The best photos from Oklahoma Football’s week 11 clash at Missouri Tigers.
The Oklahoma Sooners made their first trip to Columbia, Missouri in over a decade. What started as a defensive war of attrition turned into a drama filled fourth quarter, where miscues became the storyline.
Still, the 97th meeting between OU and Mizzou created some memorable moments like Xavier Robinson’s dominant fourth quarter drive that led to Taylor Tatutm’s touchdown throw to Jackson Arnold. Like Billy Bowman’s fumble return for a touchdown to give the Sooners a lead. Like Drew Pyne’s improbable 75-yard touchdown drive, which included a wing and a prayer throw to Luther Burden on third-and-16. Then there was the tying touchdown to former Sooner Theo Wease.
And if that wasn’t enough, on Oklahoma’s next drive, where all they needed was a field goal, Jackson Arnold fumbled the ball and Missouri returned it for a touchdown.
How that game ended was really just a microcosm of how the Oklahoma Sooners’ season has been. One step forward and two steps back. And that’s how you get to a 5-5 season where you’re now just 1-5 in SEC play.
There are a lot of questions for Brent Venables to answer at this point in his tenure, most notably on the offensive side of the ball. If he doesn’t land a talented offensive coordinator then 2025 could be his last season in Norman.
Can Oklahoma’s defense slow down Luther Burden and Theo Wease?
The Oklahoma Sooners defense has been the strength of the team in 2024. They’re one of the best run defenses in the nation. But if there’s been a weakness it’s been in coverage.
It hasn’t been bad. The Sooners rank No. 67 in the nation in passing yards allowed per game. At the same time, they’ve been in situations against Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina where their opponent didn’t feel the need to throw a whole lot due to the way the game played out.
The game against Ole Miss revealed some of the struggles the Sooners have had this season. Jaxson Dart, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, threw for over 300 yards. A number of his targets had plenty of space in the pass concept, making Dart’s job a lot easier. And that was without standout wide receiver Tre Harris in the lineup.
This week, as the Sooners get ready for Missouri, they face arguably the best receiver duo they’ve seen all season in future first round pick Luther Burden and former Sooner [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag].
The two have combined for 77 receptions, 932 yards, and five touchdowns this season. Burden also has 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns this year as the Missouri Tigers look for multiple ways to get him the football.
One critical component to the Tigers passing game may not be available this week as Brady Cook has been battling a couple of injuries and was listed as questionable on the initial injury report.
Still, with a bye week to get Drew Pyne prepared, the Sooners can’t sleep on Missouri’s duo of Burden and Wease. They can create big plays in the passing game, especially if the Sooners suffer lapses in coverage.
For Oklahoma to get a win this week, they’ll need their defense playing sound coverage on the back end to help support their stout run defense.
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The Oklahoma Sooners will have one of the best offenses in the Big 12 in 2023 and one of the big reasons why is wide receiver Jalil Farooq.
The Oklahoma Sooners are looking to replace a large amount of production that departed for the NFL in the 2023 draft. Gone are [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag] and [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] is off to Missouri in the transfer portal.
With players departing comes opportunities for guys to step into bigger roles. One player that showed he is capable of stepping into a bigger role in 2023 was [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag], who had significant playing time for the first time in his collegiate career. He turned in 37 receptions for 466 yards and five touchdowns. He also carried the ball 15 times for 140 yards.
Farooq may not be a household name across the country yet, but in 2022, he displayed a playmaking ability that was enough for our friends at Longhorns Wire to take notice. In their rankings of every Big 12 offense, the Sooners came in at No. 3 and Farooq is one of the reasons.
The more film I watch on Oklahoma receiver Jalil Farooq, the more he reminds me of great Sooners receivers of the Bob Stoops era. Dillon Gabriel is perhaps the most proven quarterback in the league and his offense should score plenty in 2023. — Hickey, Longhorns Wire
Farooq proved a valuable asset in Oklahoma’s multi-dimensional offense, which asks its wide receivers to run reverses and jet sweeps, catch screen passes and run a traditional route tree. Farooq’s size and ability to run with the ball in his hands gives offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby a wide receiver that fits exactly what he’s looking for in a wideout.
With the departure of Marvin Mims and Brayden Willis, the Sooners need Farooq to take the step many are expecting. He has the skills to see 100 targets in Oklahoma’s offense and that should turn into a big-time season for the former four-star wide receiver.
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Where did former Oklahoma Sooners end up after entering the transfer portal?
The Oklahoma Sooners have been working to remake the roster in the image of Brent Venables and his new defensive assistants. With the success they’ve had in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, some transfer portal turnover was to be expected.
The transfer haul in the 2022-2023 portal cycle provided more talent and depth on the roster as the Sooners head into their final year in the Big 12. As 2022 showed, the talent on the roster simply wasn’t good enough to win close games in Big 12 play.
So Venables and his staff attacked the transfer portal to add a wealth of talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
We know who the arrivals are in the transfer portal. Dasan McCullough, Walter Rouse, Rondell Bothroyd and Reggie Pearson will be significant contributors for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.
Oklahoma lost a few talented players in the portal, but mostly guys that were having a hard time breaking into the rotation under Venables. Here’s who departed in the portal and where they landed:
Based solely on their collegiate career, CBS Sports Barrett Sallee includes Marvin Mims among his top 32 NFL draft prospects.
What a player did in college isn’t always the thing an NFL team looks at when they’re assigning a draft grade. That’s why you see someone like [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] projected as a late second round wide receiver prospect.
For Mims, a lot of his evaluation comes down to size and usage. At 5-foot-11, 182 pounds, he doesn’t bring the same frame as Quentin Johnston or Jordan Addison. He also wasn’t used in the same way that some of the smaller wide receivers projected to the first round were, like Boston College’s Zay Flowers.
But based simply on his production, Mims is one of the best players in the draft. CBS Sports ranked him No. 22 among NFL draft prospects based solely on their collegiate career. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett came in at No. 1.
Mims burst onto the scene in 2020 with 610 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games and never let up during his final two seasons with the Sooners. He finished his career with 123 catches for 2,398 yards and 20 touchdowns, proving to be an important piece in Oklahoma’s offense. – Barrett Sallee, CBS Sports
Mims led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards in each of his three seasons in Norman. In 2020, Mims tied with [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] for the team lead in receptions and then led the team in catches in 2022 on his way to his first 1,000-yard season.
He’s a dynamic player that can take the top off the defense. He averaged 19.5 yards per reception during his Oklahoma career. [autotag]CeeDee Lamb[/autotag] is the only other Sooners wide receiver to have more than 2,000 yards receiving and average at least 19 yards per reception.
Wherever Marvin Mims lands in the draft, he’s going to bring a big-play element to his new team. With 4.38 speed, the Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver is going to be a game-changer at the NFL level.
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Oklahoma’s No. 1 target at receiver for the 2024 recruiting cycle, Bryant Wesco, earns five-star status in new Top247 rankings.
Oklahoma’s number one recruiting target at the receiver position for the class of 2024 is Bryant Wesco, a 6-foot-2 receiver out of Midlothian, Texas. Wesco camped with Oklahoma in the summer of 2022 and earned an offer. He’s seen his stock rise in the recruiting world from being lightly recruited to being rated as a top 100 player in the nation. He’s gone from a regional recruit to a national recruit that any school in America would want.
Wesco’s stock has never been higher as a high school prospect as 247Sports updated their site rankings and has Wesco as the 9th ranked prospect in the entire class of 2024. Previously, he was the No. 66 prospect according to 247Sports and leaped 57 spots to earn his fifth star and top 10 ranking.
Oklahoma has positioned itself to win the race for Wesco largely due to the addition of new wide receivers coach Emmett Jones. He’s profoundly impacted the recruiting trail, especially in Texas. Oklahoma has done a significant bit of heavy lifting in the recruitment for Wesco and is all but assured of an official visit from the explosive pass catcher.
The Sooners’ biggest competition for [autotag]Bryant Wesco[/autotag] now seems to be Big 12 foe TCU, who has hosted him for unofficial visits and has recruited him since last year. The Horned Frogs’ receivers coach is former Sooner Malcolm Kelly. This is setting up an interesting battle as a Sooner recruits against his alma mater for a highly coveted prospect.
Currently, Oklahoma seems to have the top spot if the recruiting predictions mean anything to those following the recruitment. All three of the 247Sports crystal balls favor Wesco becoming a Sooner, while a Rivals FutureCast also sees him becoming a Sooner before all is said and done.
If the Sooners were to land Wesco, he’d be the first five-star receiver at Oklahoma since 2019, when the Sooners signed two in Jadon Haselwood and Theo Wease.
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Every five-star player for the Oklahoma Sooners in the modern recruiting era.
The Oklahoma Sooners just had arguably the best recruiting class since 2000. With three five-star signees, Oklahoma finished fourth in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the 2023 cycle.
[autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] became the program’s fourth five-star quarterback signee in the modern era, following [autotag]Rhett Bomar[/autotag], [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag].
Arguably the most productive position group among the five-stars that have played for the Oklahoma Sooners has been running back. Though the defensive tackles could make a strong case, the work [autotag]Adrian Peterson[/autotag], [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Mixon[/autotag] did while in Norman puts them among the best Sooners backs of all time.
Defensive tackle is the other spot that could make a case for best five-star position group with [autotag]Gerald McCoy[/autotag] and [autotag]Tommie Harris[/autotag].
Only one five-star rated player never played a snap for the Sooners, linebacker Chris Patterson. Patterson went the junior college route before playing a season with Kansas State.
According to recruiting rankings over the last 5 years, the Sooners should have one of the best rosters in 2023. But is that an accurate reflection of this roster?
We heard in the build-up to last season that the Oklahoma Sooners had one of the more talented rosters in the country. People (including me) pointed to that analysis as to why Oklahoma should be a contender in 2022. Some (not me) pointed to that analysis as to why 2022 was a coaching failure.
Based on recruiting rankings over the last five years, the Oklahoma Sooners should have one of the best rosters in college football. Based on recruiting rankings from the last five cycles, the Sooners have the eighth-best roster ahead of 2023. Brad Crawford of 247Sports explains:
Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful program, and that’s no different at Oklahoma, a blue-blood accustomed to winning big. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in Year 1 under coach Brent Venables, who came over to the Sooners following a lengthy tenure as Clemson’s top recruiter on staff under Dabo Swinney. The arrival of three five-stars in the 2023 recruiting cycle, however, is going to be a shot in the arm for Oklahoma prior to the school’s entry to the SEC in 2024. According to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, Oklahoma has the second-most talented roster in the Big 12. You can probably guess who owns the league’s most lethal collection of talent. – Crawford, 247Sports
Oklahoma and Brent Venables have done a lot over the last two recruiting cycles to bring in talent from both the high school and transfer portal ranks. But as we saw last year when Oklahoma supposedly had one of the better rosters according to high school recruiting evaluations, it didn’t pan out to wins.
That doesn’t mean the analysis or rationale is wrong. The top of the list is carried by Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State, three teams that most would argue are the most talented teams in the country.
But given the turnover that Oklahoma’s undergone since Venables has taken over, do recruiting rankings prior to the coaching change accurately reflect the talent on the Sooners’ roster?
Oklahoma’s last two recruiting classes were strong, but there aren’t a lot of players left over from the three recruiting classes prior to Brent Venables’ arrival.
Oklahoma had the No. 4 recruiting class in 2019 on the strength of the signings of [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag], [autotag]Trejan Bridges[/autotag], and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. All four of those players are gone. [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag], and [autotag]Nate Anderson[/autotag] are the top players remaining from the 2020 class but haven’t ascended into star players for the Sooners just yet.
The top three players in the 2021 class, [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Clayton Smith[/autotag], and [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag], are gone as well.
So, while the recruiting at Oklahoma has been good, the strength of the Sooners’ recruiting classes from 2019-2021 isn’t reflected on the 2023 roster. Given the amount of roster turnover that Oklahoma has undergone since Venables has taken over, these “talent rankings” don’t adequately reflect where Oklahoma is as a roster right now unless you look strictly at the last two recruiting classes.
But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a group capable of reasserting the Sooners as Big 12 contenders. Oklahoma brought in one of the best transfer portal classes in the first phase of the portal. Specifically, on the defensive side of the ball, the Sooners brought in several impact players. [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], and [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] could all start for the Sooners, but at least will play significant roles for the Sooners.
Brent Venables and his staff have added talent over the last two offseasons. They have a better roster than they did a year ago, especially on the defensive side of the ball. There’s optimism that will reveal itself on the field in a wide-open Big 12 in 2023.
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Emmett Jones ability to recruit and develop praised by Head Coach Brent Venables.
The hiring of [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] gave the Oklahoma Sooners an almost immediate boost on the recruiting trail. It didn’t take long for recruiting projections to begin favoring the Oklahoma Sooners at wide receiver. That’s in no small part due to Jones’ connections in the state of Texas and his ability to develop players.
That’s what head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] saw in him when he made the hire.
“I’ve known coach Jones several years,” Venables said last week. “Incredibly well respected in the state of Texas. Just as a leader of men, recruited his schools and got the chance to know him several years ago and watch and follow his growth and development, his path.”
Jones’ success as the head football coach at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas meant he hosted coaches from across the college football landscape. That’s how Brent Venables became acquainted with the Sooners’ new wide receivers coach.
“And I’ve always had great admiration and respect for him as a man and his ability to develop players, how his players play; that matters to me,” Venables continued.”
Most recently, that development helped the Texas Tech Red Raiders have success in the passing game despite the loss of Erik Ezukanma, who led Tech in receiving the year prior.
His ability to develop and the relationships he has in the state of Texas, particularly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, will be great assets for the Oklahoma Sooners on the recruiting trail.
“Certainly, he also has great ties to the state of Texas,” Venables said. “And then he values a lot of the same things that I do in regards to coaching and developing people, as a family man. He recognizes the excellence again, that Oklahoma represents and wanted an opportunity to be a part of, you know, this great program.”
The Oklahoma Sooners lost a couple of significant pieces to their receiving corps after the 2022 season. [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] transferred to Missouri and [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] declared for the NFL draft. That’s a lot of experience and production out the door.
Emmett Jones’ job over the next six months is to get the wide receiver group ready to supplement the production lost with the departure of two veteran wide receivers. [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] is expected to take on a larger role in the offense this year, but the question is who will start opposite him in two wide receiver sets.
But Venables believes Jones is up to the task.
“And so, got great, great appreciation and respect for coach Jones. (He’s) gonna give our receivers exactly what they need in regards to the development, relational, and the scheme, the fundamental development.”
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In his evaluation of the 2023 recruiting classes, Fox Sports Joel Klatt shared that he loves what Oklahoma has done on the recruiting trail.
When Lincoln Riley left for USC, one of the big national talking points wondered how well Brent Venables and his staff would perform on the recruiting trail.
“I’ve walked into four playoffs, and I’ve never had better than maybe the third-best roster (of the four teams),” Riley said. “Every other year, we were 4 of 4. We had really good rosters, but they weren’t the same. … I can’t imagine that there could be a setting that we could build a better roster than we can here.”
Time will tell if Brent Venables and his staff can get to a College Football Playoff. But based strictly on recruiting rankings, Riley’s comment was a lie.
The Sooners have done an incredible job over the last year on the recruiting trail and have a chance to follow their No. 4 class with another top-five group if a few things fall right. If they can build on their success on the recruiting trail in the 2022 and 2023 cycles, there’s no reason the Sooners will not be national title contenders in the future.
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On the latest Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports analyst broke down the 2023 recruiting cycle and had some positive things to say about the Sooners class. In particular, Klatt mentions Venables is already outperforming Riley on the recruiting trail.
Oklahoma. I thought Oklahoma had a really great class. And obviously the the rankings suggest that as far as the total class, in terms of recruits and transfers No. 6, their best since 2021, when Caleb Williams came in. They had the the No. 4 class in the country when it just looks at high school recruits. That’s their best high school class since 2005. So, like, Brent Venables did a great job. I looked back at some of these classes that they had had high school only over the last few years, and Lincoln Riley wasn’t touching that, you know. 2019 I believe they had like the sixth best class in the country. They had an eight in there, but then like 10, 13, 9, 19 in 2016. So Brent Venables has done a really good job. Their first class is the best they’ve had in a long time. Six of their best seven recruits are either defensive players or offensive linemen. How do you get good? How do you win going into the SEC? You better play good defense. You better play good on the line of scrimmage, and their best player overall is their quarterback that they got, Jackson Arnold. So I loved what Oklahoma did. – Klatt, The Joel Klatt Show
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It took Brent Venables just one year to put together one of the best recruiting classes in Oklahoma history. It’s an incredible signing class made even more incredible by the balance it has. As Klatt mentions, as the Sooners prepare to play in the SEC, they have to be good on defense and good up front on both sides of the ball.
Ten of Oklahoma’s four- and five-stars come on the defensive side of the football. The six offensive blue-chippers are the No. 4 quarterback, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], offensive linemen [autotag]Cayden Green[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], running back [autotag]Daylan Smothers[/autotag], and wide receivers [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] and [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag]. With Bates, Green, Adepoju Adebawore and Derrick LeBlanc, Oklahoma added four blue-chip players to their offensive and defensive line.
That’ll have to continue or even get better to get on Alabama or Georgia’s level, but it’s a great start.
Perhaps the most impressive collection of players they brought in at one position is in the defensive backfield, where they added six four- and five-star defensive backs.
Lincoln Riley did a good job on the recruiting trail, but his best high school class in 2019 didn’t have the desired impact, and he definitely didn’t recruit this well on defense.
They had 16 blue-chip players signed to that class, eight of which were on the defensive side of the ball. Their highest-rated defensive player was ranked No. 163. That class had three top 200 defensive players signed. In the 2023 cycle, Venables added six top 200 players on defense, four of which were top 100 signees.
Of those 16 four- and five-star players in the 2019 class, only four or five had a significant impact for the Sooners: [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag], [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag], [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] and [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag]. Of those five, only Woodi Washington remains with the squad. Everyone else transferred.
[autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Stripling[/autotag], [autotag]Joseph Wete[/autotag] and [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] are still with the squad, but have not taken the step into stardom.
In two recruiting cycles, Brent Venables has added 33 four- and five-star players to the Sooners’ roster. Nineteen are on the defensive side of the football.
Venables and his staff can recruit. That much has been made clear. They did a great job in the two months they had prior to 2022 national signing day putting together the No. 8 class in the nation. And did even better with a year to work with in the 2023 class. Given two years to work on the 2024 class, it’s possible Venables and his staff can recreate the success from 2023 or even exceed it.
And that’s what it’s going to take for Oklahoma to be in a position to contend with Alabama and Georgia, whether it is in the Big 12 or the SEC. With the success it has had on the trail, there should be little doubt that the staff can build a roster that can contend for national championships.
To steal from Riley, there may not be a setting where Oklahoma could build a better roster than it can here.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.
