The 2023 season is about stepping into what a Brent Venables team is going to look like moving forward. 2022 was an aberration. It wasn’t representative of what this team will look like this season or even when the Sooners move into the SEC in 2024.
Through two games, Oklahoma’s defense looks like a different animal. Most notably, the Sooners have missed 22 fewer tackles through two games than they did in 2022. That’s a significant difference.
Last year against Kent State and UTEP, the Sooners allowed 16 points. This year against Arkansas State and SMU, Oklahoma allowed 11. Not a huge difference, but it’s still an improvement.
They’ve graded out as a better run defense and even a better pass rush, according to Pro Football Focus.
The other notable difference is how successful they’ve been on third down. Through two games a year ago, the Sooners’ defense allowed a third-down conversion 35% of the time. Arkansas State and SMU were only able to convert 21% of the time against Oklahoma’s defense.
There’s a lot still to prove each and every week for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023, and their next opportunity to prove that this team is “built different” is Saturday against Tulsa.
Here are this week’s Sooners Wire Staff Predictions.