NORMAN — The chant means more to Drake Stoops than it once did.

“It just feels good and almost like vindication for a lot of hard work and adversity,” Stoops said of the “Stooooooops” chant that rings out every time he touches the ball — both at home and away.

Stoops’ OU career comes to a close Thursday when the Sooners take on Arizona at 8:15 p.m. in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio in a game televised on ESPN.

When Stoops arrived at OU way back in 2018, he was something of a novelty — the son of legendary Sooners’ coach Bob Stoops, an undersized wide receiver and a Norman North product who had turned down a few scholarship offers to walk-on in Norman.

It didn’t take long before he was questioning his choice.

Stoops’ career got off to a fairly quick start, catching two passes in the 2018 season opener to become what is believed to be the first true freshman walk-on in program history to record a catch in the season opener.

But after playing the next week against UCLA, Stoops didn’t appear in a game the rest of the year.

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The same day as that second game, Stoops’ best friend, Jake Thomas-Simmons, died nearly two weeks after being involved in a single-vehicle accident.

“It was just a hard time,” Stoops said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to keep playing football and used to being the guy and now you’re redshirting, you can’t play. Am I good enough for this level?”

When he’d tell his mom, Carol, about his struggles, she’d say the same thing.

“Drake, what do you love? You love football. You love your teammates. You would be there for your teammates, kind of no matter where your place ends up,” Carol said.

When Stoops chose to go to OU, his parents didn’t worry about the weight his father’s legacy carried.

“Honestly anywhere it might’ve been a weight,” Carol said. “Obviously here, but he overcame even more coming here. So I wasn’t worried. I just knew it was a lot to handle in the beginning but he did it well and just kept working.”

For Bob, the lack of worry was simple.

“I knew he was good enough,” Bob said. “I knew he would do well. So when you know that, there’s not a lot to worry about.”

The similarities with his father are hard to ignore.

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The gritty determination that helped him excel is similar to what made Bob successful both as a player at Iowa and as a coach.

But Carol played a significant role in Drake’s football development.

“You’ve got to give my mom some credit,” Stoops said. “You’ve got to think — she’s the one who spent the most time with us. My dad was usually busy. He’s coaching, he’s at practice and who’s going to throw the ball to us on the trampoline? It was my mom throwing it over the net.”

And neither Drake nor is twin brother Isaac made it easy on her.

“It was my mom throwing it over the net and was just like, ‘Mom, throw it higher, throw it farther, throw it so we have to dive,’” Drake said. “Just trying to recreate those cool plays we watched on Saturdays, recreate it in our backyard as little guys.”

Drake would try to recreate the catches he’d seen by Mark Clayton and Juaquin Iglesias, Kenny Stills and Ryan Broyles.

Isaac helped develop Drake’s competitiveness and toughness.

That’s evident in the scar on Drake’s chin.

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When the twins were about six, they were running around a pool during a trip to Mexico when Isaac slammed Drake to the deck.

“Yeah, ruined vacation,” Drake said with a smile. “He’s my guy forever. That even instilled that competitive edge, constantly — constantly — to be as good as I could be. Always in competition with him. Really pushed me to be exactly how I am, tough as nails and all those things.”

By his second season, Stoops carved out a regular role for himself. By 2020, he was in the receiver rotation and made the game-winning touchdown catch against Texas.

But even after he found a role, and even after those chants started ringing out, there were still lingering questions.

He’d wonder if the chants were just because of his father and not based on his value.

“No, Drake, you played at Norman North. It’s for you,” Carol told him. “The last few years he’s known. But that took awhile. It’s great to see him enjoy now what he’s worked so hard for. He’s worked so much for it that the enjoyment wasn’t always there. It was just always that uphill battle and he’s never good enough.”

Pulling himself out of the shadows of his father and creating a name in his own right has been a process that hasn’t always been easy but it’s paid off.

“I kind of just put my head down and went to work and went brick by brick, day by day,” Drake said. “Slowly but surely, I looked up and I liked what I saw.”

This season, his sixth in Norman, Stoops made a significant leap, becoming the Sooners’ top receiver.

He enters the Alamo Bowl with 78 catches — 37 more than anyone else on the roster — for 880 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“He never backed down from the fight of it all,” Bob Stoops said. “He was going to fight and earn his place every day and he doesn’t have a problem with that, obviously. That’s what he did. He made his way and made it great.”

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Alamo Bowl

No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Arizona

KICKOFF: 8:15 p.m. Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (ESPN)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football receiver Drake Stoops carves out unique path with Sooners