Tag: Johnanthon Brooks

Caleb Shaffer, Dillon Gabriel among key Sooners to watch versus UCF

Oklahoma will look to build on their 6-0 start as they take on UCF. Here are six Sooners that will be key to an Oklahoma win vs. the UCF Knights.

Oklahoma will roll out the crimson carpet and welcome one of the four Big 12 newcomers to Norman on Saturday. Gus Malzahn’s [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag] travel from Orlando, Florida, to take on Brent Venables and the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners.

Both teams come into the game off of their bye weeks. However, how each team played in the games before the bye will be a significant motivating factor in how things could shake out.

Oklahoma beat their bitter rivals, Texas, 34-30 in one of college football’s best games of the season while the Knights were steamrolled by the Kansas Jayhawks 51-22.

While the Sooners’ win over Texas is a significant win, the boys from Norman won’t be satisfied. They’ve got bigger ambitions now, starting with taking care of UCF. The next major milestone in getting to Arlington to compete for a Big 12 title.

UCF is a motivated and angry team that boasts the nation’s third-best rushing attack and a very athletic quarterback in John Rhys Plumlee. He can play. Oklahoma has a talent advantage, but execution will be the deciding factor.

Without further ado, let’s look at some of the Sooners that will be to a victory on Saturday.

Report Card: Sooners pass biggest test of the season in win over Texas

The Sooners won an instant classic against their rivals from Texas 34-30. We went and graded every position group’s performance.

Oklahoma’s win over Texas was a significant notch in the belt of head coach Brent Venables. It also signified the revitalization of Oklahoma football, just a year removed from getting blasted 49-0 in the same stadium by the Longhorns.

Venables’ team spent the entire offseason leveling up and striving to return to the standard people have become accustomed to.

This season, the Sooners handled everything that came their way. Every setback or adversity they faced in their first five games prepared them for Saturday in Dallas. The entire team and coaching staff handled it masterfully as the Sooners beat Texas, 34-30.

It was the most complete performance of the season, and some of the most significant areas the Sooners needed to work on after last season’s 6-7 record were on full display. After passing a test like that, it’s time to pass out some grades. It’s report card time.