Tag: Oklahoma Sooners football 2024

When was the last time the Oklahoma Sooners lost four straight games in one season?

The Sooners are looking to avoid a four-game losing streak on Saturday.

The Oklahoma Sooners have lost their last three games, all coming since the bye week. Losses to Texas, South Carolina and Ole Miss have OU sitting at 4-4 after a 4-1 start to the season.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team will look to avoid a fourth-straight loss on Saturday when the Sooners host the Maine Black Bears in Norman. The Black Bears are an FCS team.

To find the last time Oklahoma lost four straight games in one season, we have to go back to the 1990s. Specifically, that ill-fated 1998 season that is getting brought up far too often in regards to the 2024 team.

The 1998 Sooners started the season 2-0 with wins over North Texas and TCU, but lost five straight games after that, falling to California, Colorado, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State, before finally getting back in the win column against Iowa State. A shutout loss to Texas A&M followed, and the Sooners finished 5-6 with wins over Baylor and Texas Tech to close the season.

Head coach [autotag]John Blake[/autotag] was fired after the season, and a young athletic director named [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag] hired Florida defensive coordinator [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] to be the next head coach at Oklahoma. The duo ended a ten-year period of darkness for the proud program.

The Sooners haven’t lost four straight games since that 1998 season. Under Stoops, it was very rare to see Oklahoma lose two games in a row, and nearly impossible to see them drop three straight. In fact, the current losing streak is only the second three-game skid since 1998. The other came in Venables’ first season back in 2022. OU lost to Kansas State, TCU, and Texas in succession on their way to a 6-7 season.

Oklahoma will try to find a way back into the win column on Saturday, as the game against Maine will kick off at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

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Where does Oklahoma land in ESPN’s latest bowl projections?

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners land in ESPN’s latest bowl projections?

The losses continue to pile up for the Oklahoma Sooners, as they fell to 1-4 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play and 4-4 overall on the 2024 season with a 26-14 loss against the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and the Sooners are still looking for two more wins on their schedule to make it to a bowl game as they try to extend a streak that began in 1999.

With four games left, it’ll be a tall order to get to 6-6, as Maine, Missouri, Alabama, and LSU still await on the schedule. This week’s game against Maine should be easy enough, but that sixth win might prove to be elusive.

ESPN has released their latest bowl projections (ESPN+). Staff writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach made their picks for every bowl matchup in December and January.

Schlabach has the Sooners missing a bowl altogether, while Bonagura still has a little bit of faith in Oklahoma. He predicts that OU will play in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, which will be played on Friday, December 20th. His projected opponent for Oklahoma is the Boston College Eagles.

The Gasparilla Bowl is played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Georgia Tech defeated UCF in the game a year ago.

Oklahoma and Boston College have met twice all-time, with the Sooners winning both matchups and shutting the Eagles out in the process. OU won 46-0 back in 1949 in Boston and came back home to Norman in 1950 and won by a score of 28-0.

Missing a bowl game entirely would be a disastrous result for Oklahoma, especially considering that they started the season at 4-1. They’ll look to get back on track on Saturday, as they welcome Maine to Norman.

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3 stats that tell the story of Oklahoma’s loss to Ole Miss

Stats to know from Oklahoma Sooners loss against the Rebels.

The Oklahoma Sooners fell to 1-4 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play and 4-4 overall on the 2024 season with a tough loss against the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday. OU has now lost three straight games and four out of their last five contests.

This game was closer than the previous two weeks, as the Rebels won by a score of 26-14. The 12-point loss certainly isn’t what Sooner Nation was hoping for, but it wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as the losses to Texas and South Carolina.

In a game where [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team led at halftime, Lane Kiffin’s team pitched a shutout in the final two quarters, scoring the 16 points they needed for the comfortable victory.

OU did some things that you hope they can build on offensively, but it wasn’t enough against a very good team in Oxford. Here are three stats that ultimately led to Oklahoma’s demise in week nine.

1. Ole Miss Passing Yards: 311

Oklahoma’s secondary had their worst day of the season, as the Rebels got whatever they wanted through the air. Quarterback Jaxson Dart took care of the football and made big plays down the field, attacking the OU cornerbacks specifically.

Whichever corner lined up opposite [autotag]Eli Bowen[/autotag] on OU’s defense was typically the victim, as Ole Miss showed off their versatile and explosive passing attack.

Oklahoma picked a bad day to play their worst defensive game of the season. They actually played the run well, holding Ole Miss to just 69 rushing yards and 2.2 yards per carry.

Unfortunately, the pass defense wasn’t up to snuff.

2. Turnovers: Oklahoma 2, Ole Miss 1

When Oklahoma wins the turnover battle this season, they’re 4-0. They did so against Temple, Houston, Tulane and Auburn. When Oklahoma loses the turnover battle this season, they’re 0-4. That was the case against Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, and Ole Miss.

This game was a bit different, as a Taylor Tatum fumble was immediately given back, as J.J. Hester forced and recovered a fumble on the return of the Tatum giveaway. However, on the very next play, nobody on the offensive line blocked an Ole Miss edge defender and [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] got smacked at the mesh point as OU was setting up a reverse. Though the ensuing Rebel drive ended in a fourth-down stop, it was a momentum swing that went away from the Sooners.

3. Oklahoma Sacks Allowed: 10 (School Record)

The game’s most telling stat was once again on the shoulders of Oklahoma’s inept offensive line. After giving up a school record nine sacks last week, they allowed ten sacks against Ole Miss. That’s an absurd 19 sacks in eight quarters of football.

Sure, there are injuries at some spots on the offensive line, but it’s not like the Sooners have never had a banged-up unit up front before. You give your quarterback no chance to be effective when he’s sacked that many times, and you give your team no chance to win when you can’t block a pass rush any better than that.

Oklahoma showed a bit of improvement overall offensively, and it’ll be interesting to see what the offense looks like over the final four games. There are some things to build on, but there’s still so much that’s got to be cleaned up.

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Ole Miss Rebels new uniforms for game against Oklahoma Sooners

Ole Miss Rebels unveil new uniforms set to debut against Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Ole Miss Rebels square off this week in another [autotag]SEC[/autotag] clash that has major implications for both sides.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and OU would really like to have this one, in order to quiet down any talk that they won’t make it to a bowl game this season for the first time since 1998.

Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are looking to re-engage with the top teams in the Southeastern Conference and stack some wins over the back half of the season. They’re still looking to prove they are worthy of College Football Playoff consideration.

And Ole Miss will be doing so in style, as the team revealed a new look for Saturday’s game. It’s a bit of a twist on their traditional uniforms, with a brand-new helmet in play.

https://twitter.com/OleMissFB/status/1849613093615399295

 

Ole Miss has used this Realtree camouflage helmet design for the last two seasons, but that helmet was typically white with some powder blue accents. This helmet leans more into the navy color scheme with some light blue and white accents on the paint. This marks the eighth unique uniform combination the Rebels have worn this season, the first featuring this helmet design.

Of course, the Sooners will be in their iconic traditional road whites, which is one of the great looks in all of college football.

It’ll be a tough atmosphere for the unranked Sooners, as the Rebels always have a great turnout at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Coming off of a bye week, that fanbase will be amped up to see their team get back on the field.

Joel Klatt is panicking about the Oklahoma Sooners

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt didn’t mince words about the Oklahoma Sooners.

It’s no secret that the 2024 college football season hasn’t gone the way the Oklahoma Sooners have hoped. With a 3-0 nonconference start, OU was a bit shaky, but undefeated heading into Southeastern Conference play. A tough loss against Tennessee hurt, but a thrilling comeback win over Auburn sent the Sooners into the bye on a high note.

Coming out of the bye week, Oklahoma has dropped back-to-back stinkers against Texas and South Carolina to drop to 4-3 overall on the season and just 1-3 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play. Though their first loss to Tennessee was by just ten points, the Sooners have been blown out each of the last two weeks, failing to even make the games competitive.

Now they face the Ole Miss Rebels on the road, a very good team capable of embarrassing the Sooners once again. They’ll get a reprieve next week against Maine before a gauntlet of the final month of the regular season. That four-week stretch includes a game at Missouri, a bye week, a home game against Alabama, and a road game against LSU to close things out.

Simply put, Oklahoma is in serious danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1998. They’ll have to find a pretty big upset on their schedule somewhere and take care of business at home against Maine just to get to 6-6.

OU’s season has many folks around the college football landscape concerned for the program’s future, including FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt. Klatt wrote an in-depth article detailing his thoughts on the rough seasons going on right now at Michigan, USC, and, of course, Oklahoma.

“The Sooners’ first year in the SEC has gone horribly wrong. We all knew Oklahoma’s schedule was difficult entering the season, and we actually discussed it at quite a bit of length,” Klatt said. “But the offense has been a disaster. I’ve been saying that since the Tennessee game and that it didn’t matter who the quarterback was. It didn’t change when [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] replaced [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] because the scheme is wrong. We have evidence of that now. Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Seth Litrell earlier this week and Arnold is back in at quarterback. The Sooners rank 107th in scoring and 116th in total yards. It’s not working. “

Klatt dove deeper into the many problems with this OU offense, beginning with the caveat of all the injuries the Sooners are dealing with at wide receiver.

“To be fair to Oklahoma, it’s been decimated at wide receiver due to injuries … It’d be a convenient excuse to point at those injuries, though, for why the offense has struggled,” Klatt said. “When I watched the film, the entire offensive system was wrong. The offensive line is playing terribly. When the Sooners try to run the football, they can’t get anywhere. The scheme is wrong. When figuring out if the coaches, players or scheme are the reason for the issues, it’s the coach and scheme. Sure, you could say it’s a little bit of the players because of the injuries, but the coaching staff and scheme were wrong. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] fixed the coach part this week, so credit to him for that at the very least. Oklahoma has a placeholder offense, though. [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] won’t be its offensive coordinator heading into 2025. So, like Michigan, this is going to get worse before it gets better for Oklahoma. This is not the bottom …What is Oklahoma going to do offensively? Just play hard and that’s going to be the game plan with the placeholder offense.”

Overall, Klatt emphasized that he is “worried and panicking” about Oklahoma, and while it may not be fun to here, it’s what needs to be heard right now, because this team, mainly offensively, isn’t very good right now.

The offseason offensive coordinator search and hire for Brent Venables will be a telling moment in his career as Oklahoma’s head coach. If he gets it right, he could have a long and successful career patrolling the sidelines in Norman.

If he gets it wrong, his days in this role could be numbered, and the clock may already be ticking on him as we speak. That doesn’t mean he can’t turn it around, but it does mean that what he does next is incredibly crucial.

Kirk Herbstreit thinks Oklahoma Sooners are hitting ‘rock bottom’

ESPN College Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks OU is hitting “rock bottom” right now.

The Oklahoma Sooners desperately need to rebound in a big way this week. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team has lost two straight and three out of their last four games, and they’ll have to play excellent football to avoid a third straight defeat on Saturday. OU will face the Ole Miss Rebels on the road in Oxford, Mississippi.

One college football expert believes that things couldn’t get much worse for Oklahoma. That would be ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who took to his social media earlier this week to answer a few questions from fans about the current state of college football. He shared his thoughts on the top teams in the sport and a few programs that have been outright disappointing.

“The Sooners, they’re hitting rock bottom,” Herbstreit said. “Oklahoma is seriously reeling as an offense.”

That’s a pretty emphatic and blunt way to put it, but Herbstreit has seen the Sooners in some of their worst moments this year. He was on hand in Norman when Oklahoma hosted Tennessee in a 10-point loss and benched [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] in favor of [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] to try and find a spark for the offense. Herbstreit was also at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Rivalry, when Texas defeated Oklahoma by 31 points.

Defensively, Oklahoma has improved from where they were a year ago. It’s the best defense of the three-year Venables era, and the best defense the Sooners have had in a long time. While Oklahoma certainly isn’t great on special teams, that unit has also improved a bit since last year. In fact, it may be the best special teams group of the Venables era as well.

But the offensive woes have kept Oklahoma from winning, or competing for the most part, in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play. Hawkins was benched after three straight turnovers to open the game last week against South Carolina, and Arnold has been re-inserted as the starter. However, neither quarterback is getting much help at all from the pieces around them, and it wouldn’t shock anyone to see Hawkins back under center at some point this season. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see Arnold take things the rest of the way.

That’s where it’s at right now with this OU offense. With Seth Littrell relieved of his duties on Sunday, [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] has been promoted to the role of primary play-caller. Kevin Johns is now a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. While the trio of [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] and DeMarco Murray may not be directly responsible (as coordinators) for the mess on offense, each of their position groups needs to play better.

With the tough schedule the Sooners have coming up in November with games against Missouri, Alabama and LSU, this team will have to dig deep to find something, even if that something is just bowl eligibility for a 26th straight season.

Remembering the last time Oklahoma faced Ole Miss

Oklahoma and Ole Miss face off on Saturday for just the second time ever.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Ole Miss Rebels will face off on Saturday for just the second time ever. OU will head to Oxford, Mississippi trying to stop their recent skid.

To remember the other matchup between these two programs, we have to go all the way back to 1999. On December 31, the final football game of the 20th century took place at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.

A young rookie head coach named [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] was in the final game of his first year at the helm in Norman, wrapping up a promising 1999 season where he’d taken the Sooners back to a bowl game and gotten them back to a winning record. Oklahoma entered the game at 7-4, playing in their first bowl game since 1994.

The former Florida defensive coordinator was matched up against David Cutcliffe, who had the Rebs back in the Independence Bowl for the second straight year.

Ole Miss bolted out to a 21-3 lead at halftime, but the Sooners charged back into the game, making it 21-18 at the end of the third quarter. OU took a 25-24 lead with over two minutes left, but an Ole Miss field goal as time expired gave the Rebels a 27-25 victory. Still, a 7-5 debut season for Stoops set the table for what was to come over the next quarter-century in Norman. He was bringing the program back to its former glory.

That game was the last one the Sooners would lose until October 27, 2001, when Nebraska finally ended OU’s fantastic 17-game winning streak. Of course, that includes the 2000 national title season, when Oklahoma went 13-0 and won it all in Stoops’ second year.

That game also marked the start of 25 straight seasons where the Sooners have made a bowl game, a streak that is still active today. Saturday’s game will be an important one if OU wants to extend that streak, as the Sooners are in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since John Blake’s final season in 1998.

Former Oklahoma coach named to 2024 SEC Legends class

Barry Switzer has been named to the 2024 SEC Legends Class.

Former Oklahoma Sooners head football coach [autotag]Barry Switzer[/autotag] has been named to the 2024 [autotag]SEC[/autotag] Legends class, the school announced via a press release on Tuesday.

The SEC Legends are a group of former football standouts who will be honored at events surrounding the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in December.

The 2024 class comprises 16 former stars who excelled on the football field and helped write the rich history of the sport at their respective institutions. As OU joined the conference on July 1, Switzer will become the Sooners’ first SEC Football Legend.

As a head coach from 1973 to 1988, Switzer led Oklahoma to three national championships (1974, 1975, and 1985) and finished his head coaching career with a 157-29-4 record, good for a .837 winning percentage. His teams posted a winning record in each of his 16 seasons and won 12 Big Eight Conference titles during his tenure. Switzer joined the OU staff in 1966 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1967.

Under Switzer’s leadership, Oklahoma’s wishbone attack produced some of the most prolific rushing offenses in college football history and his teams routinely ranked among the nation’s best defenses. His 1986 and 1987 teams led the nation in scoring offense and scoring defense.

Switzer was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, OU’s football operations facility at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (The Barry Switzer Center) was named after him.

https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/1848818649085182422

He was also the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, leading the 1995 squad to a Super Bowl title. He is one of only three coaches to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl, along with Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll.

According to the press release, the 2024 SEC Football Legends class will be honored at the 2024 SEC Football “Weekend of Champions” Dec. 6-7 in Atlanta, highlighted by the annual SEC Legends Celebration at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. The group will also be recognized prior to the SEC Championship Game, which will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 7.

Oklahoma Sooners name captains for Week 9 vs. Ole Miss Rebels

The Sooners have named their captains for this week’s game against Ole Miss.

The Oklahoma Sooners will try to avoid losing a third straight game in 2024, as they hit the road to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.

Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has decided on his captains for Week 9. Running back [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag], linebackers [autotag]Kobie McKinzie[/autotag], [autotag]Jaren Kanak[/autotag] and [autotag]Owen Heinecke[/autotag] and kicker [autotag]Zach Schmit[/autotag] will represent the 4-3 Sooners as they head southeast.

Barnes is OU’s leading rusher on the season and a veteran that will be counted upon to help lead with the recent personnel changes on the offense. He had one of his better games of the season last week against South Carolina. He ran tough and showed a ton of fight throughout.

Everett got the start last week at center after getting his first significant action of the season against Texas. He’s been working back from an injury he suffered in the spring but looks to be healthy for the stretch run.

McKinzie is one of Oklahoma’s best inside linebackers, serving as an enforcer in the middle of the field, no matter who he’s paired with at the second level. He’ll be instrumental in OU’s future success as he continues to grow and develop.

Kanak is a reserve inside linebacker who has gotten some snaps at cheetah over the past month. Though he’s no longer a starter, he’s a veteran that the coaching staff feels they can count on in spurts to help the defense get stops.

Heinecke is another reserve inside linebacker who’s been buried a bit on the depth chart at OU’s strongest position group. But Venables and his coaching staff obviously like what they see from him enough to make him a game captain. He also contributes on special teams for the Sooners.

Schmit lost the kicker battle to begin the year but may have reigned the job, beginning with the South Carolina game. He made a field goal last week and handled all of the kicking duties. He’s one of the longest-tenured Sooners on the roster.

https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/1848494881431318666

The Sooners are looking for answers this week, especially on offense, as they’ll look to pull off the upset against the Rebs. Here’s hoping their six game captains this week can have a big-time impact.

Where does Oklahoma land in ESPN’s latest bowl projections?

ESPN analyst believes the Oklahoma Sooners could still make a bowl game.

Following a 35-9 drubbing at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Oklahoma Sooners dropped to 1-3 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play this season and 4-3 overall.

With five games left in the regular season, OU is in serious danger of missing the postseason entirely this year, mainly because of the opponents that still lurk on the schedule.

The Sooners will need to get to at least 6-6 in order to make a bowl game meaning they have to win at least two more games to make the postseason. With one game coming up in a couple of weeks against Maine, an FCS team, getting to five wins should be easy enough.

Aside from that, Oklahoma is a heavy underdog against Ole Miss this week. Outside of Maine, the rest of the schedule is a grind. Those teams would be Missouri, Alabama, and LSU, which is a gauntlet of a late-season stretch.

After the 26-point loss at home, many believe that [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team will miss a bowl game. That would also mean finishing with a losing record for only the second time since 1998. The other season was also under Venables, when OU went 6-7 in 2022. They did make a bowl game, losing to the Florida State Seminoles in the Cheez-It Bowl.

ESPN has released their latest bowl projections (ESPN+). Staff writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach made their picks for every bowl matchup in December and January.

Schlabach has the Sooners missing a bowl altogether, while Bonagura still has a little bit of faith in Oklahoma. He predicts that OU will play in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on ESPN on December 27. That game takes place at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, a venue the Sooners know well, as it’s the home stadium of the TCU Horned Frogs.

Bonagura projects OU’s opponent in that game to be the Navy Midshipmen, who are currently in the midst of a spectacular undefeated season. The team is one of just three unbeaten teams outside of the Power Four, along with Army and Liberty. The Midshipmen compete in the American Athletic Conference.

While Navy is currently in the running for the Group of Five automatic bid spot in the College Football Playoff, Bonagura believes that slot will go to Boise State instead.

Oklahoma and Navy have met just once all-time, with the Midshipmen winning that game back in 1965 by a score of 10-0.

With Venables making the decision to shake up his offensive coaching staff on Sunday evening, the Sooners hope they can pull an upset somewhere along the line and extend the bowl streak another season.

The last time that Oklahoma failed to make a bowl game was all the way back in 1998. John Blake was the head coach that year, and his firing at the conclusion of that season paved the way for Oklahoma to hire Bob Stoops, the winningest head coach in program history.

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