Oklahoma football: Trey Metoyer battled the urge to quit, listened to advice from Justin Brown

“He almost wanted to give up, to be honest with you,” said David Metoyer, Trey's father.

Trey Metoyer has admitted feeling that way a few times over the past 17 months, but each time, he leaned on those closest to him for perspective and guidance. This time, a source of strength was Justin Brown, one of Metoyer's new teammates who took some of the playing time that was supposed to be his.

“Trey Metoyer started the year off a highly touted player, big expectations, got a lot of attention,” said OU co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. “It was amazing to see Justin Brown really come out of nowhere into our program and become a guy that the other players began to look up to, and then become a guy that really gave back to Trey.”

The freshman originally signed as part of Oklahoma's 2011 recruiting class, but he failed to qualify academically. That was the first time thoughts of quitting crept in.

Over the next few months, while toiling through a tough semester at military school, he thought a few times about throwing his hands up in surrender.

Metoyer enrolled at OU in January — almost a full year after first signing — and starred three months later in the Sooners' spring game, continuing to build excitement for what was supposed to be a breakout freshman year.