2022 Oklahoma Sooners – Page 2

Oregon loss provides opening for USC in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll

Texas’ loss at home to TCU drops them out of the Coaches Poll, while USC moved up a spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. From @john9williams

The top six teams remained the same in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, with Georgia picking up 61 of 63 first-place votes. Ohio State and Michigan were the other teams to receive a first-place vote.

Just as soon as it looked like we had a handle on who the contenders for the national title were, one of those teams took a loss, knocking them out of contention.

That was the case for the Oregon Ducks, who’d been building momentum for the last several weeks. They lost a close one to the Washington Huskies 37-34 and, with a second loss, are essentially out of the playoff discussion. With UCLA also losing, the Pac-12’s only playoff hope resides with USC.

The Trojans may not have a resume full of ranked wins on their ledger, but they have just one loss. Depending on how the remainder of the season plays out, USC could find themselves in the playoff picture if they win out. USC will need to win the Pac-12 and hope the playoff committee views that as more valuable than anything Tennessee or the loser of Ohio State-Michigan has done this season.

The other wild card in all of this is two-loss LSU. They continue to find ways to win and have earned an SEC title berth. They’ve got top 10 wins over Alabama and Ole Miss. Their only losses on the season are to No. 5 Tennessee and Florida State, who came in at No. 20 in the latest coaches poll. Would the playoff committee permit a two-loss team into the CFP if the Tigers were able to win out and capture an SEC title?

The voters didn’t take too kindly to Texas‘ loss at home. They fell from No. 18 to outside the top 25 in the Coaches’ poll.

While the stat sheet will say it was just a seven-point loss, it took a botched mesh-point handoff between Max Duggan and Kendre Miller of TCU to score their first touchdown. The Longhorns’ offense was held to three points by a TCU defense that had allowed at least 24 points per game in each of their last seven games.

Oklahoma’s next opponent, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, earned their way back into the poll on the backs of a strong defensive performance against Iowa State. The Sooners and Cowboys will play Bedlam this Saturday night under the lights.

Here’s a look at the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Change
1	Georgia	10-0	1,572 (61)	–
2	Ohio State	10-0	1,509 (1)	–
3	Michigan	10-0	1,445 (1)	–
4	TCU	10-0	1,377	–
5	Tennessee	9-1	1,332	–
6	Southern California	9-1	1,214	+1
7	LSU	8-2	1,199	+1
8	Alabama	8-2	1,122	+3
9	Clemson	9-1	1,059	+3
10	Utah	8-2	961	+3
11	North Carolina	9-1	904	+3
12	Penn State	8-2	859	+3
13	Oregon	8-2	828	-7
14	Ole Miss	8-2	824	-5
15	Washington	8-2	670	+8
16	UCLA	8-2	572	-6
17	Kansas State	7-3	547	+5
18	Central Florida	8-2	522	+3
19	Notre Dame	7-3	412	+6
20	Florida State	7-3	364	+11
21	Cincinnati	8-2	236	+6
22	Tulane	8-2	203	-5
23	Coastal Carolina	9-1	179	+3
24	Oklahoma State	7-3	115	+4
25	NC State	7-3	89	-9

Schools dropped out:

No. 18 Texas; No. 19 Liberty; No. 20 Illinois; No. 24 Kentucky.

Others receiving votes:

Texas 76; Oregon State 62; Illinois 48; Texas-San Antonio 40; Troy 32; Minnesota 30; Duke 24; Liberty 9; Pittsburgh 8; Kentucky 8; Florida 8; Boise State 5; Air Force 5; Wake Forest 3; South Alabama 2; Toledo 1.

[listicle id=75424]

[listicle id=75412]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Oklahoma vs. Baylor: 4 Bears to know ahead of Saturday’s showdown

Ahead of Oklahoma’s Saturday afternoon showdown with Baylor, here are four Bears to know. From @thatmanbryant

Oklahoma has become quite familiar with their yearly tussles with the Baylor Bears. Whether it was Matt Rhule at the helm or now Dave Aranda, the Bears have provided a tough contest yearly. Games against Baylor haven’t been lopsided affairs in favor of Oklahoma for years now.

In 2019, Oklahoma had to come back from a 28-3 deficit to pick up the win. Later that year, in the Big 12 championship game, it was a one-score win for Jalen Hurts’ Sooners. In 2020, Spencer Rattler’s won 27-14, but it wasn’t an easy 13-point win, and then last year, Baylor handed the Sooners their first loss of the season.

On Saturday, they’ll duke it out once again.

This time the showdown will feature two defensive-minded head coaches, Brent Venables and Dave Aranda, doing battle in a conference that has long been lauded for its offensive prowess.

Last year’s Baylor team manhandled Oklahoma at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. Baylor could look to employ the same approach. However, their personnel this year is different than before. Guys like Jalen Pitre, Terrel Bernard, Abram Smith, Trestan Ebner, Tyquan Thornton, and Gerry Bohannon are no longer on the roster. They are relying on some other faces to step up and make plays.

Here are four Baylor players to know ahead of the showdown.

[lawrence-related id=74858]

Tie for No. 2, Oklahoma State falls in latest AP Top 25

We have a tie for No. 2 in the latest AP Poll, and Kansas State makes a big jump after their 48-0 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. From @BenDackiw

For the first time in almost two decades, there is a tie at No. 2 in the AP Top 25. Both Ohio State and Tennessee have exactly 1,500 points, although the Volunteers have 18 first-place votes to the Buckeyes’ 15.

Other than Tennessee technically moving up from No. 3 to No. 2, there wasn’t any movement in the top eight. Beyond the top eight, the poll gets interesting.

Oregon, USC, and UCLA round out the top 10. The Pac-12 is tied with the SEC for most teams in the top 10, with three teams each.

Depending on which Big 12 fan you ask, it was either a great week or a terrible week. TCU remains the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 7, and Kansas State jumped nine spots to No. 13. That big jump, however, came at the expense of Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys fell nine spots after losing to K-State, 48-0, in the biggest loss of the Mike Gundy era. They did not have the biggest fall this week. That honor goes to Wake Forest, who fell 10 spots after losing to Louisville, 48-21.

There are a few new faces in the poll this week. The Liberty Flames are back for the first time since 2020, and the Oregon State Beavers are ranked for the first time since 2013.

Two teams fell out of the rankings, and both call the SEC East home. Kentucky and South Carolina are unranked. The Wildcats hadn’t been unranked all season.

There are some very interesting top-10 matchups on the schedule this week. Alabama is heading to Death Valley to take on LSU. Brian Kelly’s Tigers are very much in play for the SEC West title. They beat Ole Miss two weeks ago. If they beat Alabama, they’ll be in control of the division.

As we get closer to College Football Playoff time, the margin for error is only getting smaller. If LSU beats Alabama, the Tide’s hopes of returning to the playoff are dead.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=74548]

[listicle id=74473]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Ben on Twitter @bendackiw.

Oklahoma vs. Iowa State through the years in stunning photos

A look back at some of the best photos in the series between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Iowa State Cyclones.

The Oklahoma Sooners hold an incredible 78-7-2 record against the Iowa State Cyclones in the history of the series. What’s incredible is that two of those wins have come since 2017

Prior to the 2017 upset in Norman, the Oklahoma Sooners had lost just one game to Iowa State between 1962 and 2016. That’s one win in 54 years for Iowa State against the Sooners. So, it’s only been recently that the Cyclones can actually make this a competitive contest. Even in the dark days prior to Bob Stoops’ arrival, the Oklahoma Sooners won every game from 1991 to through Stoops’ tenure with the Sooners.

That’s how dominant Oklahoma’s been in the series. Of course, none of that matters on Saturday when the teams lock up. Just like it didn’t matter last season when Oklahoma fell to Iowa State or in 2017 when the Cyclones knocked off the Sooners in Lincoln Riley’s first season as head coach. Can Brent Venables avoid a loss to the Cyclones in his first season at the helm?

Iowa State has one of the best defenses in the country, which could pose some problems for Oklahoma. But if the Sooners’ offense plays the way it did against the Kansas Jayhawks, they’ll score enough points to win, even if they don’t hit the 30-point threshold.

But before we get to Saturday, let’s take a look back at the history of the matchup through some of the best photos dating back to the turn of the century.

Oklahoma Sooners name captains for week 9 matchup with Iowa State

Oklahoma’s captains for the Sooners road trip to face the Iowa State Cyclones.

Coming out of the bye week, the Oklahoma Sooners look to keep the good times rolling with a road trip to Ames to take on the Iowa State Cyclones.

Iowa State is 3-4 and 0-4 in the Big 12, but their four straight losses have come by an average margin of 3.5 points per game. The Cyclones haven’t lost a game by more than a touchdown this season and will provide the Sooners with yet another test in a season that’s gone much differently than expected.

Oklahoma is getting ready to take on a team that’s beaten the Sooners twice since 2017 and handed Oklahoma a loss the last time they made the trip up north. The Sooners hold a 78-7-2 edge in the historical matchup that dates back to 1928. But the Cyclones have caused problems for their Big 8 rival in recent years.

Tasked with leading Oklahoma into Ames are Andrew Raym, Reggie Grimes, Anton Harrison, Marvin Mims, and Danny Stutsman, who were named captains for this week’s matchup.

Best photos of the Oklahoma Sooners captains for their matchup with Iowa State.

ESPN’s midseason grade of Oklahoma’s Brent Venables shortsighted

ESPN’s grade of Brent Venables at the midway point of 2022 doesn’t see the big picture. Good things are still coming for the Oklahoma Sooners.

The first year of the Brent Venables era hasn’t gone as well as Venables or anybody else would have expected. After three wins to open the season, the Sooners dropped their next three, the first three games in Big 12 play, and gave up 40+ points each week.

ESPN graded each head coach in their new locale at the midway point of the season. Though it’s still early in his tenure, ESPN didn’t look too favorably on Venables after giving the Oklahoma Football program a B+ for the hire at the time Venables was brought on board. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg gave Venables a D+ (ESPN+).

The grade might seem harsh, as Oklahoma played almost two games without star quarterback Dillon Gabriel and faced other personnel challenges. The Sooners also rebounded nicely on Saturday against short-handed Kansas, piling up points and yards and limiting some of the defensive meltdowns that had surfaced in the previous three games. But what happened against TCU and particularly Texas is unforgivable for a program such as Oklahoma and a coach with Venables’ credentials on defense. Oklahoma endured its first three-game losing streak since 1998 and absorbed its worst shutout loss in team history, while allowing its highest points total ever to Texas. Although the Sooners bounced back in Gabriel’s return on Saturday, they still allowed 42 points to a Kansas team playing with its backup quarterback. “You’ve got to continue to plant seeds of belief, not seeds of doubt and destruction,” Venables told me in September. “These players, they expect to win. We want them to play well. You’ve got to find that delicate balance as you’re building a culture and standards. You’ve got to nurture it too. In the middle of competition, in the middle of failure, mental stress and chaos, your job as a coach is to help in telling the truth, so you’re learning personalities and how to get the most out of guys and pushing the right buttons.” – Rittenberg, ESPN

You’re right, Adam. It is a bit harsh. Expectations were probably too high for a team that lost six defensive starters, five of which were selected in the 2022 NFL draft. Three of those five were key figures to your defensive front that accounts for the lack of pressure the Sooners are creating from their defensive line. The losses of Nik Bonitto, Isaiah Thomas, and Perrion Winfrey weigh heavier than they did at the start of the season.

Throughout the losing streak, Venables discussed the need for the players to be better and for the coaches to improve as well. In particular, there were things on the defensive side of the ball that needed to improve.

While the Sooners gave up 42 points in their win over Kansas, they had a stretch where they stopped the Kansas offense on four-straight possessions with three punts and an interception mixed in for good measure. It was enough for the Sooners’ offense to jump out to a 35-21 halftime lead and control the game the rest of the way.

Brent Venables knows how to coach. He’s been doing it a very long time and has spent time under some of the best in the business over the last 30 years. There’s little doubt that Oklahoma will be a formidable program moving forward. It may take this year and next to get everything established that he wants in Norman, but the defense will come around. He’s been coaching defense at a high level for far too long for it not to evolve into one of the best in the country in a few years’ time.

This is just year one. The results in year one aren’t great, but good thing we don’t judge a book before we reach it’s climax. The “fast, suffocating defense” is on the way.

[listicle id=73918]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Where did the Big 12 land in USA TODAY Sports’ 1-131 re-rank after week 7

Where do the Big 12 teams rank in USA TODAY Sports’ latest 1-131 re-rank after week 7?

A new team has entered the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and is also in the top 10 of the latest 1-131 re-rank from USA TODAY Sports.

After three-straight wins over previously undefeated Oklahoma, Kansas, and Oklahoma State, the TCU Horned Frogs look like the class of the Big 12. That’s represented as such with their first top 10 ranking since 2017.

Max Duggan and the Horned Frogs overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to Oklahoma State to win in double overtime and stay undefeated.

They have another tough test this week with Kansas State, who is 5-1 and 3-0 in Big 12 play. If TCU wins, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for a berth in the Big 12 title game. If they lose, they’ll have to rely on some head-to-head tiebreakers to potentially sort out the mess.

The Big 12 features three teams in the top 15 and four in the top 20. Oklahoma experienced the biggest rise after their 52-42 win over Kansas and Baylor suffered the largest fall after their three-point loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown.

Let’s take a look at how the Big 12 squads rank in the latest 1-131 re-rank.

Though still in concussion protocol Dillon Gabriel expected to play Saturday vs. Kansas

Still in concussion protocol, Dillon Gabriel expected to play Saturday vs. the Kansas Jayhawks.

[autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] took part in warmups and a full pregame with his Oklahoma Sooners teammates in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday but ultimately wasn’t cleared to play last week in practice. His presence on the field amounted to gamesmanship and just working through the process.

Still in the protocol as of Tuesday, Gabriel looks to be progressing Ahead of a pivotal matchup with the No. 20 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. The Oklahoma Sooners may have their quarterback when they return home to Norman.

“He’s full-go at practice,” [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] said during his weekly press conference. “I think they’ve just continued, whatever all those tests are, they do those to make sure they are on the right side of it. If he continues to stay out of harm’s way in regards to that protocol, I would expect him to play.”

Venables went on to say that they would know more about Gabriel’s status after Thursday’s practice.

For a team in desperate need of a win, the Oklahoma Sooners would benefit greatly from having their starting quarterback back.

Oklahoma’s offense had no passing threat in the shutout loss to the Texas Longhorns or in the blowout loss to TCU after Gabriel went down. His ability to connect with [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and the Sooners’ receivers provided a dynamic element to the offense and opened things up for the running game.

The charge for Oklahoma is finding a balance between playing uptempo football, being efficient offensively, and keeping a defense that’s allowed 48 points per game over the last three contests off the field.

[listicle id=73382]

[listicle id=73372]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Oklahoma State, TCU stay undefeated: Big 12 Power Rankings after week 6

Oklahoma State and TCU remained undefeated ahead of their week seven matchup in Fort Worth, while Oklahoma drops to 0-3 in Big 12 play.

Oklahoma’s 49-0 loss to the Texas Longhorns was the only game on the Big 12 schedule to be decided by more than 10 points. The other three games had an average margin of victory of six.

The Big 12 looks like a deep conference this season, aside from the Sooners at this point. Most games have been competitive and entertaining affairs.

Six teams could be viewed as legit conference title contenders at this point in the season, and Texas Tech and Iowa State have played tough, even in Big 12 losses. We’ve still got seven weeks of the Big 12 calendar left to go and with what we’ve seen thus far, it looks like it will be an entertaining Big 12 title race.