It’s finally time. No more preseason rankings. No more talking heads ranking the new head coaching hires. No more college football playoff expansion. No more offseason hype videos. Finally. It is time for Oklahoma football once again.
It has been 271 days since Brent Venables landed in Norman, 279 days since the former head coach deaparted and 248 days since the Sooners last took the field in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl against Oregon.
The team that wil be wearing the crimson and cream this afternoon will be very different than that squad.
The leading rusher Kennedy Brooks is gone. Both starting quarterbacks departed for USCs on opposite sides of the country. The defense will utilize an entirely different scheme, as will the offense.
The Brent Venables era will officially begin today. I’ve long said that, despite his phenomenal resume, Venables needs to prove he can be the guy in charge on Saturdays.
Since being brought in, Venables has completely changed the culture around Oklahoma football. The coaches feel it and so do the players. How will that change affect how the team plays on Saturdays? Well, it’s time to find out.
A year ago, Oklahoma played Tulane in Norman after a hurricane pushed the game out of New Orleans. The then No. 2 ranked Sooners struggled in the second half against the inferior Green Wave, limping to a 40-35 win. That score would become a theme for the season. The only teams Oklahoma beat by more than a score were TCU and Texas Tech: both of which had recently fired their head coaches.
If the Sooners have similar issues against UTEP today, something went horribly wrong. It’s really that simple. After all of the talk of how different this program is now, it’s time to show it. UTEP has no business hanging around in this football game.
Today marks the real beginning of a new era for Oklahoma football. It’s time for the Sooners to retake their spot among college football’s elite.
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