Meh. That’s hindsight analysis.
The close games were due to OU defense being shit for most of the season and uneven OL/QB play.
On the latter point, you had Rattler regressing some from last year to this year, especially considering the OU OL was not near as good as its been. Rattler couldn’t just sit back there for like 5 seconds waiting for OU’s stable of talented receivers to get open, no matter the coverage.
So Riley inserts Caleb Williams, who has the athleticism to avoid the rush given OU’s OL problems. And he starts lighting everyone up over his next 3 starts. So much so that the same fucking idiots who are talking now about Riley “tanking” the season were talking about Williams as a fucking Heisman candidate in the middle of October.
The KU game was close, yes, but it was really a first half problem more than anything. OU scored 35 points in the second half of that game, which is what you would expect. The following week, it seemed OU was doing just fine and everything seemed great after they destroyed TTU 52-21. But then came the 3-game gauntlet of Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, which were/are the three best defenses in the Big 12 by far… and the first quality defenses that Williams would face.
And oh - guess what - turns out a true freshman QB, no matter how talented, will struggle when they face really good defenses who are set up to stop them.
I don’t doubt that Riley’s people were in communication w USC since September, but the above is the best explanation for what happened on the field…. Not Riley “tanking” or “not being prepared” or some other bullshit like that.