The 2023 college football season is still three months away. However, with what Brent Venables and this coaching staff have done in the transfer portal, there’s optimism surrounding the Sooners’ prospects this fall.
Count Athlon Sports’ Steve Lassan as a believer in a Sooners rebound. The college football writer put the Sooners in his preseason top 25 and has Oklahoma ranked No. 2 in his Big 12 power rankings for 2023.
[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ debut didn’t go according to plan with Oklahoma posting its first losing season since 1998. However, with a little better luck (0-5 in one-score games last season), and some improvement on a defense that struggled to stop the run and allowed 6.04 yards per snap in conference play, the Sooners should rebound back into the top 25. Venables hit the portal hard for help on defense and the second year under this staff should help this group show some improvement. Replacing a couple of starters up front and finding new playmakers at receiver with [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] departing tops the list of offseason priorities for play-caller [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag]. However, the foundation is strong here with quarterback [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and running backs [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] and [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] leading the offense. – Lassan, Athlon Sports
In their power rankings over at Athlon Sports, Texas was No. 1 and Oklahoma was followed by Kansas State at No. 3 and TCU at No. 4.
So much of what Oklahoma will be about in 2023 is going to come down to how much improvement they can make on the defensive side of the ball. In four of the five one-score losses for the Sooners in 2022, the defense allowed 30 points or more. In the one loss where the defense held their opponents under 30 points, the Sooners didn’t have an answer for West Virginia’s ground game spearheaded by Garrett Greene.
The offense has areas to improve, particularly in the red zone and on third down. However, if the defense doesn’t make a significant jump, this team will still be trying to outscore teams to win. And that wasn’t a recipe for a lot of success in 2022.
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