Oklahoma native Owen Condon looks ahead to Rose Bowl as Bulldogs' signee
Owen Condon grew up an SEC fan and closely followed Georgia football throughout his childhood.
His peers, not so much. Condon was raised in Oklahoma City, 24 miles outside of Norman, Oklahoma. Many of Condon’s friends have been lifelong fans of the hometown Sooners, and there was plenty of friendly trash talk among them.
Condon is set to sign with the Bulldogs as a three-star offensive tackle on Dec. 20 — just 11 days before Georgia and Oklahoma are set to tussle in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl for a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Needless to say, the chatter has intensified among those who Condon associates with.
“It makes it fun because they’re all die hard fans,” Condon said. “A lot of my parents' friends are big-time OU fans, too. These are two very passionate fan bases, and I think it makes for fun being out here. It puts a bigger spotlight on me because of the game, obviously.”
A majority of the talk Condon hears from Oklahoma fans comes in regard to Sooners’ quarterback Baker Mayfield. The recently named Heisman Trophy winner has accrued 4,340 passing yards and 41 touchdowns this season, and those around Norman are confident in another strong performance from Mayfield, who will come up against Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith, a Butkus Award winner.
“Baker’s going to go off on Georgia’s defense,” Condon hears from many as he walks the halls of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School.
After Condon’s peers voice their opinion on how Oklahoma has an advantage over Georgia, they’re then kind enough to congratulate the future Bulldogs’ signee on a successful recruiting process. So the jabs at his future team aren't something he takes too personally.
Condon now awaits the moment when the two teams are set to compete in Pasadena, California. He’ll then get to see if the trash talk continues. Condon plans to watch the festivities alongside a large group of Sooners’ fans — and some Oklahoma State fans who have become Georgia fans due to their contempt toward their arch rival.
“It’ll be awesome to watch that and know that I’ve just signed to play for the program,” Condon said. “It’s exciting to see the program do this in (Georgia head coach) Kirby Smart’s second year. It’ll be fun to watch, and I like the matchup for Georgia.”
Condon predicts a close game in the national semifinal, with the Bulldogs coming out on top 27-24. His prediction is backed by the belief that Georgia’s defense will “wear down” the opposing offensive attack, which would give quarterback Jake Fromm the opportunity to win it for his offense.
While Condon watches eagerly in hopes that Georgia will get a step closer to claiming its first national title since 1980, he didn’t expect this amount of success to occur in Smart’s second season. Condon thinks fondly of the coaching staff’s abilities, but he envisioned a hard-fought loss in the SEC Championship.
Now that they’re to this point, however, Condon believes it speaks to the future of the program.
“It’s about Kirby as a coach and the staff he’s surrounded himself with,” Condon said. “They know what they’re doing, and he obviously inherited a great team. His coaching has taken them to the next level. It’ll be exciting to see what it’ll be to play like alongside those top recruiting classes. We’ll be on top of the SEC for a while.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Oklahoma native Owen Condon looks ahead to Rose Bowl as Bulldogs' signee."