While Ohio State followers maintain the latest grudge towards Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams, and USC, the fanbase that’s nonetheless essentially the most upset in regards to the Trojans’ success this 12 months resides in Norman. Williams was speculated to be the third Heisman winner in crimson and cream below Riley, and it’s OU that needs to be a convention title away from a spot within the College Football Playoff.
Instead of a fourth journey to the playoff, Oklahoma is 6-6 and shall be enjoying in a nondescript postseason recreation. Right now, predictions have them slated for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl towards Wisconsin. If they will’t high the Badgers, it is going to be the Sooners first shedding season since 1998, when John Blake oversaw a 5-6 marketing campaign, was fired, and changed by Bob Stoops.
First-year coach Brent Venables, the longtime defensive coordinator at Clemson, wasn’t left with an empty cabinet, and despite the fact that some gamers, together with Williams, adopted Riley to Southern California, it shouldn’t have been this dangerous.
The solely issues Venables actually needed to repair was the quarterback place and the protection, however followers actually would’ve been understanding if he went one for 2, with the workforce bettering on the facet of the ball that’s allegedly the power of its new coach.
Not solely did the protection not enhance, but it surely received worse. The Sooners have been one hundredth in school soccer in factors allowed, 109th in speeding protection, and 107th in move protection. They misplaced three of their previous 4 video games to unranked groups. During a three-week span from late September to early October, the Sooners have been outscored 145-58. Granted two of these groups are vying for the Big 12 title and the opposite one is Texas, it’s nonetheless alarming to learn.
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The final time an OU workforce received drubbed that badly for 3 straight weeks was a stretch in 1997 once they misplaced to Nebraska, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M by a mixed rating of 156-21. If you’re an Oklahmoa fan (and also you’re nonetheless studying this), you’re in all probability questioning who the fuck is that this man and what’s his level.
Other than highlighting the lowlights of a extremely shitty season — the one different program to concede 50-plus factors to Texas Tech this 12 months was Murray State — I’m saying life comes at you quick, and Venables has to proper this quickly or OU is prone to hopping aboard a training carousel that’s variety to only a few faculties regardless of how prestigious.
After the loss to the Red Raiders, OU main receiver and workforce chief Marvin Mims didn’t fairly overtly reject his new head coach’s tweaks to this system, however he did say he had bother getting used to the cultural modifications.
“The biggest thing about him, it’s just — I wouldn’t call it a culture shock. But, you know, he brought a lot of things that players have to get adjusted to, especially Coach Schmitty (strength coach Jerry Schmidt) coming back. I mean, there’s no, you know, teeter-tottering on the line and stuff like that. You got to do the things he wants you to do the ways he wants you to do them. Basically, that’s the biggest thing, is just getting adjusted to that.”
It’s not honest to yell “You had one job” at Venables, contemplating how tremendously tough it’s to efficiently coach school soccer within the period of switch portals and NIL offers. Expecting a man who’s by no means been a head coach to do what Riley or Ryan Day did once they inherited all of the gamers and assets of their extraordinarily profitable predecessors was at all times an excessive amount of. It’s like assuming Dillon Gabriel would step in for Williams and win 9 or 10 video games. OK, it’s not fairly that, however you get what I’m saying.
While Oklahoma lived within the high 10 in recruiting rankings below Riley, it was actually what the coach received out of his quarterbacks that set OU aside from different perennial powerhouses. No Riley-led Oklahoma workforce completed larger than twenty ninth in common factors allowed, and most of the time that quantity was in 60s.
For no matter motive, the Sooners couldn’t get the overwhelming athletes that Alabama, Clemson, LSU, and Georgia churn out. If that’s what Venables must get his protection on par with the Tigers items that destroyed ACC gameplans for years, it’d take a few years to remake the id of the workforce.
Don’t giggle too laborious, Texas followers. You even have rather a lot to determine earlier than leaping into the deep finish and swimming with SEC groups week after week.These two applications must be working close to the height of their potential once they make the transfer down South, or they’re going to have a tough time sustaining — or, in UT’s case, getting again to — that lofty establishment.
There’s not rather more that would’ve gone flawed in Norman since Riley and Williams bounced, but when the duo will get again to the CFP and provides the one particular person {hardware} that issues, it’ll be like twisting the knife, throwing salt within the wound, and kicking a followers whereas they’re down all rolled into one.