After suffering the first losing season in 25 years, just the 13th in Oklahoma’s blue-blooded 128 year tackle football history, Brent Venables is busy building back up his roster...and legacy.
And at warp speed.
Because not only did Venables' reputation as a defensive wizard take a hit last season as Oklahoma slumped to a 6-7 record.
But because that off in the distance hmmm is the sound of the approaching freight train called the SEC that is scheduled to arrive in Norman this time next year.
Last year's home games featuring Kansas State, Baylor and Kansas are being replaced with Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
The sounds you will hear are the cash registers at Norman area businesses.
And Manhattan, Morgantown and Lubbock are being replaced by road trips to Baton Rouge, Oxford and Auburn.
Oklahoma’s problem wasn't because the offense left town with Lincoln Riley following the 2021 season.
After an undefeated non-conference schedule, the Sooners lost seven games including a handful by one possession.
And it wasn't on the offense.
The Oklahoma offense finished ranked #13 nationally in total yards per play, #10 in rushing yards per play and the 219 yards per game led the Big 12 in rushing, as well. Transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel played well enough in his first season at OU to be named the Big XII's Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Definitely it wasn't the Oklahoma offense that sputtered.
It was Venables defense that couldn't close out games and contributed directly to losses in five winnable games.
The Sooner defense lost at home against Kansas State and Baylor and on the road at West Virginia and Texas Tech and in the Cheez-It Bowl against #13 Florida State.
After Gabriel was knocked out in the first half against TCU in Fort Worth, the Sooners suffered blowout losses to the Horned Frogs and were blanked 49-0 the following week against Texas.
OUch!
But other than those two lopsided losses, the Sooners were in every other game last season and very easily could have won all five. Those things tend to even out over time.
If it weren't for the collapse of the defense.
Blame it on the transition from Riley’s “Speed Defense,” lack of players who could fit into Venables’ Clemson defensive scheme and competitive depth.
Oklahoma had 5 of 7 Sooners who were drafted by the NFL come from defensive starters in 2021.
So, even if Riley had remained in Norman there were big holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball.
Maybe that and the looming move to the SEC were the reasons Riley packed up his whistle and Dri-fits and moved to California?
But then the post-Bedlam disaster happened overnight.
A depleted roster of players including 5-star and 2022 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Caleb Williams and fellow 5-star receiver Mario Williams, plus four Oklahoma coaches followed the Lincoln Riley overnight exodus to Southern California and elsewhere.
The transfers included 5-Star and former starting Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler and starting Tight End Austin Stogner to South Carolina and starting wide receiver Jaden Haselwood to Arkansas.
Suddenly, Oklahoma not only had lost their head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach but also their entire quarterback room!
Ultimately it was all too much to overcome.
Oklahoma’s roster suffered a tremendous turnover from the 2020 Cotton Bowl team that beat Florida where 56 of 71 players from that roster are now gone.
And, one season removed from the previous regime finds only 8 of 24 signees from Lincoln Riley’s last recruiting class remaining in Norman.
That's a ton to overcome for any coach or program.
Consider it a Lincoln Riley imposed death penalty.
So Venables basically started over.
With a little help from interim head coach Bob Stoops who stepped in two weeks before national signing day and not only saved the 2022 recruiting class but most likely saved the program.
Stoops was joined by a group of Oklahoma coaches who remained in Bill Bedenbaugh, Demarco Murray, Joe Jon Finley and Cale Gundy on offense and Calvin Thibodeaux and Jamar Cain on defense.
All but Bedenbaugh and Cain were also former players at OU which certainly helped with their motivation.
Venables quickly replaced Riley with a former Sooner player in former Central Florida and Mississippi Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby.
And Lebby immediately called his former quarterback at UCF Dillon Gabriel just before he began classes at his new school UCLA and asked him if he wanted to join him in Norman.
Thankfully, Gabriel said yes before he had officially started at UCLA and Lebby also landed Pittsburgh quarterback Davis Beville and JUCO transfer quarterback General Booty from Tyler in the portal.
A Top 10 class was hurriedly put in place and signed in 2022 (which included top quarterback recruit Nick Evers from Flower Mound, Texas) and was repeated again in 2023.
Add in a mix of portal transfers (thanks to a NCAA ruling that removed the 25-class signee limit) and with a slew of returning players a year wiser under Venables and Team Clemson, the anticipation is once again sky high in Norman.
So with that recap, let's preview the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners who will compete in the last year of Big XII play before beginning a new era in the SEC in 2024.
Part One: The Offense
Dillon Gabriel returns for his senior year with unfinished business.
The transfer from Central Florida completed 63% of his passes in 2022 which was good enough to win the Big XII's Offensive Newcomer of the year honor.
Gabriel threw for 3,168 yards with 25 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions in 2022. He also rushed for 315 yards on 89 carries and scored 6 touchdowns.
Dillon Gabriel wasn’t the problem.
And the offense will run behind Gabriel again in 2023.
But this year a talented freshman phenom will be waiting in the wings if Gabriel falters or is injured as he was in 2022.
Jackson Arnold, a five-star quarterback, from Denton, Texas will be firmly planted in the backup role behind Gabriel when fall camp begins next month.
Arnold was the #1 quarterback in the nation according to ESPN and On3. A 2022 Under Armour All-American, Arnold was named the 2022 Elite 11 Finals MVP and the 2022 Landry Award winner as the best high school football player in North Texas.
He led Denton Guyer to a 28-3 record and compiled over 7,000 yards passing and 67 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions as a two-year starter. He also rushed for over 1,500 yards and scored 36 touchdowns on the ground.
Arnold enrolled last spring and had a full spring season and off-season with the Sooners. He will be a solid #2 option behind Gabriel.
Returnees Davis Beville and General Booty will battle for third string with a full year and off-season in Norman under their belts. Nick Evers hit the transfer portal to Wisconsin in the off-season.
The running game will be a rebuild with fresh faces.
Last year's top running back Eric Gray was a 5th round NFL draft pick by the New York Giants. After transferring from Tennessee in 2021, at Oklahoma Gray played in 25 games and made 18 starts rushing for 1,776 yards and 13 touchdowns while catching 56 passes for 458 yards and two scores. He was named first team All-Big XII for his efforts by PFF.
But the cupboard is not bare at running back.
Former Sooner and running backs coach Demarco Murray has been busy using his NFL-pedigree to recruit and has done an excellent job adding talented runners to his position group including a fellow Las Vegas-home boy.
Sophomore Jovantae Barnes played in 11 games and rushed 116 times for 519 yards and five touchdowns as a true freshman in 2022. He made is first start in the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State and had season highs of 27 carries and 108 rushing yards with one touchdown against the #13 ranked Seminoles. Like his coach, Barnes hails from Las Vegas.
Behind Barnes will likely be Redshirt Freshman Gavin Sawchuk. The Littleton, Colorado native arrived in Norman as the #1 rated prospect in the state of Colorado by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports. He only saw action in two games in 2022 as a Sooner.
He made his collegiate debut against TCU and rushed two times for five yards. However, Sawchuk got his opportunity in the Cheez-It Bowl following Eric Gray's decision to opt out of the bowl game. Sawchuk carried the ball for 15 times and 100 yards rushing and a 15-yard touchdown against a top #13 rated Florida State defense.
The bowl pairing of Barnes and Sawchuk resulted in the first pair of OU freshmen each with at least 100 yards rushing in the same game since 1985 (quarterback Eric Mitchell, 135 yards, and fullback Lion Perry, 132 yards, against Iowa State.)
Redshirt senior Marcus Major will return from injury and complement the dynamic duo of Barnes and Sawchuk. Major played in nine of 13 games in 2022 finishing with 227 yards on 56 carries with four touchdowns. He also had 61 yards receiving and a touchdown on eight catches and a pass completion on his only attempt. Injuries reduced his playing time including missing the Cheez-It Bowl.
If any of those front-line starters go down, Murray has assembled a talented group of raw and untested running backs to fill the gaps.
As for the receivers...
The Sooners leading receiver the past three years departed a year early for the NFL and leaves big holes in the Oklahoma offense and special teams.
Marvin Mims played in 37 career games and made 24 starts for the Sooners leading Oklahoma in receiving yards all three years. He finished his Oklahoma career with 123 receptions for 2,398 yards and 20 touchdowns. Mims ranks 3rd in OU history with his 19 receptions of at least 40 yards and was also a big weapon in the punt return game with his 11.8-yard average. He also returned three kickoffs for 70 yards.
Replacing Mims will be no small task for new receivers coach Emmett Jones but he will have plenty of options.
Jalil Farooq played in all 13 games and made 10 starts ranking 4th on the team with 466 yards receiving on 37 catches. The junior also rushed 15 times for 142 yards and returned 13 kickoffs for 281 yards which will help offset Mims production in this category.
Redshirt 5th year senior Drake Stoops will return for his sixth season at Oklahoma. Stoops played in all 13 games and made 10 starts tying for second on the team with 39 receptions and totaled 393 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson are two highly touted receivers who have received little playing time in Norman but will be expected to step up in 2023.
Gibson is a sophomore from Winter Garden, Florida and appeared in nine games primarily on special teams. He has one career catch for 12 yards at TCU last season. A mid-year enrollee, Gibson was a consensus 4-star prospect and compiled over 1,600 yards receiving and 22 touchdowns in two seasons of high school play. He was the #10 ranked wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.
Anderson is a redshirt freshman from Katy, Texas. He played in three games last year and was redshirted. Also a mid-year enrollee, Anderson was a 4-star prospect and was rated the #15 wide receiver in the nation by ESPN.
A pleasant surprise is the return of former Sooner Austin Stogner.
Stogner will replace Brayden Willis, who caught 39 passes for 514 yards and seven touchdowns in his fifth year in Norman, and was drafted in the 7th round of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49’ers.
The talented four-star recruit was touted as the #2 tight end nationally in the heralded class of 2019 that also featured 5-stars Spencer Rattler, Theo Wease and Jaden Haselwood, all of whom left the program early. (Wease was the last to leave this off-season transferring to Missouri.)
Last season at South Carolina, Stogner played in 12 games for the Gamecocks and made 10 starts. His best game was four catches for a season-high 63 yards against Missouri.
After three seasons at Oklahoma where he played in 34 games and made the 2nd team All-Big XII in 2020, Stogner transferred in 2022 along with Rattler to South Carolina where they were reunited with former Sooner assistant coach Shane Beamer. (Beamer and the Gamecocks will visit Norman next year.)
Stogner re-enrolled at OU in January where he will pursue a master's degree in supply chain management and he also graduated from OU in 2022 with a degree in Marketing.
Other returnees who will be competing for playing time at receiver include LV Bunkley-Shelton, Gavin Freeman, D.J. Graham II and J.J. Hester.
Texas A&M transfer Blake Smith and redshirt freshman Kaden Helms will vie for a backup role to Stogner at tight end.
And, Texas transfer and world class sprinter Brenen Thompson, highly touted 4-star freshman Jaquaize Pettaway and Michigan transfer Andrel Anthony should compete for playing time right away, too.
The receiving corps should be just fine.
The offensive line will be full of fresh faces in 2023.
But what else is new?
Bill Bedenbaugh’s NFL resume includes current starters Creed Humphrey (Kansas City,) Orlando Brown Jr. (Cincinnati) and Ben Powers (Denver) plus Cody Ford (Buffalo,) Marquis Hayes (Arizona,) Tyrese Robinson (Philadelphia) and free agents Dru Samia and Bobby Evans plus the recently drafted Anton Harrison in Jacksonville and Wanya Morris in Kansas City.
And, Humphrey (2019 & 2020,) Samia in 2018 and Brown (2016 & 2017) were named Big XII Offensive Lineman of the Year for five consecutive years.
Bedenbaugh’s 2018 group was honored with the Joe Moore Award signifying the nation’s best collegiate offensive line.
Oklahoma offensive tackle Anton Harrison became the program's 48th first round NFL draft pick when he was selected 27 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Harrison was OU's fifth first round pick over the last six seasons.
Wanya Morris was taken with the #29 pick in the 3rd round of the NFL draft by the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Harrison and Morris represent the 10th and 11th Sooners offensive linemen to be drafted in Bedenbaugh's decade at Oklahoma. In that time, no position group at Oklahoma has produced more NFL Draft selections.
That leaves a big reloading year for offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
But it will be done with experienced players.
Senior Center Andrew Raym returns for his fourth season and will anchor the offense line. An Academic All-Big 12 second team honoree, Raym garnered honorable mention All-Big XII honors from league coaches. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native started the first 10 games at center before missing the last three due to injury.
Joining Raym will be redshirt sophomore Savion Byrd. The Cedar Hill, Texas native played in 10 games in 2022, primarily on special teams and in a reserve role on the offensive line. He made his first career start versus Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. He redshirted in 2021. He was a consensus 4-star recruit and was ranked as the #4 offensive guard by 247Sports and the #5 offensive tackle by ESPN.
Redshirt junior Tyler Guyton played in 10 games and made five starts at offensive tackle. He started at right tackle versus Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. Guyton transferred from TCU in 2022.
Sophomore Jacob Sexton played in 10 of 13 games at left tackle and earned his first career start against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl but got hurt on the third offensive play and did not return.
Redshirt senior McKade Mettauer started all 13 games, including the first 12 at left guard and Cheez-It Bowl versus Florida State at right guard.
Returning redshirt junior Aaryn Parks played in five games in a backup role at tackle and replaced Sexton in the Cheez-It Bowl versus Florida State. He entered the transfer portal earlier this year but just announced his return to the Sooners last week on Twitter.
Those six players will give Coach Bill Bedenbaugh plenty of returning experience.
Other names to watch include highly touted freshman Cayden Green from Lee's Summit, Missouri and Stanford redshirt senior transfer tackle Walter Rouse. Rouse started 10 of 12 games last year for the Cardinal and will compete for a starting job immediately upon his arrival in Norman.
The Sooners lost transfer starters Robert Congel and Chris Murray who more than adequately filled holes during their careers in Norman.
Congel, a Swiss Army Knife, started at center for Raym in the Cheez-It Bowl. Murray started 25 games the past two seasons at right guard and earned an honorable mention All-Big XII acclaim from league coaches. He missed the Cheez-It Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Finding a backup center should Raym go down again is job #1 for Bedenbaugh. True Freshman Joshua Bates from Durango, Colorado, the #4 center by ESPN and Rivals, is the only center listed on the roster.
Solidifying the depth with newcomer transfers Caleb Shaffer from Miami (Ohio) and Troy Everett from Appalachia State is job #2. Sophomore Jake Taylor, who saw limited action in eight games, will also be in the mix.
Expect many of these players to hone their skills at multiple positions which has been a hallmark of a Bill Bedenbaugh offensive line.
Normally, you would like to see more than 31 returning starts for an offensive line but with Rouse’s 10 starts at Stanford and the arrivals of transfers Shaffer and Everett, plus the returning experience, Oklahoma should be in excellent shape.
Plus no one else but Bill Bedenbaugh has the proven track record of delivering NFL draft picks to the NFL the past 10 years in Norman.
Outlook
This was the #13th ranked total offense in the country averaging 6.24 yards per play in 2022 with Dillon Gabriel, Marvin Mims, Eric Gray, Anton Harrison and Brayden Willis.
The Sooners offense also featured the #10 rushing team in the country at 4.91 yards per play which also led the Big XII in rushing per game at 219 yards.
Not too shabby for a 6-7 team.
Only Dillon Gabriel from that group returns at quarterback and he is poised to have a stellar senior season after settling in last year in Norman.
Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach Jeff Lebby said recently he has pushed Gabriel to improve upon his 2022 performance, limit mistakes and trust his protection.
The only knock on Gabriel last year was his happy feet in the pocket and his tendency to overthrow wide open receivers. Still, you can’t complain too much with his 63% completion rate and demonstrated toughness.
If Gabriel can stay healthy for a full season and improve upon his 63% completion rate and over 3,100 yards performance from 2022, watch out for Oklahoma to contend for the school's 15th Big XII Championship in the final season of conference play before joining the SEC next year.
If Gabriel goes down again, freshman phenom Jackson Arnold’s career will begin at warp speed.
Demarco Murray's running game looks to be this unit's strength with the three-headed monster of Jovantae Barnes, Gavin Sawchuk and Marcus Major returning.
Expect the receiving corps to improve with new coach Emmett Jones from Texas Tech after a transition year following longtime Sooner coach Cale Gundy's sudden dismissal in August.
And, if recent history proves itself again, expect Bill Bedenbaugh to push all of the right buttons like always to have his offensive line in good shape to make all of the right calls to support Lebby's high-powered balanced offensive attack.
Overall, I expect Oklahoma’s high-powered offense to improve in 2023 following a disappointing 2022 team rebuilding year.
But don’t take my word for it.
So do the sharks in Las Vegas whose early lines have the Sooners as the betting favorite in 11 games.
That is good news for Sooner fans.
And the schedule in the expanded Big XII should help.
A soft non-conference schedule (the result of the Georgia home game being cancelled by the SEC due to the pending ascension to that league next year) should result in a 3-0 start to the season.
Arkansas State, SMU and a road game at Tulsa will be overmatched.
In hindsight, swapping SMU for the two-time defending national champion Georgia was a blessing.
The Big XII schedule features road trips to newcomers Cincinnati and BYU plus final trips to Kansas and Oklahoma State and home games against Iowa State, Central Florida, West Virginia, and a Thanksgiving Friday game against TCU.
Last year's Big XII Champion Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor are victims to the new schedule to accommodate the newcomers. Oklahoma lost to all three teams in 2023.
So the annual Red River Rivalry game against Texas in Dallas on October 7 could be a preview for the Big XII Championship Game in December should everything else fall in place.
And what a fitting send off to have Oklahoma and Texas play in the last Big XII Championship game for both schools.
Is the Oklahoma offense SEC-ready?
Despite losing Mims, Gray, Harrison, Morris and Willis to the NFL and no players being named to the first team pre-season Big XII Offense announced this week, the answer is undoubtedly…
Yes.
A final victory lap in the Big XII should set the table for the ascension to the SEC in 2024 which will be unchartered waters for the Sooner Nation.
It’s the Brent Venables defense that is the big question mark and despite his best efforts still doesn’t have the SEC-ready linemen he is desperately recruiting.
If the Sooners can finally land the 5-star d-linemen they are in the mix for in the 2024 recruiting class, watch out.
We’ll address that next.
Boomer.
Oklahoma Offensive Starters If Season Started Tomorrow (Projected:)
Dillon Gabriel--QB (Redshirt Senior)
Jovantae Barnes--RB (Sophomore)
Jalil Farooq--WR (Junior)
Drake Stoops--WR (Redshirt Fifth)
Brenen Thompson--WR (Sophomore)
Austin Stogner--Tight End (Senior)
Andrew Raym--Center (Senior)
Savion Byrd--Guard (Redshirt Sophomore)
McKade Mettauer--Guard (Redshirt Senior)
Tyler Guyton--Tackle (Redshirt Junior)
Walter Rouse--Tackle (Redshirt Senior)
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