354.3 yards a game
That was Oklahoma’s offensive average last season. It got them to 10-3 and a late charge into the College Football Playoff, and it was nowhere near good enough for a programme that spent the offseason saying so out loud.
Brent Venables went shopping in the transfer portal at almost every position group. He did not go shopping at quarterback.
John Mateer stays, and the fifth-year senior knows exactly what the tape looked like after he came back from a broken hand suffered early last year.
“I didn’t play that well, and toward the end of the year, I don’t think I did,” Mateer said. “I’m motivated not because of the outside, how people view it. I’m not motivated by the perception. I’m motivated by the way I play in the film. The film doesn’t lie, and I cringe when I watch the film.”
The 10th-ranked Sooners get their first look at the fixed version on Friday in Norman against UTEP.
Try it for $0.99.
New pieces around him
The offensive line returns real experience, though camp brought a reshuffle when centre Jake Maikkula went down. Sophomore Ryan Fodje takes the job, having already started games at both tackle and guard as a freshman.
The tight end room is new territory. Jason Witten now coaches it, and the former Dallas Cowboys star has brought in Hayden Hansen from Florida and Rocky Beers from Colorado State.
Defensively, Oklahoma bring back the group that carried them into the playoff, including middle linebacker Owen Heinecke. The former walk-on forced his way into the starting lineup in early November and finished with 12 tackles for loss and five sacks. A temporary injunction granted over the offseason keeps him eligible this year.
Venables is more taken with something else. Every projected starter on his defence on Friday began his college career at Oklahoma.
“I love that,” he said. “It speaks volumes.”
UTEP arrive with problems of their own
The Miners went 2-10 last season and have not finished above .500 since 2021. Scotty Walden is in his third year trying to change that, and he has handed the offence to EJ Colson Jr., an Incarnate Word transfer who threw for 2,142 yards and accounted for 19 touchdowns.
Keeping him upright is the whole assignment.
“They get after the quarterback,” Walden said of the Oklahoma defence. “They don’t have to bring six or bring seven to get home.”
UTEP also do not know whether safety Solo Barnes, who made 66 tackles with two interceptions last season, will be cleared to play despite a temporary restraining order granted last week. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” Walden said.
Discover the rest of our sports news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply