Oklahoma had a big recruiting weekend around the annual spring game, with over a dozen visitors from 2014/2015 prospects and nearly a dozen 2013 signees. Add in a crowd of around 29,000 and a QB battle being aired for the first time this spring, and the event had a lot buzz.

Hours before OU’s current trio of QBs went to battle for the starting spot, Justice Hansen verbaled to the Sooners, becoming the key QB recruit in the 2014 class. Hansen was the only QB offer and had decided that he would verbal at the spring game of either OU or Texas A&M, which were going on at the same time last weekend.

Hansen is a big-time pickup for the Sooners. He’s been to OU summer camps the last two summers. As a quarterback, he has excellent mobility to go with a great arm and accuracy. He put up over 3,000 yards passing and 700 yards rushing last year. Hansen is playing in the Under Armour All-American Game and will be a top 150-type prospect.

Spring football has wrapped up for Oklahoma following last weekend's Red-White Game. OU beat reporter Jason Kersey of NewsOK.com joins Homerism for a podcast to break down the annual spring game and talk about the news coming out of Norman.

Jason and I touch on:

*The leader in the quarterback derby.

*The influence of new members of the coaching staff on the team.

*The Sooners' stable of wide receivers.

*A surprising standout on the defensive side of the ball.

*Concerns about the defensive line.

*And more.

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By April, the lack of college football can turn a spring game into the ultimate fools’ gold for fans. When a program locks down for spring ball the way that Oklahoma does, the temptation to jump to grand conclusions based on the annual Red-White Game is strong.

Stars usually see little action and coaches typically keep the schemes pretty vanilla in the spring, which also add degrees of difficulty in assessing the scrimmage. All that said, Homerism bravely tried to cut through the clutter to give loyal readers a rundown of the key takeaways from our last look at the Sooners until the fall.

Note that given the unique nature of the situation, I focus my attention on individual players, as opposed to the squad in general.

Bob Stoops' comments to Matt Hayes of SportingNews.com in a column earlier this week touched off a big of firestorm about compensation for college athletes. One thing I happened to notice from the jump: For all the bluster from Stoops about athletes going hungry and and the value of a college scholarship, Stoops never said he's against full-cost-of-attendance scholarships.

Full-cost-of-attendance scholarships include stipends to make up the shortfall between what is covered by an athletic scholarship and the full cost of living for a college student. A proposal to offer athletes a stipend of up to $2,000 per year to cover their living expenses is stuck somewhere in the NCAA legislative morass at the moment. (I did a podcast with NCAA expert John Infante on the subject this week.)

Columnist Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman followed up with Stoops yesterday, and OU's coach said he is in favor of stipends. As Tramel points out, that doesn't mean he's backing of his "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" message. However, the positions aren't exclusive.

So, apparently, Bob Stoops has an opinion about the pay-for-play proposals for college athletes. OK, a strong opinion.

In an interview with Matt Hayes of SportingNews.com, Stoops dismissed the suggestion of stipends for athletes. He did it in his typically blunt fashion, which naturally caught the attention of the national media.

A guy who makes $5 million a year comes out against paying players what looks like peanuts? “You’re not the first one to spend a hungry Sunday without any money.”

Way back in 2007, Oklahoma hosted Missouri in a battle for Big 12 supremacy so big that ESPN GameDay made its way to Norman for the game. Actually, that has been pretty commonplace at OU since Chris, Lee and Kirk started blazing a trail around the United States chasing the best matchups college football has to offer. I remember essentially nothing from the broadcast, expect for one thing.

The GameDay crew brought Bob Stoops out for an interview that morning. The producers decided to tease the spot going into commercial by panning down a row of cheerleaders and ending with Stoops.

Man, I wish I had the video of that for this article. When all was said and done, Stoops was standing there looking like he had fire ants in his jockstrap.

West Virginia's first season in the Big 12 started hot and fizzled fast. The Mountaineers began 2012 with five straight wins, but they finished 2-6 down the stretch, including a humiliating 38-14 loss to former Big East conference mate Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Dana Holgorsen brings a 17-9 overall record into his third season as West Virginia's head coach.

The Texas Longhorns wrapped up the spring football season over Easter weekend with their annual Orange-White Game (brough to you by Dunkin' Donuts). Wescott Eberts of Burnt Orange Nation joins BH for a podcast to discuss all the latest happenings on the 40 Acres.

Wescott and I cover:

*Mack Brown's future.

*Changes to Texas' recruiting philosophy.

*The Longhorns' new-look offense.

*The debut of Tyrone Swoopes.

*And more.

(Subscribe to Blatant Homerism's Podcast through iTunes. Please rate and review the show if you get the chance, too. Thanks.)

When Chuck Fairbanks left the University of Oklahoma after five years as head football coach to take the New England Patriots coaching job, he made enemies of those who wore crimson and cream. Fairbanks not only left a good football program, he left it in a shambles.

Fairbanks died Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Brain cancer took him out at the age of 79. I would imagine not too many tears will be shed by fans who remember he “got out of Dodge” before the Sooners would be leveled with two years’ probation. Their beloved Sooners would not be allowed on television for two years and were not rewarded with a bowl game for two years. Fairbanks’ assistant Bill Michaels had altered transcripts of two high school players from Galveston—quarterback Kerry Jackson and lineman Mike Phillips—to make them eligible for college scholarships. Fairbanks knew what was coming down the pike in the aftermath and cut out for New England. Many believe Fairbanks knew of the transgressions and split, but that will never be proven.

His resignation was a blessing for Sooner fans in the long run because the university hired Barry Switzer to replace Fairbanks. Switzer turned out to be one of the best coaches college football has ever seen.

(Editor's note: With the offseason in full gear, BH will be providing previews of OU's 2013 opponents. We'll go in chronological order, starting with the Sooners' season opener over Labor Day weekend, the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.)

In their first three games of 2012, the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks stunned Arkansas, 34-31, in overtime, lost to Auburn, 31-28, in overtime and nearly toppled Baylor. ULM tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference and finished the season with a 9-4 mark. The Warhawks were blown out by Ohio, 45-14, in the New Orleans Bowl.

Todd Berry, coach of the year in the Sun Belt Conference last year, begins his fourth year at ULM carrying an 18-19 overall record into 2013.

Offense

Berry will have eight returnees on offense, needing to replace a wide receiver, tight end and right guard. Senior quarterback Kolton Browning (6-1, 203), the Sun Belt’s player of the year returns. He completed 63.8 percent of his passes last year for 3,049 yards with 29 TDs and 10 INTs. He will not have his leading receiver (Brent Leonard) next year, but the next four behind him will be back. They combined for 167 receptions for 2,092 yards and 14 TDs.