I came to three conclusions following the Oklahoma Sooners’ 49-0 loss to the Texas Longhorns last weekend.
- This team is nothing without Dillon Gabriel
- Lincoln Riley did far more damage when he left than I thought
- It quite literally cannot get worse than this
That was the most lopsided loss to the Longhorns in program history. On top of that, before last Saturday, the Sooners had never lost back-to-back games by 30-plus points. At the moment, the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners are a broken mess of a football team.
Of course, at the moment, they are without Dillon Gabriel. His presence doesn’t change the outcome, but Gabriel playing is worth at least a couple of touchdowns. Jeff Lebby’s offense not being forced to run the wildcat for most of the game is worth at least a couple of touchdowns.
I was wrong about Davis Beville. I had hoped that he would look better after a week of practice, but I was wrong. He was absolutely dreadful. There’s an obvious lack of trust in the quarterbacks on the roster not named Dillon Gabriel. Otherwise, Nick Evers or even General Booty would have made an appearance much sooner against Texas.
When Gabriel does return, the Sooners will be back to being respectable on the offensive side of the ball. They will win games again this season and make it to a bowl game. In that regard, the Sooners are fine.
The defensive side of the ball is far more complicated. After starting the year off strong, the OU pass rush has gone cold. They’ve managed just one sack in Big 12 play. The linebackers, probably the most stable position group of this defense, are difficult to get a read on, but are still missing far too many tackles. The secondary without Billy Bowman is an absolute mess. They were awful against Max Duggan, and they were downright helpless against Quinn Ewers. They couldn’t track the ball when it was in the air, they couldn’t tackle, and they cannot cover.
That is the current state of the OU defense, but how did we reach this point?
We underestimated the impact of losing several starters to the NFL Draft. Nik Bonitto, Delarrin Turner-Yell, Brian Asamoah, Isaiah Thomas, and Perrion Winfrey are all sorely missed. The players in those spots just aren’t contributing, particularly on the edge and at safety. Again, I’m not referring to Billy Bowman.
As for Brent Venables, I maintain that he was the right man for the job. The wins aren’t coming yet, but they will. These next few weeks will show us just what he can do when the odds are stacked against him. If the players play hard and the Sooners finish with bowl eligibility, I will be happy.
Something that was perhaps unexpected was the emergence of certain Big 12 programs. Baylor and Oklahoma State were the biggest threats to the Sooners in the preseason. Then Kansas and TCU started winning games. Lance Leipold and Sonny Dykes may end up being the two best head coaching hires of the decade. Both the Horned Frogs and Jayhawks will be in the running for the Big 12 title. The Frogs were not supposed to do that to the Sooners.
Finally, it’s time to talk about Lincoln Riley.
He butchered this program. It doesn’t matter whether what he did was ethical or not. He butchered the program.
Riley took players, coaches, and recruits with him to USC. His departure sparked an exodus from the OU offense, including both Austin Stogner and Jaden Haselwood. The Sooners lost so much in the past year. We should have seen this coming.
There’s a huge mess in Norman that needs to be cleaned up by Brent Venables and his coaching staff. In the months to come, it may get better. It definitely can’t get worse.
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