OU enters a pivotal season with a brutal schedule for the second straight year.
The Oklahoma Sooners had one of the hardest schedules in the country in 2024, their first season in the Southeastern Conference. OU went 6-7 in [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ third season at the helm. Oklahoma’s 4-1 nonconference record wasn’t enough to overcome a 2-6 mark in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play.
The league’s schedule-makers didn’t do the Sooners any favors last year, with a gauntlet of a slate, especially compared to conference foes like Texas, who played just two league opponents with a winning conference record. OU, by comparison, played six, not including the Longhorns themselves.
With the eight conference opponents in 2025 merely flipping from 2024, Oklahoma again will have to navigate a brutally tough schedule in a pivotal season in Norman. And once again, their archrivals will get the easy end of things for the second straight year, playing only Georgia and Texas A&M.
Brad Crawford, who writes for 247Sports, ranked the ten toughest schedules in college football for 2025. He ranked OU’s gauntlet as the hardest in the entire country. He projected that the Sooners will play a ridiculous eight ranked opponents in one season.
No one’s taking up a plate and offering relief for Brent Venables’ program in 2025, which is coming off a disappointing finish and landed quarterback [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag] in the portal in hopes of reversing fortunes. The Sooners have a prime opportunity in Week 2 for a statement win against Michigan, the first of eight ranked opponents over the final 10 games. – Crawford, 247Sports
Five other SEC teams made the list, all within the top seven. Mississippi State, Florida, Arkansas, LSU, and Vanderbilt will also be facing quite a brutal road in 2025.
Oklahoma adds a big nonconference bout with Michigan to their league slate. Fortunately, their other three nonconference games are against Illinois State, Temple, and Kent State.
However, that’s where the easy things end. OU’s conference schedule features home games against Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU. Those games are interspersed with road tilts against South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. Throw in the yearly neutral-site game against Texas, and you’ve got a schedule that looks even tougher than last year’s.
Entering a crucial season for the program, Venables and his team will have to pull it together and be better than just about everyone is expecting. Otherwise, there will be big changes coming to one of college football’s premiere programs.
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Do the Oklahoma Sooners need to look into adding more talent in the spring transfer portal window?
The Oklahoma Sooners made some moves in the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag], landing the top quarterback in the portal class in [autotag], John Mateer[/autotag], and several other impact players like linebacker [autotag]Kendal Daniels[/autotag], offensive tackle [autotag]Derek Simmons[/autotag], and wide receiver [autotag]Javonnie Gibson[/autotag] to name a few.
But the Sooners will have an opportunity to add more talent to the roster when the spring portal window opens in April. But what do the Sooners still need to add? Well, Pete Nakos of On3 identified three positions the Sooners should pursue when the portal window opens again.
But Oklahoma will need to target players at the cornerback, linebacker and tight end position in the spring transfer portal window. – Nakos, On3
Nakos discussed Oklahoma’s additions at tight end. The Sooners have brought in three players: Carson Kent, Will Huggins, and walk-on John Locke. They still have [autotag]Kaden Helms[/autotag], [autotag]Kade McIntyre[/autotag], and [autotag]Davon Mitchell[/autotag]. There’s talk that the Sooners may move Jaren Kanak to the offensive side of the ball, presumably at tight end. So would the Sooners allocate another spot to a tight end? With Ben Arbuckle as the offensive coordinator, it seems like a stretch.
In his two years at Washington State, the leader in snaps at tight end averaged just 371 snaps. Only one tight end each season played more than 300 snaps on the year. For reference, over the last two seasons, Oklahoma’s tight ends played an average of 717.5 snaps, nearly double what Arbuckle asks of the position.
In the passing game, tight end wasn’t a priority. In 2024, the tight end leader in targets for the Cougars only saw 19 targets, which was fifth in the passing hierarchy. In 2023, Cooper Matthews, the Cougars starting tight end, only saw 26 targets, but that was sixth on the team.
Oklahoma’s tight ends averaged 39 targets over the last two seasons, with Bauer Sharp leading the Sooners with 55 targets in 2024. Though Austin Stogner wasn’t a big part of the passing game in 2023, he still received a ton of snaps for the Sooners last year.
Though Oklahoma may not have a clear answer at tight end in 2025, there may not need to be one. Arbuckle’s offense was content running personnel groupings without a tight end than Jeffy Lebby, Seth Littrell, or Joe John Finley were.
That doesn’t mean OU won’t utilize a tight end, because they have several athletically gifted players in Helms, McIntyre, and Mitchell that can be threats in the passing attack. It simply means that Arbuckle won’t need to force a tight end onto the field to make his offense work if he doesn’t have one that can make plays.
So while the Sooners will likely dip back into the transfer portal this spring for depth, tight end isn’t a place where they need to add, they simply need to develop the talent that they have on the roster already.
At linebacker, the Sooners lose Danny Stutsman. It’s a huge loss that will likely be filled by former four-star prospect Kobie McKinzie. McKinzie has seen an increased snap count over the last two years after redshirting in 2022. He, along with Kip Lewis, are expected to start with Samuel Omosigho, Kendal Daniels, Owen Heinecke, James Nesta, and possibly Jaren Kanak, providing depth at the position. Could the Sooners add a veteran depth option? Possibly. But it doesn’t feel like a glaring need for the team, either.
Of the three spots Nakos discusses, cornerback feels like an immediate need. Eli Bowen, Jacobe Johnson, and Gentry Williams appear to be the leaders to start for Oklahoma at cornerback. But given Johnson and Bowen’s inexperience and Williams’ injury issues, the Sooners could use a veteran option in the even those three guys don’t take strides or can’t stay on the field.
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On3 analyst ranked the top 10 quarterbacks for 2025. Where did John Mateer land?
By far, the biggest transfer portal addition for the Oklahoma Sooners this offseason has been former Washington State quarterback [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag]. The first-year starter led the FBS in total touchdowns in 2024 and was the top available player in the portal.
Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and the Sooners got a big win when they landed him, with plenty of help from offensive coordinator [autotag]Ben Arbuckle[/autotag], who coached Mateer at WSU. Their familiarity will hopefully pay dividends when the Sooners have the football next year.
With a game changer back under center again in Norman, there is some optimism heading into 2025 for Sooner Nation. OU’s new QB has been getting love from various analysts since he decided to sign with Oklahoma.
With the conclusion of the 2024 college football season, On3 Sports’ J.D. PicKell took to social media to rank his Top 10 returning quarterbacks for the 2025 season. Mateer ranked sixth on the list. South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers was the best of the bunch, according to PicKell.
Mateer was ranked third out of five [autotag]SEC [/autotag]quarterbacks in PicKell’s rankings. He fell behind Sellers and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and ahead of both Florida’s DJ Lagway and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava.
Mateer will have duels with Sellers, Nussmeier, and Iamaleava next season, along with Texas’ Arch Manning, in a very pivotal season for Venables and the program.
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Oklahoma Sooners with just one player included on ESPN’s top 100 for the 2024 season. Who was snubbed?
The Oklahoma Sooners enter 2025 without one of the key leaders during the Brent Venables era. Linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] is off to the NFL after leading the Sooners defense over the last three seasons. He finished his career with three seasons of at least 100 tackles as the face of the program and leader of OU’s defensive resurgence.
Oklahoma’s recruited well on the defensive side of the ball, but after a 6-7 season, that talent isn’t getting a lot of respect as Stutsman was the only Sooner included in ESPN’s top 100 players for the 2024 season.
54. Danny Stutsman, LB
Stutsman was the leader of an Oklahoma defense that was much improved this past season, climbing from 79th in total defense (389.4 yards) in the FBS in 2023 to 19th (318.2). The senior from Windermere, Florida, ranked fourth in the SEC with 9.1 tackles per game and sixth with 110 stops overall. In three seasons, Stutsman had 376 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, 8 sacks and 3 interceptions. In 2024, Stutsman had 16 stops in a 35-9 loss to South Carolina and a career-high 19 tackles in a 30-23 loss at Missouri. – Mark Schlabach, ESPN
Notable
38. John Mateer, QB (at Washington State)
Oklahoma Sooners are hoping the FBS leader in touchdowns will make a huge impact on Oklahoma’s offense. [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag] has the ability to win with his legs and his arm and brings a leadership and a confidence with him to Norman. His understanding of Ben Arbuckle’s offense should make for a smoother transition for the Sooners.
9. Dillon Gabriel, QB (at Oregon)
The most notable transfer departure last offseason was [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]. Gabriel found an opportunity to compete for a national title with the Ducks and had a great season, going to New York as a Heisman finalist. But that season came to an abrupt halt as the Ducks were steamrolled by the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
Offensive Ineptitude
When was the last time the Oklahoma Sooners failed to have one offensive player in the top 100 players in college football?
Snubbed
R Mason Thomas, DE
R Mason Thomas led the Oklahoma Sooners with nine sacks in 2024. He provided the explosive pass rush the Sooners have been searching for since Nik Bonitto left for the NFL. At the same time, on a team that went just 6-7 in 2024, it’s hard to argue there should be more inclusion. But if Thomas is able to recreate his 2024 season in 2025 and the Sooners have more team success, he’ll be included on this list this time next year.
Billy Bowman, S
Billy Bowman’s playmaking ability dropped off some in 2024. Teams certainly didn’t throw his was as much and as Oklahoma struggled offensively, didn’t have to take a lot of chances against the Sooners defense. Still, Bowman is a good player that will have a productive career at the NFL level.
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Where does John Mateer rank among SEC quarterbacks according to The Oklahoman?
The Oklahoma Sooners are hoping for a total turnaround on the offensive side of the football in 2025. The 2024 season was a nightmare and OU fell to a 6-7 record primarily because of ineptitude on offense.
Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] can’t survive another bad season in Norman, and he’s got to engineer a very impressive 2025 season to avoid a full free-fall into John Blake territory.
One of the primary reasons for optimism in Norman is transfer portal quarterback [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag], a gigantic portal win for Veanbles and his coaching staff. The former Washington State QB led the FBS in total touchdowns in 2024, his first year as a starter for the Cougars and in college football overall.
But there is no lack of great quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference, though the Sooners look to have a player who can get the job done in the conference again after lacking in that department last year. The [autotag]SEC[/autotag] is loaded with stars at that position, and The Oklahoman looked to rank the 16 projected starting quarterbacks next year, now that the 2024 season has concluded.
Staff writer Ryan Aber pegged Mateer as the No. 6 QB in the league for 2025, sandwiching him between Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier tops Aber’s list, followed by Florida’s D.J. Lagway, Texas’ Arch Manning, and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers.
Mateer was excellent for Washington State after two seasons behind Cam Ward. Aber said. The Little Elm, Texas, product threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns with just seven interceptions and ran for 826 yards and 21 touchdowns. Landing Mateer was one of the Sooners’ biggest wins of the offseason. – Aber, The Oklahoman
The Sooners will have to get a star effort from Mateer far more often than not in 2025 because there are still plenty of holes elsewhere on offense. Mateer also ranked six spots above his predecessor, Auburn’s [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], who landed at No. 12 on the list.
The Tigers’ offense was boom or bust this season, struggling with turnovers for much of the year. Enter Arnold, who had a rough first season as a starter with 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns with just three interceptions though he struggled with ball-security issues. Arnold rushed for 444 yards and three touchdowns. Much of his struggles were tied into the lack of protection from OU’s offensive line and a lack of targets among wide receivers. Arnold still has the potential that made him one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the 2023 class. – Aber, The Oklahoman
What has Sooner Nation excited is that Mateer seems to be set up for success much more than Arnold was. Arnold had the trio of Seth Littrell, Joe Jon Finely, and Kevin Johns as co-offensive coordinators throughout various portions of the 2024 season. Mateer has [autotag]Ben Arbuckle[/autotag] as the sole play-caller and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2025.
Mateer will also have [autotag]John Kuceyeski[/autotag] as his senior offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks coach next season, another familiar face from his days at WSU. Arnold wasn’t working with a coordinator or an official position coach who had coached his position before until Littrell was fired and Johns held the role in the interim.
Venables has clearly made it a point of emphasis to handle the quarterback spot (and hopefully the entire offensive leadership as a whole) better than he did in 2024. Oklahoma should show a lot of improvement on offense in 2024.
Mateer is also a proven commodity under center, while Arnold, a former five-star prospect, is still hoping he can live up to his potential.
Overall, it’s an upgrade at a position that desperately needed one. Will it be enough to propel the Sooner offense back to the heights we’ve all seen it at before? And would that offensive improvement be enough to get the program back to its winning ways in a crucial season in 2025? We’ll have to wait until late August to begin to find out.
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Oklahoma Sooners depth chart projection 1.0 as winter workouts get underway.
The Oklahoma Sooners are undergoing significant turnover. On offense, there will be a lot of new faces at quarterback and wide receiver. On defense, the Sooners are replacing key players and leadership on the depth chart but still have a ton of talent.
Oklahoma’s coaching staff will be tasked with developing players to take over starting jobs and integrating key transfer portal additions this offseason. So here’s a look at our first depth chart projection for the 2025 Oklahoma Sooners.
Offense
Starter
Backup
Quarterback
John Mateer
Michael Hawkins
Running Back
Xavier Robinson
Jovantae Barnes
Wide Receiver (X)
Ivan Carreon
Zion Kearney
Wide Receiver (Y)
Deion Burks
Isaiah Sategna
Wide Receiver (Z)
Javonnie Gibson
Keontez Lewis
Tight End
Kaden Helms
Davon Mitchell
Left Tackle
Logan Howland
Michael Fasusi
Left Guard
Jacob Sexton
Heath Ozaeta
Center
Troy Everett
Branson Hickman
Right Guard
Febechi Nwaiwu
Eddy Pierre-Louis
Right Tackle
Derek Simmons
Luke Baklenko
There will be position battles galore on the offensive side of the ball. At running back, the Sooners return each of their top five running backs from the 2024 season. Jovantae Barnes and Xavier Robinson proved the best of the bunch last year and will get the first shot to lead the Sooners running back rotation.
At wide receiver, it’s Deion Burks and a bunch of guys that will be competing for roles this offseason. If Jayden Gibson were healthy, he’d be starting opposite Javonnie Gibson. But until there’s some clarity as to his timetable, after what happened in 2024, we’re going to show some patience before we put Jayden Gibson back in the starting lineup.
At tight end, the Sooners have a number of promising players like Kaden Helms, Davon Mitchell, and Kade McIntyre. Oklahoma needs them to take a huge step in their development. Sure, they added guys via the transfer portal, but if the Sooners want a threat in the passing game, Helms, Mitchell, or McIntyre need to develop into the guy.
Along the offensive line, Troy Everett seems to be the most secure after his play down the stretch. The addition of the highly-regarded Derek Simmons likely solves your right tackle spot, but for the most part, jobs along the offensive line appear up for grabs this offseason.
Defense
Starter
Backup
Defensive End
R Mason Thomas
Danny Okoye
Defensive Tackle
Gracen Halton
David Stone
Nose Tackle
Jayden Jackson
Damonic Williams
Defensive End
Marvin Jones Jr.
Adepoju Adebawore
Middle Linebacker
Kobie McKinzie
Owen Heinecke
Weakside Linebacker
Kip Lewis
Samuel Omosigho
Cheetah Backer
Kendal Dolby
Kendal Daniels
Cornerback
Eli Bowen
Jeremiah Newcombe
Strong Safety
Robert Spears-Jennings
Michael Boganowski
Free Safety
Peyton Bowen
Jaydan Hardy
Cornerback
Gentry Williams
Jacobe Johnson
Once again, the Oklahoma Sooners will feel good about their defense entering the season. There’s a mix of veterans and up and comers that provide promise at all three levels of the defense.
The defensive line remains a strength for the unit, and with the addition of Marvin Jones Jr., Oklahoma may have found another pass-rushing weapon to deploy opposite of R Mason Thomas. Beyond the starters, Oklahoma needs their young, athletic defensive ends to take a step. There’s not a lot of experience but those guys have the traits to be elite players for the Sooners defense.
Defensive tackle is stacked with the four-man rotation that Todd Bates has put together. Jayden Jackson started a lot of games as a true freshman and will play a ton in 2025. He and Damonic Williams will man the nose tackle spots while breakout start Gracen Halton and former five-star prospect David Stone take on the three-technique or defensive tackle position. The Sooners will be stout up the middle in 2025.
At linebacker, Kip Lewis returns to start for the Sooners once again, and he’ll be flanked by Kobie McKinzie, who takes over for the NFL-bound Danny Stutsman. At cheetah, Kendal Dolby and Kendal Daniels feel like the natural fits there. Their versatility and disruptive ability will help the Sooners make splash plays all over the defense. Jaren Kanak will be an interesting case. There’s talk that he’ll move to H-Back/tight end for the Sooners, but is that like Jacobe Johnson moving to wide receiver during the season, and he was going to play both ways? Or is it a full-time move?
If there’s one spot where competition will be ongoing, it’s at cornerback. The Sooners found a starter in Eli Bowen. Gentry Williams will return from injury and factor into the cornerback competition this offseason. But he’ll have to win the job from Bowen or Jacobe Johnson, who saw a lot of snaps at the end of the season.
Like defensive tackle, safety remains a strength for the Sooners with the return of Robert Spears-Jennings and the development of Peyton Bowen.
Special Teams
Starter
Backup
Kicker
Austin Welch
Liam Evans
Punter
Jacob Ulrich
—
Kick Returner
Sam Franklin
Isaiah Sategna
Punt Returner
Isaiah Sategna
Peyton Bowen
Long Snapper
Ben Anderson
Seth Freeman
Oklahoma brought in several players via the transfer portal to compete for key special teams spots. Austin Welch vs. Liam Evans will be quite the kicking battle. Right now, we’ll lean to the veteran Welch to lead the way, but don’t sleep on Evans, the former Kohl’s Kicking five-star prospect.
The defense will be good once again for the Sooners, but Oklahoma’s offense will determine how successful OU will be in 2025. If they improve significantly, the Sooners could be in a spot to contend for a playoff spot.
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OU’s new quarterback was named the best fit of the transfer portal.
When the Oklahoma Sooners hired [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] to be their next head coach in December of 2021 to replace the departed Lincoln Riley, it signaled a switch from what OU fans were used to seeing on the field.
Riley, an offensive head coach, was gone to USC, and Venables, the former defensive coordinator at Clemson, was replacing him in Norman. So, just as defensive coordinator was the most important assistant on the staff under Riley, the offensive coordinator role would assume the greatest importance under Venables, a defensive guru.
Riley never figured it out at DC. Mike Stoops, Ruffin McNeil, and Alex Grinch proved to be ineffective at matching Riley’s explosive offensive output with a good defense. It led to Oklahoma being unable to compete with college football’s elite more often than not. Venables has to avoid making the same errors on the side of the ball where he isn’t the expert.
It started out well enough. Jeff Lebby called the shots for the first two seasons of the Venables era, with starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel under center. When Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach, and Gabriel departed for Oregon, Venables replaced them with Seth Littrell at OC and Jackson Arnold at QB.
Those moves contributed to a very poor 2024 season in Norman, one that saw the offense bottom out. Littrell was fired after seven games, and Arnold is now an Auburn Tiger. Joe Jon Finley and Kevin Johns took over after Littrell’s dismissal, but only Finley remains on staff from that trio of coordinators in 2025, returning to coach tight ends only. Once again, offensive coordinator (and quarterback) were a need for Venables and his Sooners.
So, Venables hired Washington State’s [autotag]Ben Arbuckle[/autotag] to serve as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and call the plays in Norman.
Venables and Arbuckle quickly brought over [autotag]John Kuceyeski[/autotag] from Washington State as the senior offensive analyst/assistant quarterbacks coach after a mishandling of the quarterback position in 2024. Then, they looked for a starting quarterback for a massive 2025 season.
They got their guy in [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag], who started under center for Arbuckle and Kuceyeski in 2024. He led the FBS in total touchdowns in his first season as a starter after learning Arbuckle’s system in 2023 under Cam Ward. He was the top overall player in the NCAA’s winter [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] window. Mateer was a huge get for OU.
It was such a big win for Venables and his staff that ESPN staff writer Tom Luginbill, who ranked the best transfer portal QB fits in their new destinations (ESPN+), believes Mateer’s fit in his new spot is the best of the bunch. He’s No. 1 on Luginbill’s list.
“When Oklahoma hired Arbuckle on Dec. 2, Mateer’s move to Oklahoma seemed to make too much sense,” Luginbill said. “He knows the offense, has played at a high level, and will see the return of some of Oklahoma’s injured targets at wide receiver.”
Those returning injured wide receivers are [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag], who Sooner Nation are hoping will have big comeback seasons in the crimson and cream next year. Luginbill went on further about Mateer’s excellent fit in Norman.
“Mateer will be like another coach on the field as he helps tutor the personnel around him,” Luginbill said. “Having a coach and play caller you trust, combined with an experienced quarterback, could be the magic needed for Oklahoma to get back on track in 2025.”
Magic is exactly the word some Sooner fans are hoping returns for their team in 2025. The 2024 season was very rough to watch, leading to a make-or-break season for Venables and his coaching staff this year. But if the Arbuckle-Mateer pairing pays dividends, Oklahoma could have rising stars at both the most important assistant coach spot under Venables and at the most crucial position on the field as well.
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The Sooners’ head coach brought his new additions to his house to welcome them to Norman.
As the Oklahoma Sooners enter Year 4 under head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and Year 2 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag], there’s no doubt it’s a make-or-break season. After going 6-7 for the second time in three years in 2024, another season like that won’t be enough wins to keep Venables in Norman.
The Sooners will be relying on plenty of new faces via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] and the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] to help buoy their chances to grab more wins in 2025. With so many departures and some key additions, there will be a lot of change on the roster.
So, Venables hosted the new players at his house earlier this week, setting up some games for the new Sooners to play while they got to know each other and build some chemistry.
In the short video that the team posted to social media, fans could see the new players playing games, eating and spending time together. They even celebrated a birthday, with Venables bringing out a birthday cake for the players.
The group of players included new quarterback [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag], by far the biggest portal addition to the 2025 Sooners. He’s the expected starter at QB, a position that’s been a source of pride for so many years at Oklahoma in the last quarter-century. Sooner Nation hopes that spot will be getting back on track in 2025 with Mateer under center.
With all of the new blood on the team next year, Venables is clearly prioritzing chemistry before the real work begins to get ready for a gigantic season in Norman.
The Oklahoma Sooners have the recipe for success but do they have the right ingredients?
The Oklahoma Sooners are in the midst of a College Football Playoff drought. Their last appearance was in 2019, when the Jalen Hurts-led Sooners ran into the buzzsaw that was the historically awesome LSU Tigers offense.
That was a long time ago.
The move from Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables was supposed to put the Sooners back into the national title hunt. 2023 was their best shot, but upset losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State killed their Big 12 title and playoff aspirations.
Year one in the SEC was underwhelming, to say the least. A disaster, to say the most. Offensive inefficiencies and injuries took away from what was the best defense we’ve seen in more than a decade.
But even though 2024 was a disappointment, the success of the defense laid the foundation for what the Oklahoma Sooners want to be. And the results of the College Football Playoff semifinals reinforced the plan.
Notre Dame and Ohio State moved through the first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, riding some awesome defensive performances and inspired quarterback play from Riley Leonard and Will Howard.
The defenses led by Al Golden and Jim Knowles were fantastic, propelling the Fighting Irish and the Buckeyes into the national championship game. And the Oklahoma Sooners aren’t far off from having that kind of defense.
The defense put together several stellar performances throughout the season, most notably against Alabama. But they were really good against Ole Miss and Tennessee as well. With a little more help from the offense, those games might turn out a little bit differently.
But also, as we saw in 2024, it’s not enough to have a good to great defense. You need your offense to come through, in particular your quarterback. Leonard and Howard possess a dual-threat ability and a grinder mentality that fit the demeanor of their elite-level defenses.
And the Sooners are hoping they have something similar in [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag], who transferred in from Washington State. He led the FBS with 44 total touchdowns during the regular season and ran for 826 yards this season.
Despite the losses of key veterans on defense, the Sooners have the building blocks for a unit that could still be one of the SEC’s best in 2025. The issue is how much can the offense improve from 2024 to 2025. Those questions will linger on the offensive side of the ball until Oklahoma faces Michigan in nonconference play.
Brent Venables, Ben Arbuckle and the Oklahoma staff have brought in a ton of new players to try and reinvigorate an offense that was one of the worst in the nation this season. If the pieces fit together and they return to what’s expected in Norman, the Sooners may have a roster that could contend for a playoff spot.
They’ve got the defense. They have a quarterback. Now all of the other pieces have to come together along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
But the proof will be in the pudding. No matter what happens this offseason, the Sooners will have to prove it on the field in 2025.
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Brent Venables says he knows things have to improve drastically. Sooner Nation is wondering if he’s the guy who can deliver.
The Oklahoma Sooners concluded a 6-7 dud of a 2024 season with a 21-20 loss against the Navy Midshipmen in Friday’s Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Third-year coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] saw his team take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, then watched that lead evaporate over the course of the rest of the afternoon. It was another hard moment in a season full of them. OU went 2-6 in SEC play and 4-1 otherwise. Two 6-7 seasons sandwiched around a 10-3 campaign will not get the job done in Norman.
To his credit, Venables has never deflected the blame. He didn’t do it after the loss in Forth Worth either, shouldering responsibility for how the game and the season went in Year 1 in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].
“Everything falls on me,” Venables said after the loss. “Everything falls at my feet. Really disappointed in myself. I need to be a lot better, and that goes without saying.”
To be clear, that’s the response I want a coach to have at a time like this. It’s a lot better than saying, “We’re close,” or blaming others.
But Venables knows there are big problems within the Oklahoma football program — problems that aren’t being fixed. So, is he the guy to fix those problems and get the program back to the glory days of Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops?
Or is he incapable of turning the program around?
That’s why 2025 is a make-or-break season for Venables and the Sooners.
After admitting his mistake of choosing to promote Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley to replace Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator, Venables took a risk on 29-year-old [autotag]Ben Arbuckle[/autotag] to run his offense next season.
After missing on Jackson Arnold at the quarterback position, he spent the money to go get Arbuckle’s QB, the top signal-caller available in the portal, [autotag]John Mateer[/autotag].
Venables is banking on these moves (and more) to help him right the ship in a “gotta have it” season.
If the coach can win enough games next year and prove he has things going in the proper direction, he’ll likely get a chance to build on it in 2026.
But if 2025 is more of the same and Venables doesn’t win enough games, he’ll be out and someone else will take the reins of one of college football’s most storied programs.
So, props to Venables for shouldering the blame for a bad season. But his Sooners have had many of the same problems, big or small, throughout his 39 games at the helm. He apparently knows they need to be dealt with. Next season will be all about seeing whether Venables can fix those problems or not.
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