Can the Sooners rekindle the Magic?

After their first losing season since the turn of the century, the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to rebound in a big way under second-year head coach, Brent Venables. While the Sooners are looking to lock eyes with the CFP once again, the question of the year for the Sooners is will coach Venables turn this thing around and get OU back to where they want to be? Lots can happen in a year and two of the greatest OU head coaches won their first national championships in their second year. Is Venables the next “B” coach to do that? Well let's review what has to happen for them to achieve that goal: 1st Oklahoma needs to secure a defense. With a multitude of transfers, both in the secondary and on the defensive line, OU (players and staff) have added depth and talent in an area where they were extremely lacking in 2022. Some of these key transfers include Dasan McCullough, Trace Ford, and Rondell Bothroyd. Bothroyd and McCullough had big showings in the spring game and showed they will be able to come and immediately make an impact this fall. These guys paired with Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, and Jaren Kanak hope to be devastating to all opposition and bring back the classic Sooner defense of the past.

The defense looked to finally take a step forward in year two of Venables' system and they, as a whole, showed their part in the spring game. Now as we all know, the spring game doesn't mean much in the way of quality reps of football, but it does show that these guys are starting to really grasp what Venables is trying to sell them. You can see the progress in this defense and how the new pieces fit in and make it better; however, I'm still not sold on the idea that it is good enough to compete for a National title. Will it be better? Of course it will, year two under Venables is bound to be better than 6-7 and the defense will be a huge part of why they will have a winning record this year.

Something that will really put the ball in OU’s court is Dillion Gabriel being more consistent throughout the season. In 2022, Gabriel completed 62.7% of his passes for 3,168 yards and 25 TDs with only 6 interceptions. Overall Gabriel's play was good but inconsistent. As the year went on he got better and with that, he was able to connect on more of his deep passes and fixed most of the issues he had. I expect to see continued growth from Gabriel in 2023 and really step up into that elite QB role that OU fans are used to seeing. A big part of that will be Gabriel including more of the running game into his play. Last season it was as if Coach Jeff Lebby and company were restraining Gabriel due to injuries and didn't allow him to really show what he had from his legs. From what we saw in the spring game, I'd say that Lebby and the staff will be letting Gabriel loose on the college football world to do what he does best. This time around they'll feel better about doing it too since (from what we can assume) freshman 5-star QB Jackson Arnold will be the backup to Gabriel. With better QB depth the more you can open up the playbook with your starter.

As I stated earlier I'm not sold on this team being able to compete for a National title just yet, but Oklahoma’s 2023 schedule is quite favorable to the Sooners, OU shouldn't have any problem until they hit Dallas for the Red River Rivalry. At that point, we will see how serious this OU team will be on the national scene. Now, I fully expect the Sooners to bounce back in a big way and finish the season with an 11-1 record with a loss to Texas in Dallas which I believe they will get to try and avenge in the Big 12 title game. The Sooners' schedule is easy enough to walk through on their way out the door. Brent Venables’ Sooners team is well on the rise to dominance and a better year two is ahead for this group of guys as they head into the sunset and begin their new journey as members of the SEC.