Clearly I should take more weekend trips to Green Bay. After three dreadful and long weeks, the Oklahoma Sooners are finally back in the win column after hanging more than “half a hundred” on Kansas.
Dillon Gabriel might be one of the most valuable players in all of college football. The offense we saw today and the offense we saw in Dallas were two completely different units. We always knew the quarterback position is the most valuable position on the field, but seeing the Sooners without Dillon Gabriel was a good reminder why that is.
Gabriel completed 69% of his passes for 403 yards and two touchdowns. He added a touchdown on the ground and mercilessly dissected the Jayhawks defense all day.
I’m always nervous for the player after a concussion. The effects can be awful, both on and off the field. Gabriel looked like he had never gotten knocked out against TCU. If he had played against Texas and played as good as he played today, the Sooners may not have won, but it at least would’ve been a game.
In Gabriel’s absence, everyone forgot just how potent this OU offense can be. Playing like that, the Sooners have a fighting chance in every game they play for the rest of this season.
With how the defense is playing, they might have to.
Perhaps the coaching staff can hammer out some of the bugs during the bye week, but Oklahoma State and Baylor are coming up fast on the schedule. There isn’t much time for the defense to improve.
Today’s win got the Sooners out of last place in the Big 12. That’s what we should be focusing on. The storm has mercifully moved on from Norman, Oklahoma.
Now that the Sooners are out of their free fall, what’s next?
Well, contending for a Big 12 title isn’t happening. So, that leaves fighting to make it to six wins and bowl eligibility. Then, Venables needs to keep that recruiting class together. If those two things happen, the Sooners are in good shape for 2023 and beyond.
What we have seen in the past three weeks were the first-year lumps that we never got with Lincoln Riley. Venables took the Sooners through a really bad stretch of games and came out on the other side with a smile. If Dillon Gabriel can stay healthy, this team will just keep winning.
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