With several weeks of spring practice to go, the Oklahoma Sooners look positioned to be contenders in the Big 12 yet again. It’ll be another competitive year in the Big 12 with Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas but there might be some other teams that could cause problems in the conference.
Over at 247Sports, Will Backus looked at some of the games in the 2022 season that might have upset potential. The Oklahoma Sooners landed on the list with an old nemesis from the Lincoln Riley era, Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats.
Kansas State is this writer’s pick for Big 12 dark horse. The conference is as wide open as ever, and most teams have gone through some sort of massive change, be it to the coaching staff or on the roster. Oklahoma was a victim of both. The Sooners lost coach [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] to USC, and Riley took starting quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] and star wide receiver [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag] with him. Outside of those, Oklahoma lost [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], its top two rushers, four of its top five receivers, three of five starting offensive linemen, its top three sack leaders and three of its top four linebackers. Even with Oklahoma’s transfer additions, that is an absurd amount of attrition. – Backus, 247Sports
Listen, we get it, the Oklahoma Sooners lost a ton of guys to the transfer portal and to the draft. But it’s not like the cupboard’s bare behind them or that they didn’t add players in the transfer portal to replace them. Oklahoma got arguably the best quarterback in the transfer portal not named Caleb Williams or Spencer Rattler. One could make the argument that [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]’s experience and production puts him in that tier of player even if he didn’t have the same number of stars or hype that the former Sooners’ quarterbacks came to OU with.
On defense, the Sooners brought in several veteran player to help mitigate the departures of six starters. [autotag]Jeffery Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Jonah Laulu[/autotag], [autotag]T.D. Roof[/autotag], and [autotag]Trey Morrison[/autotag] arrive at Oklahoma with a ton of snaps under their belt. Each has a chance to start or become a significant rotational player for the Sooners in 2022, and at the same time, they’ve got players all over the defense that have been sitting behind future NFL players, developing and waiting for their chance.
While [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag], [autotag]Nik Bonitto[/autotag], and [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag] were big losses, the Oregon game showed off the potential from the defensive front as they harrassed Ducks’ quarterback Anthony Brown into three sacks against a pretty good Oregon offensive line.
On offense, they return their best wide receivers from the last two seasons in [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. Mims has led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of the last two seasons. In 2020, Wease tied with Mims for the team lead in receptions. [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] returns and [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] looks primed for a breakout in 2022.
On the offensive line, [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] helps mitigate the loss of [autotag]Marquis Hayes[/autotag], who was an anchor of the Oklahoma offensive line for several seasons. The only question with that unit is who will start at right tackle?
Kansas State is the exact opposite. The Wildcats surgically plugged any holes on their roster via the transfer portal. The big addition was Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, who had a roller coaster 2021 but was considered a Heisman Trophy contender just a couple years ago. Chris Klieman’s squad also boasts running back Deuce Vaughn, one of the most electric players in the nation, and what should be the best defensive line in the Big 12. With this being both teams’ first conference game, this is a prime opportunity for Kansas State to establish itself as a threat. – Backus, 247Sports
Deuce Vaughn has been a problem for years and will be a problem again in 2022, but if Chris Klieman can’t help [autotag]Adrian Martinez[/autotag] protect the ball better, Kansas State won’t contend in the Big 12. He’s a solid quarterback that kept Nebraska in some games last season, but his penchant for putting the ball on the ground also put them behind in a lot of games.
Chris Klieman is one of the best coaches in the Big 12 and the Wildcats have been a thorn in the side of the Sooners at times, but Oklahoma is still the more talented team. An upset is always a possibility in the competitive Big 12 conference, but the Oklahoma Sooners will be the favorite in nearly every game they play in 2022 if not all of them.
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