NORMAN — When you add spring ball, the Oklahoma Sooners have gone against one another just over 25 days of practice. The familiarity breeds competitive back-and-forths, even amongst teammates.

For OU's fiery second-year cornerback Courtland Guillory, his friendly nemesis is wide receiver Jer'Michael Carter. Back in April, Guillory revealed that "Off the field, we’re best bros, but when we get on the field, we hate each other," with a smirk.

That competitive fire continues during Fall Camp.

"It's great competition every time we do one-on-ones," Guillory said on Tuesday. "Today he called me out and we did our thing. It's fun going against the receivers every day."

Again, it's all in good fun. Players like Guillory need to "hate" someone on their team during practice. It's one of the many reasons that Guillory made his way to the field as a starter in his freshman season in 2025.

Now, he patrols the secondary opposite Eli Bowen, primed for a special season as one of the more feared cornerback duos in the SEC. Both Guillory and Bowen have their own jobs in 2026, but one of their tasks is simply making the wide receivers better — something Guillory has noticed.

"We got guys, like we got Manny Choice, Elijah Thomas," Guillory said. "It's fun really guarding all of them because you know you gotta bring your all because they ain't gonna let up.

"I see they putting the pieces together. You got John (Mateer) and Coach (Ben Arbuckle), they putting their pieces together. They got more time to get things right, and I feel like the offense is going to do some damage.”

Fortunately for the Sooners, Guillory won't be harassing their offense on Saturdays once the season starts. The hope is that Oklahoma's offense finds another gear through the crucible of going against Brent Venables' defense every day in practice.

Iron sharpens iron — as most players have said during Fall Camp.

"I ain't gonna lie, every day it's a dogfight," Guillory said. "I feel like we got everything we need this year to really go put it all on the table and go get the main goal. So it's been good.”

Perhaps, if the offense has made the jump many are clamoring for, they can even help Guillory reach another gear, too.

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