ll have more coming in the coming years.”
Not only is OU’s trip to the Rose Bowl beneficial for current Sooners, it also has the potential to pay dividends for the future.
Bob Stoops established
a California-to-Norman recruiting pipeline during his tenure, and this is Riley’s chance to further establish his West Coast presence.
Before Riley took over, Stoops had success recruiting big-time California products such as running back Joe Mixon, wide receiver Kenny Stills, safety Tony Jefferson and running back Brennan Clay.
“There’s no doubt about it — it helps,” Riley said of the Rose Bowl’s
impact on recruiting. “That’s a big area for us. There’s a great history between players on the West Coast coming to Oklahoma and doing incredibly well and this will do nothing but enhance it.”
Though Oklahoma (12-1) doesn’t currently have any commitments from California players in the 2018, 2019 or 2020 classes, the Sooners picked up four in the class of 2017 — including wide receiver Marquise Brown, who went to junior college in Santa Clarita.
“It’s gonna be great to get out there and play,” Riley said. “And I’m happy for those guys because some of those guys made a —I don’t know if sacrifice is the right word — but they took a big leap of faith with us to come all the way here to Oklahoma to go to school and play football, so it’s gonna be nice to go up there and play on their home turf.”