Tag: OU

2024 will be a great year for the Oklahoma Sooners and College Football

With conference realignment in full swing and the expanded College Football Playoff on the way, 2024 will be a great year for Oklahoma Football.

For a brief moment, it seemed that the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns were doomed to stay in the Big 12 until 2025. This time, it was the TV networks that couldn’t come to an agreement. Then, Sooners and Longhorns fans finally got the news they’ve been waiting for. OU and Texas will be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024, a year earlier than originally planned. And they won’t be the only ones moving conferences next year.

UCLA and USC will also be on the move in 2024, moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, giving the conference a country-wide footprint from Maryland to California.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the 12-team College Football Playoff will make its debut in 2024, giving postseason hopes to many programs across the country. While 12 teams might be overkill, more programs being “all in” and attempting to earn playoff berths is beneficial for the sport. With bowl season becoming more and more irrelevant with players opting out, the expanded playoff could be the new lease on life it needed.

OU finally getting to the SEC will be a major boon for the program. Brent Venables is already recruiting like an SEC head coach, and the university is working on building its SEC-level facilities. If Venables can improve the on-field results in 2023, the Sooners will be in a very good position heading into the SEC and the expanded playoff field for 2024.

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Oklahoma EDGE addition Dasan McCullough a top 10 transfer per College Sports Wire

Oklahoma Sooners Edge Dasan McCullough is one of College Sports Wire’s top impact transfers for the 2023 season

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to need more consistent pressure off the edge in 2023 to help improve their defense. Brent Venables addressed that immediate need by getting former Indiana Hoosier Dasan McCullough out of the transfer portal.

McCullough figures to be a contributor right away. While Reggie Grimes and Ethan Downs could still improve, OU needed to bring in a new face as their pass rush did run cold when Big 12 play began.

Our friends at College Sports Wire have McCullough as one of the top impact tansfers for the 2023 season.

The first year under new head coach Brent Venables went about as bad as it could have. Sure they finished 6-6 and made it to a bowl game but they were outgunned by Florida State to finish with their first losing record since 1998. The next year Bob Stoops rolled into town. Oklahoma needs help and they picked up a big edge transfer in Dasan McCullough. He finished his freshman season with 49 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 3 passes defended. Perhaps McCullough can be the next Nik Bonitto for this defense.- Patrick Conn, College Sports Wire

Dasan McCullough has the size and pass-rush ability to be a full-time defensive end for Oklahoma. Or he could end up taking on the Cheetah role in Brent Venables’ defense due to his athleticism and length. If McCullough can be anything like Bonitto, this would be a massive win for Oklahoma. Bonitto led the Big 12 in pressure rate during his final season in Norman and is now making an impact in the NFL for the Denver Broncos.

His ability to play in space will provide the Sooners with greater athleticism and speed wherever he ends up playing and that’s a huge plus for the Sooners.

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Oklahoma’s Caleb Shaffer an underrated transfer portal add per On3

New Oklahoma Sooners offensive guard Caleb Shaffer has been named an underrated transfer portal add by On3

With offensive guard Chris Murray following tackles Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris to the NFL draft, the Oklahoma Sooners will have new faces on most of the offensive line for 2023. One of those new faces will be Miami (Ohio) transfer Caleb Shaffer.

The former three-star recruit has been starting for the RedHawks since his true-freshman season. He entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer.

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Brent Venables and his staff have been quite busy in the transfer portal, so landing Shaffer perhaps slipped through the cracks. Well, the people at On3 noticed. Mike Huguenin named Shaffer as an underrated transfer portal add by Bill Bedenbaugh.

Caleb Shaffer (6-5, 333) was a four-year starter at guard for the RedHawks, earning a starting job early in his true freshman season and never losing it. OU has a vacancy at one guard spot with the departure of Chris Murray, and Shaffer should be considered the leading contender. OU also nabbed Walter Rouse (Stanford) out of the portal, and he figures to start at right tackle.- Mike Huguenin, On3

Keeping Dillon Gabriel upright in the pocket plays a key role in keeping him healthy. If Shaffer ends up starting at guard, he will end up being a vital part of that for the Sooners.

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‘There’s really no offensive weakness’: Patty Gasso talks 2023 season, attending OU Hockey game

During Oklahoma Softball’s visit to an OU Hockey game, Patty Gasso talked about her team, her career and her to-be ballpark

The crowd at Friday night’s OU Hockey game had a bit more star power than usual. Oklahoma Softball was in the building for the Sooners’ tilt against the Missouri State Ice Bears.

The back-to-back defending champions were invited onto the ice for the pregame ceremonial puck drop. Head coach Patty Gasso did the honors.

After the first period, Gasso gave an interview with the OU Hockey broadcast. She was candid when asked how her squad ended up at a hockey game that night.

“We need to get off the softball field and see what other athletes look like in action,” said Gasso. “I enjoy and (the players) enjoy seeing other athletic events and seeing athletes go through the same kind of intensity, pressure and push.”

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After winning back-to-back national championships, the Sooners are looking just as potent and dangerous as ever, but Gasso still has her sights set on the upcoming season.

“We focus on the process,” Gasso said. “We focus on the journey. We don’t talk about the word ‘three-peat.’ It’s just staying day to day and focusing on the moment… It’s a really good group that understands that, but they also want to make history.”

Superstar Jocelyn Alo has moved on from the Sooners, yet Oklahoma is looking as potent and dangerous as ever. While Alo will be missed, Gasso feels confident in the players she brought in during the offseason.

“There’s no one on earth that can swing it like Jocelyn Alo,” Gasso continued. “So, what we did instead was get three or four to replace Jocelyn Alo. You look at our lineup and there’s really no offensive weakness. One through nine can hit it out of the park and change the game at any time. It’s a very good team with very good pitching and very good defense.”

OU Softball will be moving into what will be known as Love’s Field for the 2024 season. The new ballpark’s construction is something of a crowning achievment for Gasso’s career.

“I think it (a new ballpark) has been the missing piece to this phenomenal puzzle for a long time… (The ballpark) is going to be absolutely beautiful and well-deserved for this team,” Gasso shared.

While Gasso has accomplished so much in her career, she considers this new ballpark the “icing on the cake” of her career.

“I’ve got nothing else to win or prove,” she continued. “I want to help some of these players reach their goals and dreams. It’s my passion and I love it.”

OU Softball will open their season at the Mark Campbell Invitational against No. 16 Duke on Thursday, Feb. 9.

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Oklahoma Sooners loss to Oklahoma State a loss of momentum

The Oklahoma Sooners have lost all momentum after their loss to Oklahoma State in front of a massive crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center.

It felt as if Porter Moser had finally gotten his Oklahoma Sooners team over the hump. It wasn’t just a win against the No. 2 team in the nation, it was a blowout against the No. 2 team in the nation. The Sooners were a physical presence that bullied the Crimson Tide out of the building. They shot the lights out. They looked the part of a team primed to turn the corner.

Then they lost to Oklahoma State in front of a packed Lloyd Noble Center.

The OU student section has a tradition during basketball games. Each student will hold up a copy of the OU Daily while the opposing team’s lineup is introduced. Then, they will tear up their paper into little pieces until it is more or less the shape of confetti. The students will hold that confetti until the Sooners make their first basket. Free throws don’t count. They ended up needing to hold that confetti for more than four minutes into the game until, finally, the Sooners connected on their fifth shot of the game.

That pretty much sums up how OU performed throughout the game on the offensive side of the floor. The shots weren’t falling. Defensively, they just didn’t have the size to keep Oklahoma State out of the paint. The Cowboys had their mismatches, and they exploited them for 40 minutes.

Any and all good feelings about the direction of Moser’s squad have been evaporated. A bad loss in Bedlam will do that. But here’s the big problem with this loss: it happened in front of a full LNC.

The apathy towards the men’s and women’s basketball programs has been a well-documented issue in recent seasons. Since Porter Moser was hired, he has worked diligently to drum up student support, and he’d done a fine job at that.

The student section for men’s games is the most lively it’s been in years. Against Alabama and Oklahoma State, other fans followed. The Lloyd Noble Center was packed for both games. The Sooners didn’t just lose to Oklahoma State, they got beat up by Oklahoma State in front of a large crowd that never had any reason to get into the game.

The buzz around the team is gone. The win against Alabama could’ve been the spark of an amazing run to the Big 12 tournament, but it appears that it just wasn’t meant to be.

There’s still time to turn the season around, and it’s definitely too soon to start questioning the Moser hire, but the Sooners are going to have a hard time getting the crowd back into the Lloyd Noble Center bottle.

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Oklahoma’s schedule is underwhelming

While playing the new Big 12 members will be interesting to see, the 2023 Oklahoma Football schedule leaves a lot to be desired.

As a fan of this game we all know and love, I couldn’t care less about the Oklahoma Sooners getting favorable matchups during the regular season. I’m the kind of fan that just wants to see good football.

With that being said, you could imagine my disappointment when I saw the entirety of the Sooners’ 2023 football schedule. While there are a few good things to look forward to, if this is the final Big 12 schedule the Sooners will ever have, it’s very underwhelming.

The absent Big 12 teams on OU’s schedule will be missed. Oklahoma will not be playing Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas State or Houston in 2023. Considering that the Sooners went 0-3 against the Bears, Wildcats, and Red Raiders, that’s not the end of the world. But again, I don’t care about favorable matchups. I just want to watch good football games.

Other than a November trip to BYU, nothing on this schedule feels very special. The nonconference games especially sting due to the Sooners postponing their home-and-home series with Georgia. It could’ve been so much better.

While seeing three of the four new Big 12 teams in the regular season is different, I would’ve rather seen one or two of Baylor, Texas Tech or Kansas State instead of Cincinnati without Luke Fickell. Brent Venables deserves another shot at his alma mater, Kansas State before the Sooners head to the SEC.

The worst and weirdest thing about the schedule is the timing of Bedlam.

The Sooners will head to Stillwater for what could be the last time in a long time at the beginning of November. Having Bedlam the game before rivalry week was bad. This is so much worse. There’s no reason for the Sooners to play TCU on a Friday for the last game of the season when they’ve already played Oklahoma State three weeks earlier.

Like I said, the schedule isn’t all bad, but it just feels like a bit of a dud. The one thing I will miss about the old ten-team Big 12 is playing everyone in the conference throughout the regular season.

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From the Student Section: Sooners top Horned Frogs, mascot interference, Taylor Robertson honored,

Fun times were had at yesterday’s OU women’s basketball game in this edition of From the Student Section.

While the weather outside wasn’t exactly cooperative, the Lloyd Noble Center was more than warm enough on the inside to watch a good game of basketball. I had kept saying that I wasn’t going to enough OU basketball games, men or women. So I walked my way down to the LNC to watch the No. 20 Sooners take on TCU.

Madi Williams was just so much more athletic than everyone else on the floor. While it was Taylor Robertson’s day, Williams was the player that was the most must-see. She drove to the basket with authority and was a treat to watch.

Robertson’s shooting was great to see in person. This shot was especially fantastic.

My experience at the game wasn’t all good. There was one massive issue that kept poking his massive head directly into my line of sight.

Jan 14, 2020; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners mascot Top Daug performs during a time out against the Kansas Jayhawks during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Kansas won 66-52. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Top Daug would frequently stop to dance right in front of my front-row seat, and I’m pretty sure he was doing it on purpose. While my friend called me a “hater,” I will not take this insult lying down. I’m usually a dog person, but it seems that Top Daug exceeded my limit.

Moving on.

Perhaps it’s time to put the nameplates on the backs of the jerseys for Oklahoma women’s basketball. Softball also has this problem. TCU puts the names on the back of the jerseys.

Taylor Robertson was honored after the game with a video tribute to her journey to be the NCAA’s all-time leading three-point shooter. The Ruf/Neks also paid respect with a pair of goats for the G.O.A.T.

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Sooners celebrate Taylor Robertson, roll over TCU in 101-78 win

The Oklahoma Sooners defeated the TCU Horned Frogs 101-78 and honored Taylor Robertson with a post-game ceremony.

Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season, the Oklahoma Sooners celebrated Taylor Robertson, the all-time NCAA three-point shooter, in style. It was a 101-78 win over the TCU Horned Frogs. With the win, OU improves to 17-4 on the year and 7-3 in the Big 12.

TCU held a slim lead in the early minutes of the contest for about 15 seconds. It was all OU from then on. Five different Sooners scored in double digits, with Madi Williams leading the way with 26. Robertson had 18.

The Horned Frogs did hang around on the scoreboard through the first half. They only trailed by eight at halftime. Then the Frogs turned the ball over, sent Oklahoma to the foul line, and missed a lot of free throws. TCU went 9 of 18 from the free throw line for a paltry 50%. “Brick” chants rained down from the Pride of Oklahoma members and students that were in attendance whenever a TCU player made her way to the line.

Following the conclusion of the game, Taylor Robertson was honored for breaking the all-time NCAA three-point record. This ceremony involved a video of Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry congratulating Robertson and a few OU Ruf-Neks bringing out two live goats.

Robertson also met Curry face-to-face at the Warriors-Oklahoma City Thunder Game earlier this week.

Robertson is the only woman in college basketball history to make 500 three-pointers in her career.

The Sooners’ next game will be on Saturday, February 4, as they take on West Virginia at the Lloyd Noble Center. The action will be broadcasted on ESPN+.

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Quartet of former Sooners head to Super Bowl with Kansas City Chiefs

Four more former Sooners are headed to Glendale for the Super Bowl after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship

Just mere hours after Lane Johnson and Jalen Hurts punched their ticket to Glendale for the Super Bowl, former Sooners Blake Bell, Creed Humphrey,  Orlando Brown Jr., and James Winchester will be headed to the big game as well with the Kansas City Chiefs.

It was tough sledding for the duo of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine against a stout Chiefs defense. The two were held to 41 yards on 13 carries. Perine did get into the end zone on a goalline carry, where he powered through the Chiefs’ front to tie the game at 20 a piece.

While there were some unfortunate officiating moments during the AFC Championship, a matchup between the Chiefs and Eagles promises to be a good one. Jalen Hurts is looking to put a stamp on what has been a phenomenal season, and Patrick Mahomes is trying to gain some ground in the greatest of all-time debate.

Both Hurts and Mahomes are MVP and Offensive Player of the Year finalists. The winner of both awards will be announced before the Super Bowl at the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. CT. The awards show can be seen on NBC, streaming on Peacock, and on NFL Network.

As it stands, there are six former Sooners on active rosters of the remaining two teams. OU fans will have more than a few faces to root for in Glendale in two weeks.

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Sooners great Jalen Hurts heading to Super Bowl with Philadelphia Eagles

Former Oklahoma Sooners QB Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-7.

While the marketed Brock Purdy-Jalen Hurts rematch ended up not really happening, Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are off to the Super Bowl after a dominating 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback is officially an NFC Champion.

In what should’ve been a solid game of football, it just wasn’t in the cards as the 49ers would end up putting Christian McCaffrey under center at one point to throw a pass with both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson dealing with injuries sustained in the game. McCaffrey ended up being the only San Francisco player to find the end zone all game on a 23-yard run.

Meanwhile, Hurts had a bit of a quiet game through the air. He didn’t throw for any touchdowns, but he did have one on the ground. Also, this happened.

Those Heisman winning wide receivers tend to come in handy from time to time, don’t they?

In short, Hurts didn’t have huge production in the win, but he did what was necessary in the win. He was 15 of 25 for 121 yards passing and carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles had the better roster and health on their side. That being said, they’ll need a better performance from Hurts in two weeks if they want to beat the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

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