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Posts posted by closetojumping
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5 minutes ago, kilroydos said:
He did hit 1300 in '23, but it's not working this year. I don't know how much of it is his fault.
I don't think Ikard's plan is for the whole slate of offensive position coaches to go, but they've got to get on the same page. Bedenbaugh doesn't want to coach his line to set the same way for every play (to accommodate the RPO), but that's what he's having to do right now. That means no push in the run game, no blocking support by TEs that can't do it, and no space for the WRs to get clear because of the aforementioned.
The plan to abandon the run for this year is that he doesn't think you can re-install a package in the middle of the year that fixes the set issues, so you abandon the RPO and just use short passes in place of the run to backs who can catch a little. You hope it pulls people up off of the deeper zones and then you get Mateer a little time with a slower rush and more space downfield. You also hope it stops OLs from getting rolled up on, which has been the source of half of the OL injuries this year.
It would require a LOT of humility from the staff and you probably still need to get rid of JJF for not finding a single TE who can block worth a damn and Murray for not being able to identify, land, and develop a RB with any vision.
If you could swing the scythe, who would you keep on the offensive coaching staff?
My view is this:
-Joe Jon Finley was a bum at ATM and he's been a bum at OU. I don't know what he's doing with his charges, honestly. It almost seems like guys get worse as the season moves forward. We saw that with certain groups under Mack Brown, everywhere under Strong, and in a lot of places with Herman. No one hires a perfect staff, so there's nits to pick across any staff in the country, but JJF stands out as one of the worst position coaches I could name anywhere right now. Some of that is due to familiarity, but not all of it.
-Jones could well be a victim of circumstance, but we're nearing a point where it doesn't matter. Injuries decimating the WR room? Two years in a row? That's a shame. Also a shame? There aren't any actual dudes in the room in the first place and the statistics bear that out. This is from a program that seemed like it produced a top 3 round WR pick every year for two decades.
-Murray is saved only by Finley in terms of being the worst assistant on any staff I can think of right now. He can at least recruit, I guess, but he does nothing with those recruits once they get to campus. It also seems like he actively finds a player in the RB room to dislike and beat up on each year. The RB room is where highly ranked 4 stars and 5 stars go to die. Sawchuk, Tatum, Barnes, Ott - they are all within the last 2 years of being complete busts or mediocrities. Maybe some got hurt? Who cares? The excuses might be legitimate, but they aren't improving the situation.
-Bedenbaugh is enigmatic, at this point. He was once considered one of the best in the business and had guys going in the 1st round it seemed like every year. He fell asleep in recruiting and ignored the portal for a few years and now the product on the field is absolute dogshit. This is another spot where the group seems to be devolving as the seasons wear on, particularly the past two years. Again, injuries can be part of the problem, but cry me a river. Every program in the country deals with building OL injury issues as the season continues because this is a brutal, violent sport, especially in the trenches.
I have zero faith in Arbuckle to make solid hires simply because he hasn't been around long enough to know what he's doing in that regard. I'd been hiring talent for 6 years when I was 29 and shit was still somewhat of a mystery to me. Unless he's a savant, how the fuck is he going to know who to poach or promote? Venables is part of why you're in this offensive mess. One thing about Nagy is that he is connected throughout CFB and the NFL when it comes to coaching personnel. Maybe he's a legitimate asset on this front if OU does decide to clean house offensively.
Also, Schmidt is outdated and from a different era. I don't see OU looking bigger, faster, or meaner than any other P4 team they're playing. They outplayed Michigan and Auburn, but they didn't have a size or speed advantage to my naked eye. Against Texas? They looked smaller and slower across the board. Are you guys seeing something differently?
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14 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:
What CTJ doesn't say here, but which should be obvious, is that he's now planning several calls into Pauly Finebaum where Lewis Livinstone is going to gas about how he and his nephew Parker have been cooking meth in a trailer in Vidor every summer since he was 10, which by coincidence, was also the first year Parker stole a car and crashed it into a tree just to feel something.
In the forthcoming weeks we're going to hear some very interesting members of the Stroh family hitting the airwaves, who I will remind all of you are Aggies, talking about how the ginger folk are some of the most efficient and successful fentanyl mules China has ever employed.See, this is putting in work now. We need to workshop this and see where we can take it.
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10 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:
@closetojumping you should be ashamed of yourself
Ha. I don't like how the guy handled his Texas exit, but I'm not actively trying to sabotage his career. Is imitating a crazy black man's voice the audio version of committing blackface? I'm assuming so, and therefore, yeah, I'm good.
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On 10/15/2025 at 3:51 PM, A-Tex Devil said:
Going next month (UT-GA weekend) and staying at Circa, I think. We are all almost or just past 50, so this is a sportsbook (Circa is just spectacular for this), poker, craps, trip and maybe catch a concert if one is in town (2 years ago we caught Built to Spill and The Hold Steady randomly playing the same gig, which was awesome as I love THS and BtS is one of my buddy's all time favorites). But overall, we look and play the part of dork dads on vacation.
I rarely spend any time at good restaurants on these trips (and it's been two years), because degenerate, but want to find a spot this time for one excellent meal. What's a favorite steakhouse where we can come out of the sports books or off the tables and walk into with our untucked short sleeve Poncho, Vuori chinos, baseball cap, and ON Clouds (you know, the West Austin dad uniform) without looking like complete slobs. I figure we'll need to go to the strip unless someone can convince me on V&A or Andiamo because they are downtown.
Dude, the steakhouse at Circa is just fine. The bartenders are also slutty and hot. I forget the restaurant name, but should be easy to find. I went with my wife for a change of pace from the strip a while back. Not our thing, but it would fit your thinking.
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5 hours ago, satyanash said:
The main exports of the Texas Empire are currently syrup, timber, gabagool, and lots of meth.
Empires have been built on less.
Outside of OU, what is the actual footprint a result of? Who played someone in New England and south Georgia?
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49 minutes ago, Red Five said:
FWIW, IT says Rickey Stewart is dealing with a family emergency and will rejoin the team when that is over.
This almost never works out well. The small running back out of San Antonio did this, the DE out of the Golden Triangle, those two immediately come to mind. See ya, bud.
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OU reporters are saying that OT Simmons is a go for Saturday against South Carolina. Dude couldn't walk on his own this past Saturday, but he's going to be out there at full speed this coming weekend. Either he's a complete pussy or this is a Jerry Schmidt special.
Also, OU has never scored more than 2 offensive touchdowns against an SEC opponent since joining the conference. There's a shot that that holds true into the winter break.
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1 minute ago, Sgt Hulk said:
Baxter is kirk Johnson. Jordan Whittington 2.0
hopefully he sticks around long enough that his last year is healthy and he absolutely balls out like Whittington did. But he’s gotten up limping every time he’s touched a football In a texas uniform.
This comes across as hyperbole but might actually be factually correct. I've grown tired of hoping the guy can come back and play. Then again, I felt that way about Jordan Shipley and Jordan Whittington, too.
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Other random and somewhat humorous OU stuff right now:
-OU is down to two OTs - Fasusi and some back-up transfer. They're claiming Simmons could be back soon, but also not explaining what his injury is and they're vague about the whole thing.
-The fans are arguing amongst themselves on several divisive threads and I am not sure which one is the most entertaining. They're flummoxed that USC and Riley are performing well after expecting Michigan to shred them. Numerous guys want Bedenbaugh gone while others are questioning the fandom of those posters doing so. On the Big 12 vs Venables quote thread, a mod has defended Venables' take and he's getting run over by his constituency.
-No one can understand what the fuck is going on with Ott not getting PT, but numerous posters are simply unwilling to believe that it could be a byproduct of Demarco Murray not being very good at his job.
-There is a growing consensus that Fatty Arbuckle sucks and they need Kevin Wilson's "uptempo offense" installed, with Wilson playing a bigger role on the staff. This is the same guy that was run off from Indiana after getting them to two consecutive bowl games and then only getting two seasons at Tulsa before being shitcanned there as well. Both places pushed him out because his team, his admins and the booster base all wound up hating him. He fits right in at OU, I guess.
-They have a decent-sized faction of fans who honestly believe that they would have won the game on Saturday had those meddling refs not ruined things for them. This same group is projecting a 5-3 SEC finish with a win at SCar and then a sweep of their home SEC games remaining, Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU.
-Another faction of posters is actively pleading for Venables to get shitcanned so "Nagy can get his guy" in there, with a return to top 10 national status being all but assured with that change.
I'm enjoying witnessing where things are heading for the sooners and their program.
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Here's an article about Jayden Gibson leaving the team, as of today. If you'll recall, the sooners have been decrying his absence with the WR corps since he went down last August. They rushed him back in the spring and he got hurt again, but, by golly, he was going to be fine for the 2025 season, per Venables in May, and that was going to make a big difference! I've been mocking the notion of his return throughout this thread.
SpoilerNORMAN — Oklahoma and wide receiver Jayden Gibson have parted ways.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Wednesday, when asked during the SEC coaches teleconference, that Gibson is "no longer with the team." The Sooners' fourth-year head coach did not provide any further details on the reasoning Gibson's departure from the team.
As of late Wednesday morning, Gibson was still listed on Oklahoma's official online roster.
Gibson has been sidelined since August 2024, when he tore the patellar tendon in his knee. He missed the entire 2024 season and was set to return this year, but he sustained a setback with his knee before the start of spring practices while running routes on air.
*** LAST CHANCE: JOIN SOONERS ILLUSTRATED NOW AND GET 60% OFF AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP***
The last update Venables provided on Gibson's status was in late May at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida, when he said the 6-foot-5, 186-pound receiver was "on schedule" to return toward the beginning of this season.
Midway through the regular season, Gibson has not appeared in any games for the 14th-ranked Sooners, and he has not been spotted on the sideline in street clothes. He was with the team at the start of fall camp, when he was seen on the field doing light stretching but not participating in practice as he continued to work his way back from injury.
When Gibson was last healthy during the 2023 season, the Apopka, Florida, native caught 14 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns during a bit of a breakout sophomore campaign. He averaged 26.7 yards per reception and established himself as one of Oklahoma's top downfield threats in the passing game. His average depth of target was 23.3 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus, and he made four contested catches on six contested throws during the 2023 season.
He was expected to see an increased role in Oklahoma's offense last season before sustaining a ruptured patellar tendon in fall camp. Gibson was one of five Sooners wide receivers to miss significant time — or in his case, the entirety of the season — during that program's frustrating 2024 campaign.
Oklahoma's wide receiver corps this season has been led by Arkansas transfer Isaiah Sategna, former Purdue transfer Deion Burks and Southern Illinois transfer Keontez Lewis, while the Sooners recently welcomed back Arkansas-Pine Bluff transfer Javonnie Gibson, who returned from a broken leg he sustained during spring practices.
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Terry's been practicing at RB for the past week+ allegedly. He's getting reps with the better groups there now, apparently. Here's Bobby's thoughts for the day below. Of course he thinks the Kentucky game will be a slog. I've watched UK a couple of times and I don't get it. They look like a team that doesn't like its coach and Stoops looks like he isn't enjoying being there. So they're going to get up for this game? Okay.
SpoilerWhat I mentioned in this column yesterday morning became public by yesterday afternoon.
Sophomore running back Jerrick Gibson has left the program.
Gibson’s role never quite took off at Texas. While some will point to his tendency to fumble, I think it’s actually more definitive than that.
Gibson just wasn’t as good as Tre Wisner and is not appreciatively more talented than Christian Clark or James Simon.
So when you add his propensity to fumble on top of it, Gibson just had no real advantage other than his size over the other runners. Size just isn’t enough to ever be a front-line guy at Texas.
Yet Gibson probably still harbors hope of a being a front-line guy somewhere, thus his decision to transfer.
We wish him nothing but the best of luck.
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In the wake of Gibson’s departure, true freshman Michael Terry saw reps at RB yesterday.
I’m told Terry “looked natural” at the position. This could result in a full-time move for Terry as numbers at the position have dwindled.
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CJ Baxter practiced some yesterday but was not full go.
Baxter had hoped to return this weekend against Kentucky.
I’d cautiously put his return at no better than 50-50.
We’ll see what Steve Sarkisian has to say later today when the SEC releases its initial injury report of the week.
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This weekend, Texas faces a Kentucky offense that will try to mirror the success of Florida.
They have a big running back who is tough to tackle and a quarterback who can be streaky.
They’ll try to stay ahead of the chains and keep the Texas offense on the sideline, keeping the home crowd in the game, too.
The Kentucky defense plays hard and physical. The Texas offense will require a level of consistency and efficiency to be successful against the Wildcats.
Texas 20 - Kentucky 10
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Gerry this morning:
Wednesday Recruiting: Dre Quinn update and more
The Texas staff continues to chip away at remaining targets the month of October, while being on the road an unable to host any prospects for weekend visits until November.
This morning, OTF brings the latest on a trio of prospects.
Dre Quinn ...
It's Ohio State vs. Texas with Tennessee in the mix for the Buford High 4-star+ EDGE. The 6-foot-3.5, 228-pounder and Texas staff members talk daily. The plan is for Quinn and family to visit for the Arkansas game November 22. Quinn had a very positive visit to Ohio State for the Minnesota game, and is likely to go back one more time for an OV in the coming weeks.New OT offer Micah Smith ...
Kyle Flood and Micah Smith continue to try and iron out official visit details. Texas is working on the November 22 weekend, but Vero Beach High could very well still be playing in the playoffs. Texas knows they can't just be zeroed in on the singular weekend. While the 6-foot-5.5, 325-pounder remains committed to UCLA, Ohio State has become the team to beat after the October 4 official visit.Texas and Corey Wells ...
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Texas commit with an 82-inch wingspan continues to have positive conversations with Kenny Baker and staff. Auburn isn't giving up, and Ole Miss remains in the mix too as expected, but both have questions to answer. Will Auburn make a coaching change? Will Lane Kiffin take the Florida job? Texas has stability. Texas staff members are also in contact contact with Wells' mom.One more note ...
Texas and current Florida 4-star+ DL pledge Kendall Guervil (Fort Myers, Fla./High) continue to have positive conversations. A November 22 weekend visit for the Arkansas game is certainly possible.-
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1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:
Mateer's mistakes were almost all mental. Only Littleton's pick was an off target throw to an open receiver and on that one his throwing form was terrible because of pressure from Moore on his right.
The only one I think the hand might have actually impacted was the backward pass that Taafe almost recovered but was out of bounds. That was terrible. But even that one may have just been not wanting to lead his receiver into the crashing defender (Roberson).
He had trouble with accuracy beyond 15 yards. I don't know whether that was his thumb or not, although it seems logical, but I do know that whatever it was, it was physical.
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41 minutes ago, Drew said:
Did you even watch this?
He’s more interested in doing the “both sides” gaslighting shit than anything else.
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1 hour ago, Gordon Shumway said:
Did Sydney steal your phone again?
Well, some people got it. Not sure which is funnier to me, really.
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Cui gives a shit? It's got a fucking bow on it.
Burton already said the guy was irrelevant. The portal and top 5 recruiting will do that to plenty of guys in ways the past did not. Thank goodness. Most of the guys y'all listed could all leave and the impact to the program would likely be positive.
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Spoilered below is a write-up of snapcounts, PFF grades, and advanced stats for the Texas game. There are parts of this post that are objectively disturbing if you're an okie, and hilarious if you are not. It's long, but for those interested in, you know, actually college football discussion, a lot of it is worth the time.
Highlights:
-Not a single OU offensive player scored well enough to classify as a starter ranking. Most of the higher ranked guys played a few snaps or were skill guys.
-The OL sucked but Kanak and Mateer sucked worse.
-The defense had a good but not great game, with multiple guys putting up quality starts.
-Wisner created 7 missed tackles, which is comical.
SpoilerPFF review: Snap counts, advanced stats and player grades from Oklahoma's 23-6 loss to Texas
Reviewing the snap counts, player grades and other advanced stats, via Pro Football Focus data, from Oklahoma football's Week 7 loss to Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
DALLAS — Oklahoma suffered its first loss of the season in an increasingly familiar manner for the program under head coach Brent Venables.
Oklahoma fell to rival Texas, 23-6, on Saturday in the Red River Rivalry for the team's third loss in the last four years down in the Cotton Bowl. Like each of those prior two losses to the Longhorns under Venables, the Sooners' offense was incapable of stepping up to the occasion and failed to score a touchdown for the third time in four years.
John Mateer returned from a hand injury, just 17 days after surgery, in an attempt to boost Oklahoma over its biggest rival but threw three interceptions and didn't look like himself during a remarkably inefficient performance by the redshirt junior. The Sooners didn't do themselves any favors against the Longhorns, between the three turnovers, missed opportunities early and an inability to get off the field late, as the program suffered another difficult loss in the Red River Rivalry.
As we did last season, Sooners Illustrated will use the day after Oklahoma games to review Pro Football Focus data to glean more from the Sooners' performance each week. This will include snap counts, player grades and other notable metrics from that week's game.
If you're unfamiliar with Pro Football Focus, the scouting analytics site relies on a staff of 300-plus experts to review game film of every single team and player across college football. PFF assigns to players based on per-play success rate, from 0 to 100. This year we will again add in some of the advanced statistics provided by PFF from each game, with the aim of reflecting a more tangible impact on how the Sooners fared against that week's opponent.
With that in mind, let's dive into the Week 7 review, with grades, snap counts and other advanced stats from Oklahoma's 23-6 loss to Texas…
Overall offensive grades
(Photo: SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Carson Kent: 68.1
Derek Simmons: 66.9
Tory Blaylock: 66.5
Xavier Robinson: 63.9
Luke Baklenko: 63.5
Isaiah Sategna: 61.7
Deion Burks: 61.3
Javonnie Gibson: 60.3
David Stone: 60.0
Jayden Jackson: 60.0
Jake Maikkula: 59.1
Heath Ozaeta: 58.7
Keontez Lewis: 58.5
Febechi Nwaiwu: 58.3
Jer'Michael Carter: 57.2
Michael Fasusi: 56.9
Kaden Helms: 53.2
Jaren Kanak: 50.3
Jaydn Ott: 43.9
John Mateer: 37.4
SNAP COUNTS (70 offensive plays)
(Photo: SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Quarterback
John Mateer: 70
Running back
Tory Blaylock: 44
Xavier Robinson: 20
Jaydn Ott: 4
Fullback
David Stone: 1
Wide receiver
Isaiah Sategna: 65
Deion Burks: 61
Keontez Lewis: 38
Javonnie Gibson: 34
Jer'Michael Carter: 7
Jayden Jackson: 1
Tight end
Jaren Kanak: 38
Kaden Helms: 23
Carson Kent: 14
Left tackle
Michael Fasusi: 70
*PFF does not have Daniel Akinkunmi listed on its snap counts, but the redshirt freshman came in for a snap Saturday
Left guard
Heath Ozaeta: 70
Center
Jake Maikkula: 70
Right guard
Febechi Nwaiwu: 70
Right tackle
Luke Baklenko: 50
Derek Simmons: 20
Advanced stats
(Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Average depth of target (yards)
Keontez Lewis: 18.7
Javonnie Gibson: 17.0
Carson Kent: 12.0
Deion Burks: 12.0
Isaiah Sategna: 7.4
Jaren Kanak: 6.6
Jer'Michael Carter: 4.0
Kaden Helms: 2.0
Xavier Robinson: 1.5
Tory Blaylock: 1.0
Jaydn Ott: minus-4.0
Pressure rate
Michael Hawkins Jr.: 36.2% (17-of-47 dropbacks)
Yards after contact
Tory Blaylock: 22
John Mateer: 7
Xavier Robinson: 6
Jaydn Ott: 1
Deion Burks: 1
Catches/targets
Xavier Robinson: 2/2 (100%)
Kaden Helms: 1/1 (100%)
Carson Kent: 1/1 (100%)
Deion Burks: 5/7 (71.4%)
Keontez Lewis: 2/3 (66.6%)
Tory Blaylock: 1/2 (50%)
Javonnie Gibson: 1/2 (50%)
Jer'Michael Carter: 1/2 (50%)
Isaiah Sategna: 4/9 (44.4%)
Jaren Kanak: 3/7 (42.9%)
Jaydn Ott: 0/1 (0%)
Other offensive notes
(Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
-- Oklahoma's pass-catchers were credited with three drops, with one apiece by Tory Blaylock, Jaren Kanak and Jaydn Ott.
-- Oklahoma finished with 48 rushing yards but had four runs of 10-plus yards.
-- Oklahoma forced just three missed tackles in the run game, with two by John Mateer and one by Blaylock.
-- Mateer threw three interceptions and had four turnover-worthy plays, according to PFF. His adjusted completion percentage, when accounting for drops and throwaways, was 63.9%.
-- Of Mateer's 20 completions, 11 of them went for first downs.
-- Oklahoma's wide receivers were 4-for-5 on contested catch opportunities, with Keontez Lewis pulling down catches on both of his contest targets, while Deion Burks and Carson Kent each went 1-for-1 on contested catch opportunities. Isaiah Sategna did not haul in his one contested target.
-- After seemingly finding a role within the offense against Kent State, Jaydn Ott played just four snaps against Texas.
-- Oklahoma allowed a dozen total pressures, with Heath Ozaeta responsible for four of them, Jake Maikkula responsible for three, and Luke Baklenko and Michael Fasusi each allowing two pressures. Of the five times Mateer was sacked, three were credited to the offensive line, with Ozaeta, Maikkula and Fasusi each credited with one sack allowed.
-- Febechi Nwaiwu had the best pass-blocking grade (89.7) among Oklahoma's offensive linemen, while Derek Simmons had an 82.3 pass-blocking grade before exiting with an injury late in the first quarter. Baklenko posted a 70.5 pass-blocking grade at right tackle after replacing Simmons.
-- Fasusi had the worst pass-blocking grade of the day for OU, with a 43.6, but had the best run-blocking grade—albeit just a 62.8. The next-closest offensive lineman in terms of run-blocking grade was Simmons, at 59.5, followed by Baklenko (57.4)
-- When working from a clean pocket, Mateer was 17-of-28 for 183 yards passing. When under pressure, he was just 3-of-10 passing for 19 yards and a pair of interceptions.
-- Texas blitzed Mateer on about a quarter of his dropbacks (12 out of 47), and he was 6-of-10 passing for 92 yards and two picks when the Longhorns brought an additional rusher.
-- While Mateer had three completions of 20-plus yards, he was 0-for-4 passing on balls thrown 20-plus yards downfield—with two interceptions.
Overall defensive grades
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Kendal Daniels: 83.3
Gracen Halton: 77.9
Taylor Wein: 77.2
Courtland Guillory: 75.5
Reggie Powers III: 73.0
Adepoju Adebawore: 72.9
Kobie McKinzie: 72.9
Danny Okoye: 72.5
David Stone: 72.2
Michael Boganowski: 68.1
Gentry Williams: 65.5
Eli Bowen: 65.0
Jayden Jackson: 64.1
Jaydan Hardy: 62.9
Peyton Bowen: 61.6
Marvin Jones Jr.: 60.4
Kip Lewis: 60.4
Devon Jordan: 60.0
Jacobe Johnson: 60.0
Damonic Williams: 59.5
R Mason Thomas: 53.3
Owen Heinecke: 51.8
Robert Spears-Jennings: 48.5
Kendel Dolby: 42.1
Sammy Omosigho: 35.4
SNAP COUNTS (65 defensive plays)
(Photo: David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Getty)
Defensive end/edge
R Mason Thomas: 38
Marvin Jones Jr.: 33
Taylor Wein: 25
Adepoju Adebawore: 24
Danny Okoye: 9
David Stone: 9
Gracen Halton: 6
Damonic Williams: 4
Jayden Jackson: 2
Defensive tackle
David Stone: 20
Gracen Halton: 20
Jayden Jackson: 18
Damonic Williams: 16
Nose tackle
Damonic Williams: 12
Gracen Halton: 10
Jayden Jackson: 9
David Stone: 5
Linebacker
Kendal Daniel: 40 (Cheetah)
Kobie McKinzie: 38
Kip Lewis: 38
Reggie Powers III: 28 (Cheetah)
Owen Heinecke: 27
Sammy Omosigho: 20
Cornerback
Eli Bowen: 63
Gentry Williams: 47
Courtland Guillory: 16
Kendel Dolby: 4 (Cheetah)
Devon Jordan: 2
Jacobe Johnson: 2
Safety
Peyton Bowen: 55
Robert Spears-Jennings: 49
Michael Boganowski: 16
Jaydan Hardy: 10
Advanced stats
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Solo stops (individual play that constitutes offensive failure)
Kendal Daniels: 5
Kip Lewis: 4
David Stone: 3
Taylor Wein: 3
Danny Okoye: 2
Jayden Jackson: 2
Eli Bowen: 2
Marvin Jones Jr.: 2
Kobie McKinzie: 2
R Mason Thomas: 2
Damonic Williams: 2
Reggie Powers III: 1
Gracen Halton: 1
Pressures
Taylor Wein: 4
R Mason Thomas: 4
Gracen Halton: 3
David Stone: 3
Owen Heinecke: 2
Kip Lewis: 2
Damonic Williams: 2
Adepoju Adebawore: 1
Marvin Jones Jr.: 1
Kobie McKinzie: 1
Kendal Daniels: 1
Reception rate (catches allowed/targets)
Eli Bowen: 100% (4/4)
Kip Lewis: 100% (3/3)
Kendal Daniels: 100% (2/2)
Sammy Omosigho: 100% (2/2)
Gentry Williams: 100% (2/2)
Robert Spears-Jennings: 100% (2/2)
Reggie Powers III: 100% (1/1)
Kendel Dolby: 100% (1/1)
Courtland Guillory: 50% (1/2)
Peyton Bowen: 50% (1/2)
Kobie McKinzie: 0% (0/1)
Other defensive notes
(Photo: SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
-- Oklahoma's 25 pressures were only three fewer than it had against Auburn in the SEC opener. Depsite that, the Sooners managed to sack Arch Manning just once, compared to the program record-tying nine sacks of Jackson Arnold in the Auburn game. The pressure was there, but the Sooners couldn't finish off those opportunities.
-- Oklahoma missed a dozen tackles, with Robert Spears-Jennings responsible for three of them and Kobie McKinzie responsible for two. Eli Bowen, Taylor Wein, Peyton Bowen, Owen Heineke, R Mason Thomas, Damonic Williams and Gracen Halton each had one missed tackle.
-- Eli Bowen allowed four receptions on four targets but gave up just 8.5 yards per catch to Texas receivers.
-- Oklahoma blitzed Manning on 51.6% of his dropbacks (16 out of 31), but he completed 11-of-15 passes (73.3%) for 84 yards when the Sooners sent an extra defender. When Oklahoma was able to get pressure on Manning (16 of his 31 dropbacks), he completed just 7-of-12 passes (58.3%) for 79 yards. He was 14-of-15 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown when working from a clean pocket.
-- Ten of Manning's 21 completions were behind the line of scrimmage, as Texas leaned into the screen game to try to negate Oklahoma's pass rush at times.
-- Heinecke had the best pass-rush grade for Oklahoma (77.0), followed by Wein (70.1).
-- McKinzie (77.8) and Adepoju Adebawore (77.7) had the two best run-defense grades for Oklahoma. Heinecke (40.4) had the worst grade against the run.
-- Kendal Daniels was not only Oklahoma's highest-graded defender, but he had the best coverage grade of the game (85.3) on 18 coverage snaps. Courtland Guillory, who did not start for the first time this season, had a 75.2 coverage grade on seven coverage snaps while allowing just one reception for 4 yards and breaking up another pass.
-- Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner finished with 94 yards on 22 carries, but he had 103 yards after contact and forced seven missed tackles.
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On 5/20/2025 at 5:50 PM, closetojumping said:Due to the bizarre meta nature of topic discussions on this board, discussing OU for the 2025 football season, like those before it, has become a bizarre exercise in either posting on the OU recruiting thread or the football board "Tell me about OU" thread, neither of which actually wind up satisfying the purpose of staying updated on the team. This is a similar phenomenon for every other team any of us would give a shit about besides Texas itself.
Given that, I decided to start a new thread for the express purpose of tracking 2025 itself for OU. I'll post my preseason thoughts here, and then I, and hopefully others, can provide updates towards and into the season when there's something new regarding the OU team. Will I be the only person tracking this thread and wind up posting to myself in an echo chamber? Wouldn't be the first time. Still, it's our arch rival and I get tired of trying parse signal from noise in other threads when it comes to their team.
In regard to their outlook for 2025 as of 5/20/25, here are my thoughts, offense first:
Offense:
QB: QB1 John Mateer (JR); QB2 Michael Hawkins (Soph) - Outside of QB1 and QB2, they have a true freshman that they absolutely cannot play, so they brought in a dude from ... Mercer at the last minute. They are really thin here. Luckily, Michigan and the SEC aren't known for playing big, angry defenses that can hurt QBs.
Mateer can kick the shit out of some midgets, stacking big numbers against terrible defenses. Wazzou ranked 100th in the strength of defenses faced metric. He struggled against Tech and UW and tends to have brain fart games passing where he struggles to complete 50% of his passes. OU thinks he's the next Baker Mayfield, even with idiots in their media pool hinting at that notion. When has OU ever created undue hype for a newcomer, though? We all watched Hawkins take a heaving dump on the field multiple times last year. If he's "the future", as Kirk Herbstreit and guys like Chris Plank have argued, the future looks like something requiring the help of an adult John Connor.
RB: RB1 Jadyn Ott (SR); RB2 Javontae Barnes (SR); Taylor Tatum (Soph) - In a dominating theme for the Venables OU regime, OU lost a 5 star, this time at RB, that they'd failed to really develop - Gavin Sawchuk. That dude is now at FSU where I assume Pete Thamel will, on Gameday just before the FSU opener against Bama, breathlessly claim that he's quietly being viewed as the next 1st round RB draft pick by "many NFL scouts off the record".
I digressed, maybe. Anyway, Ott was lured into the portal by Jim Nagy without even discussing matters with RB Coach Demarco Murray or, allegedly, Brent Venables himself. They immediately declared him RB1 while ignoring the fact that he's not on campus yet. That should say a lot to Barnes, who must agree since he decided to stay put. Ott took a lot of bullets for Cal in 2023 while putting up just over 1300 yards at 5.3ypc. He got hurt early in 2024 and when he came back, didn't look like his former self, averaging just 3.3ypc on the season. Dude has caught 49 passes over the past 2 years and can be a weapon out of the backfield, should the OC actually decide to use RBs in the passing game. If the guy is 2023 Ott, OU got a good one. If he's still broken down, and with Jerry Schmidt conditioning and Venables' penchant for violent practices, this is where I lean, then OU blew good money on a broken mule.
Barnes is another classic Venables okie player. He's actively failing as a former 5 star who is also a talented midget-puncher. The guy rushed for almost 600 yards last year with 5 tds on the ground at 4.7ypc. Not bad for a 2nd string RB, you might say. Well, more than 1/3 of the yards production came against Maine. That game also accounted for 11.3ypc and 60% of the guys rushing TDs. He was a nonentity against quality opponents, including Texas.
Keep an eye on Taylor Tatum, as he may well be another OU 5 star bust. "The top rated running back recruit in the nation" was stated repeatedly by announcers every time he'd enter the game. He beat the shit out of ... Temple when he got carries in game 1. He became irrelevant not long after that game. He didn't pass block, he can't catch, and he has bigger fumbling problems than Jaydon Blue (4 fumbles/3 lost fumbles in 61 total touches). He remains buried on the depth chart. He also had concussion issues in 2024, so that's something to monitor this year as well.
TE: TE1 Will Huggins (SR); TE2 Carson Kent (JR); TE3 Kaden Helms (JR); TE4 Jaren Kanak (SR) - OU can't figure out the TE position and hasn't had one worth a shit since the Riley era. They lost their most productive receiver and starting TE, Bauer Sharp, to LSU in the portal. That sounds worse than it is, because that guy sucked and couldn't block a soul. Venables followed the Tom Herman "I'm clueless on personnel management" model and decided that he'd just throw bodies at the problem, irrespective of whether those bodies could even fog a mirror. OU has 7! TEs on the roster in an offense that targeted the TE last year at Washington State less than 30 times on the season.
Huggins is a giant human at 6'6", 265. He's a transfer from the legendary Pittsburg State (Kansas), home of Dennis "Little Debbie" Franchione. The OU talkers project this guy as a starter who will largely be used in blocking. Carson Kent is from Smallville, Kansas and, much like Craig Christ, will forever be overshadowed by his far more famous older brother. Outside of that, he's a transfer from the revered power, Kennesaw State, and had 18 catches for that juggernaut. The third guy might as well be named Bob. Fun note on Jaren Kanak is that this is his lost stop on his own failure tour, signing with Venables' first class as a highly rated 4 star LB who OU honks were immediately proclaiming to be the next great OU Linebacker. Strong work.
WR-X: WR1 Zion Kearney (Soph); WR2 Ivan Carreon (Soph); WR3 Josiah Martin; WR1A Javonnie Gibson - Sooner talking heads began hyping UAPB transfer Gibson almost as soon as he stepped on campus. He's a FSC All American and put up big numbers last season with elite speed. Then Venables had his leg broken in half during a full contact scrimmage during the spring period and he may not be ready to play, if at all, until mid-2025. So then they're left with Bob Kearney, Ted Carreon and Tom Martin. 3 JAGgers who have never jagged harder than they are jagging right now. Actually, Martin is a transfer from Cal and flashed as a Freshman there last year, so maybe he sneaks up as the next guy sooners can fellate at WR in public.
WR-Z: WR1 Keontez Lewis (SR); WR2 Zion Ragins (Soph); WR3 Elijah "The Prophet" Thomas (FR); WR4 Jer'Michael Carter (Soph); WR1A Jayden Gibson (JR) - The sooners would desperately like to have the 2023 version of Jayden Gibson back on their roster for 2025. Unfortunately for OU, 2024 Gibson was punished for being yet another guy named "Jayden" and God provided for him to have a triad blowout in one of his knees accordingly. The dude wasn't available in the spring and many of the talking heads and insiders at OU are conceding that he may never play again after he blew the same knee out again in prep for the 2025 season, allegedly.
Lewis is from Southern Illinois and his numbers there were solid in FCS, but he couldn't find the field in prior stops at Wisconsin and UCLA. Ragins also looked like a FCS player last season. Thomas is being hailed as "special", which is a word that okies use when referring to people in a different manner than the rest of us. Carter is from McNeese State, hasn't gotten to campus yet, and they're projecting him to leapfrog everyone and be the starter after arrival. There are numerous dogshit positions on the OU roster, but this one might be worse than any besides TE.
WR-Y: WR1 Deion Burks (SR); WR2 Isaiah Sategna (JR); WR3 Jordan Jacob (Soph) - Burks was heralded last offseason and going into the year as The Next Great OU Wide Receiver. He then caught 3 tds against Temple and the OU media shit itself in glee over this rare find from Purdue. Then the guy averaged fewer than 8ypc, never scored another td, suffered a lower leg injury and basically quit on the team. They begged him back on the field later in the season, he promptly got a concussion and never played again. Nagy showed up and moneywhipped this mediocrity to stay. He returns this cycle as a starter and the honking about his skills has freshly started again. Sategna was a similar player to Burks, only at Arkansas last year. For an alleged "burner", the guy averaged 13.3ypc and scored 1 touchdown all season. Jacob is another guy who showed up reeking of mediocrity and averaged fewer than 9ypc in mop up duty.
Overall, the OU WR and TE rooms are as low quality as anyone will find in the SEC. I'm not saying there might not be 1 or 2 on the same level of putrid, but none of the ones that I've looked at so far fit that description. Vandy has an early draft pick at TE in Stowers. Texas? Right. Bama? Georgia? Florida? ATM even has Conception and Craver. Someone should go down the list of the other schools and see if there's one in which they'd prefer OU as the option.
A live look-in at Venables examining his WR and TE rooms:
LT: LT1 Logan Howland (Soph); LT2 Jacob Sexton (SR); LT3 Michael Fasusi (FR) - Sexton started off 2024 as the starter at LT for OU, then was so putrid that they moved him to LG following the Temple start. He stayed at LG until injury forced him back to LT before falling to injury himself, forcing the okies to start Howland the last 5 games. The one thing that can be said about Howland is that he's not Jacob Sexton. Bill Bedenbaugh has a reputation both as a probable pederast and terrific developer of OL talent. Consensus former 4 star Jacob Sexton questions that second thought. Fasusi allegedly "flashed" in the spring, yet OU commentators stated that, should Fasusi have to play early, they're in trouble. Also, Howland missed the spring after getting labrum surgery. No worries there, as the shoulder isn't important at all when it comes to quality OL technique and physicality.
LG: LG1 Heath Ozaeta (Soph); LG2 Daniel Akinkunmi (Soph); LG3 Sean Hutton (FR) - Ozaeta became the starter for 8 games last year as the OU OL was decimated with injuries. He was not good (456th ranked G out of 639 OGs nationally per PFF) during that period and helped OU lead the FBS in sacks allowed, with 50 total. He missed the spring for labrum surgery as well, but is still projected as the starter. I will not pretend to know anything about the OU LG backup guards.
C : C1 Troy Everett (SR); C2 Jake Maikkula (SR); C3 Owen Hollenbeck (FR) - Everett started the last half+ of the season last year at C and was functional (95th rated C out of 301 graded nationally). They're happy to have him back. Maikkula was a starter at Stanford who transferred this spring and he was terrible last year (232nd out of 301). Of all of the OL positions, C sadly looks best for OU from my perspective.
RG: RG1 Fibechi Nwaiwu (SR); RG2 Eddy Pierre-Louis (FR); RG3 Ryan Fodje (FR) - Nwaiwu is the OU media's favorite OL for some reason (dude graded at 401 out of 639 OGs). I don't get it. The guy was a penalty machine and he made numerous errors in assignment throughout the season. He's back for more false starts and buffoonery in the running game. The only thing I know about the back-ups are that Pierre-Louis probably is fluent in French or Creole and Fodje was highly rated.
RT: RT1 Derek Simmons (SR); RT2 Jake Taylor (JR); RT3 Luke Baklenko (JR) - Simmons is a transfer from Western Carolina. The guy showed up and immediately beat out Jake Taylor, mostly due to Taylor's knees being shot due to years of hard drinking and playing catcher. Baklenko has links to the Russian mob and is a transferring starter from Stanford. The guy had PFF grades in the low 50's as a starting T at Stanford and was allegedly pushed out of the program after being caught trying to extort the towel boy for protection in the locker room from Troy Taylor and the kickers. Not even OU honks are bullish on this position.
What every Sooner OL sees in their nightmares and skull sessions:
Offensive Coaching: Venables pushed Joe Jon Finley back to just TE and meth cooking duties, where he belongs. He then went and hired a package deal from Wazzou in QB John Mateer and OC Fatty Arbuckle.
The combo hit it off at WSU, putting up big passing numbers and Mateer being a terrific running QB as part of the package. Arbuckle's offense isn't much for throwing to the TEs or backs, focusing on the QB:WR relationships. OU writers view Mateer as the steal of the portal this cycle and the program is betting on the duo offensively for survival. I expect Arbuckle to treat Venables's program like an aspiring actress, raping it for pleasure and then leaving it for dead. Michigan and the SEC won't hit as weakly as SJSU, Oregon State, Portland State, and the bevy of other trash that these idiots abused last season at Washington State.
Arbuckle is 29. He put together a terrific offense at WKU in 2022 and parlayed that into the Wazzou gig in 2023. He coached Cam Ward and compiled another good season of stats. WSU started off on fire on offense and went 4-0. Once deeper into league play against quality defense, they proceeded to go 1-7, with the lone win being against a hapless CU late in November. The guy doesn't run straight Air Raid, RPO or West Coast, but rather steals from all 3 concepts and throws deep a lot. WSU last was aggressive with their use of planned run plays for Mateer. If Fatty uses Mateer like this against the OU 2025 schedule, Mateer's health could be in question by Red River.
I'll add some posts from their writers on the offensive side below. I'll add defense, special teams and schedule thoughts later. Anyone seeing news about OU's roster or prospects for 2025 in football, feel free to pile on here, or add your own thoughts as well.
On 6/16/2025 at 5:55 PM, closetojumping said:On the OU defense, in regard to their outlook for 2025 as of 6/16/25, here are my thoughts:
Edge (Left side): LDE1 Marvin Jones JR (SR); LDE2 Danny Okoye (FR); LDE3 Nigel Smith JR (FR) – Jones JR was highly rated out of HS and everyone recruited him like he was his father. It turns out, he’s not on that level. He’s made disruptive plays when he actually makes a play, including 6.5 TFL and 4 sacks last season. Problem is, he takes a lot of plays off and spends a lot of time on the sideline. The next play he makes in the running game might be his first. Bo Davis really wanted Okoye, but his home-schooling mom was sold on the evils of Austin by Todd Bates and he’s now on the OU depth chart. The reporters seem to think OU is really high on the guy, so we’ll see. There is far less buzz about Smith compared to Okoye.
DT: DT1 Jayden Jackson (Soph); DT2 Gracen Halton (SR); DT3 Trent Wilson (FR) – The duo of Jackson and Halton played really well last season and they’ll be part of the strength of the team in 2025. Jackson won the starter role as a true freshman and was a stalwart, but Halton actually put up better numbers as the other piece of the rotation. OU added another highly rated 4 star in Wilson, who might force his way into the rotation.
NT: NT1 Damonic Williams (SR); NT2 David Stone (Soph); NT3 Markus Strong (Soph) – Bizarrely, Williams has garnered more press and praise than the two guys at DT combined. The guy is steady and has basically put up the same numbers all 3 years in college, two at TCU and 2024 in Norman. Those numbers average around 33 tackles a year, a couple of sacks and 3 TFLs. He’s tough to move in the middle, unless he’s pulling himself to sit on the sidelines. OU thought he was worth $500k when they landed him and blowhards here on Surly lambasted Texas and TOF for not just stepping in and blowing that offer out of the water. Turns out, no one besides OU thinks that dude is worth $500k, including in this cycle when Williams put out feelers. Stone tried to transfer to Miami for an allegedly absurd 3 year deal. Nagy panicked and ponied up even though the buzz from those with access to practices is that the guy is far more mouth than play. Strong is a JAG and it’s trouble for OU if that dude is playing.
Edge (Right side): RDE1 R Mason Thomas (SR); RDE2 Adepoju Adebawore (JR); RDE3 Taylor Wein (Soph) – Thomas is probably the best player on the entire defense and a reason the strength of the team is the OU front 4. He put up 9 sacks and 12.5 TFLs in 2024, mostly out of nowhere. He was a nonentity versus Texas, but some of that can be attributed to him playing hurt in that game. He didn’t just beat up on also-ran teams and had big games against LSU and Bama. Adebawore is a former consensus 5 star who is currently fully busting at OU. Dude played limited minutes in garbage time last year. OU media continues to talk about the guy in the form of “when the light goes off”. Another highly ranked Venables special. Wein is sort of a OU harbinger of doom. If that guy is on the field, OU is likely in the process of being boat-raced. While Wein is from Tennessee, the dude has to have okie DNA:
WLB: WLB1 Kip Lewis (JR); WLB2 Sammy Omosigho (JR); WLB3 Taylor Heim (Soph) – Lewis made two plays last year that many might remember, both pick sixes playing key roles in victories against Auburn and Alabama. Maybe Lewis really hates the state of Alabama. Otherwise, the guy has been the starter for most of the last 2 seasons and I don’t think even OU fans could pull this guy out of a lineup. 60+ tackles a year, a few TFLs and a sack, that’s what he’s giving you. Omosigho seemed like he was putting in more productive work with less time on the field, frankly. He had 5 TFLs last year while missing some games due to injury. Heim is the twin brother of Wein. If he’s out there, something has gone wrong for the dirt burglars.
MLB: MLB1 Kobie McKinzie (JR); MLB2 James Nesta (FR); MLB3 Owen Heinecke (JR) – I hope McKenzie is really loving his time up in Norman while not collecting any NIL money, allegedly. He steps into the role vacated by Danny Stutsman, and by that I mean he’s going to be depended upon by Venables to cling to guys 6-10 yards downfield until they fall down. If he does that roughly 12 times a game, he’ll get lauded as an All American and wind up drafted in the 4th or 5th round. I know nothing about Nesta and Heinecke, other than they should go into business together running an auto repair shop after their mediocre careers come to an end. Heinecke is a one-time transfer from Ohio State who didn’t do anything there either.
Cheetah: Cheetah1 Kendel Dolby (SR); Cheetah2 Kendal Daniels (SR) – This role is potentially one of the strengths of the OU team. Dolby was viewed as a potential standout for 2024 until going down to a bad leg injury against Tennessee. OU is optimistic about his full return to health. I do not believe that he worked out in the spring. Daniels is the transfer from Oklahoma State and was a solid Safety before noping the fuck out of there after the season closed with 9 straight losses. He was decorated as a FR and Soph before having just a decent season last year. “Cheetah” does a lot of the things a SS does, but also has OLB pass rushing responsibilities added to the list. I think, at least. The guys out there in this spot just usually look like OLB-sized guys that drop into a lot of coverage.
LCB: LCB1 Eli Bowen (Soph); LCB2 Devon Jordon (Soph); LCB3 Courtland Guillory (FR); LCB4 Maliek Hawkins (FR) – Eli Bowen was a courtesy take in order to get older brother, Peyton, signed the year before. It turns out, Eli might wind being better than his brother. He’s short, but he plays CB really well. PFF graded him out as the 13th best CB, out of over 800, in run defense last season. His pass defense numbers weren’t terrible either, coming in around 100 out of over 800. If you need an analog, Malik Muhammad graded out at 305 out of 836 in pass defense and 508 out of 803 in run defense. The difference in denominators is that more CB measured saw a statistically relevant amount of pass than run plays. Anyway, the dude is pretty fucking good. He’s going to need to stay healthy, because they have no experience behind him.
RCB: RCB1 Gentry Williams (JR); RCB2 Jacobe Johnson (JR); Jeremiah Newcombe (FR); RCB4 Tristan Haynes (FR) – OU mods love to talk up the idea of Gentry Williams coming back and having a big year on the other side of field from Bowen. GW was a highly ranked guy out of HS and had a good season in 2023, but he hurt his shoulder early in 2024 and never played again. I do not believe that he practiced this spring, either. Shoulder injuries can be a killer in football, so it will be interesting to see how it works out. OU has recruited well at CB, so if Williams can’t go, they have talent.
Strong Safety: SS1 Peyton Bowen (JR); Jaydan Hardy (Soph); Kenny Powers III (Soph) – Peyton Bowen was supposed to be a star when he signed with OU as a borderline 5 star. As is the case with almost every other 5 star/high 4 star in the Venables Era, things have not gone according to plan for Bowen. He’s been plain as grits for 2 years, creating 2.5 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 FF and 0 INT in 2 years. Not exactly the disruptor he was forecasted to be. The guys behind him have almost zero experience, although Hardy actually does have an INT. The other dude potentially throws a mean fastball.
Free Safety: FS1 Robert Spears-Jennings (SR); FS2 Michael Boganowski (Soph) – RSJ, as they refer to Spears-Jennings, is the counter in performance to that of Peyton Bowen. RSJ had 4 FFs, 1 INT, 66 tackles, 5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks in 2024. The dude can disrupt the flow of a game. I assume he’s going to be an All SEC candidate at the least. Boganowski has a future career in accounting or tax law. Funniest shit with that dude last year is that OU played him in a 5th game against Maine, thinking that because the opponent was an FCS program, the 4 games played redshirt rule would not be impacted. Whoops.
Defensive Outlook and Coaching:
While many pundits and OU honks are focused on hyping up the transfer QB and the returners on the OL, the strength of the OU team is still going to be the defense. The front 4 is going to be excellent. The LBs are going to be average. The CBs could be outstanding and one of the safeties is living up to the other safety’s potential.
OU leaned on the defense in 2024 in order to win 6 games. Much of the talent returns and they’re going to be buoyed by an offense that isn’t completely inept. If OU does reach or beat 9-4 this year, the defensive performance will be at the heart of it.
Venables is clearly the head of the defense and he’s a pretty damned good playcaller and gameplanner, even if he won’t able to rely on stealing every opponent’s signals in order to have a competitive advantage. Todd Bates is the DT coach with one million titles. He’s a great recruiter. I don’t think he’s as great a coach as many people cast him as when looking at the staff. Venables brought in his failed mentee from Clemson to coach OLBs this season. We can only hope that Venables lets him have plenty of input on the gameplans. The same holds true for Jay Valai, former Texas bum of a DB coach. Dude has 4 titles, indicating that Venables has promoted him a bunch to keep him for some reason. He was overtly taunting the Texas fans and then shittalking me from the OU bench at the end of the 2023 game. He’s a classless, talentless shitheel of a clown and I hope Texas is running it up this year when I’m seated near their bench again.
On 6/19/2025 at 3:44 PM, closetojumping said:Regarding the OU Special Teams, here you go:
PK: PK1 Tate Martell (SR); PK2 Austin Welch (SR) - OU pushed hard for numerous kickers this offseason and they whiffed repeatedly. The dude that Texas picked up from Texas State received a hard push from the OU staff. Luckily, he thought better of leaving central Texas for a suburb of Oklahoma City, for God's sake. Ultimately, OU had to settle on taking the former QB, who resurrected his career as a PK at UTSA, apparently. Dude went 19-23 last year and also 35-36 on EPS. Welch is yet another transfer from Kennesaw State on the OU roster. Is it a good sign if your program raided the storied Kennesaw State roster this spring? Probably not. Anyway, he sucked so badly this spring that Venables and Doug "Freakin" Deakin, the OU ST coach, had to go out and spend legit NIL money on the 6 time transfer Martell.
P: P1 Jacob Ulrich (Soph); P2 Grayson Miller (SR) - Another Kennesaw State transfer, unbelievably, is Ulrich. Dude had a solid season last year punting for over 45ypp. He ranked 35th nationally in NPA. Seems solid. As to Miller, there isn't anything you could tell me that I wouldn't believe. What the fuck does anyone know about a backup punter? My understanding is that he spends his summers in Rangoon, taking luge lessons. This spring, he was caught in the quad wearing a meat helmet, otherwise nude with a freshly shorn scrotum, with a Zoroastrian named Vilma chasing him whilst carrying a burlap sap and a thick reed.
KR: KR1 Isaiah Sategna (JR); KR2 Taylor Tatum (Soph) - Sategna is a better PR than KR, but he did both at Arkansas and OU needs a guy. Tatum returned a few last year and, given that they're breaking their bank to start the previously discussed Jadyn Ott at RB1, Tatum needs something to do if he's not going to get restless.
PR: PR1 Isaiah Sategna (JR); PR2 Peyton Bowen (JR) - Sategna has averaged almost 10ypc as a punt returner, and that's solid. He was 11th in the country in 2023. Bowen averaged 8.36ypr last year, is coming off of turf toe surgery, and struggled at times with judging punts correctly. Bowen made multiple boneheaded decisions to catch or not catch punts last year.
ST Coaching and Outlook: OU brought in Deakin from SDSU before last season and OU's STs made a big jump overall on the season. They went from 127th nationally in ST Efficiency in 2023, to 41st in 2024. That's pretty terrific in terms of improvement. He's going to have to work some magic to have OU at or better than that level in 2025. They lost most of their key contributors in every facet of their group, save Bowen at PR and he was likely the worst of the lot.
Fun note about Deakin is that the OU SID team must really not like or give a shit about the dude. He's the only person on OU's roster of players, coaches, and analysts, at least as far as I saw, without a bio on their site: https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/doug-deakin/1211 . Deakin played at SDSU as a walk-on and then coached their for 14+ years before heading to Norman. His SDSU units finished in the top 10 of STE nationally 3 straight years before he split in 2024.
On 6/19/2025 at 4:50 PM, closetojumping said:Regarding OU's schedule:
8/30 5pm - Illinois State - Another season where OU courageously schedules an FCS school. Is anyone else a better midget-puncher than the fucking okies? They're going to look like a top 5 team as they win 84-7.
9/6 6:30pm - Michigan - My small write-up from a few weeks ago on Michigan for 2025 is spoilered below. I posted it on this thread when someone asked about them on page 1, but here it is again below. Bottom line is that this could be a defensive dogfight. Both defenses should be pretty good and ahead of both offenses, probably by a lot. Gaylord is a tough place to play, but Michigan is arguably more talented and experienced. This is a "show me" game for Venables, along with the RRS. If he wins this one, OU's pushing against their ceiling and might be looking at 9-3, even.
Michigan returns 7 of 11 starters on defense and gets Rod Moore back at Safety. They also picked up TJ Metcalf in the portal from Arkansas. They will have a good, experienced defense from day 1.
Offensively, they return 4 of 5 on the OL, all of the WRs (if that's a good thing?), Bredeson at H-back and they picked up Justice Haynes in the portal from Bama. This will not be the same shitty offense for Michigan from 2024, even if they're not worldbeaters early. The OL's maturity, as opposed to last season, will be a big deal early.
Michigan is a substantially more talented team that OU, even if the QB will be greener than Augusta to open the season.
9/13 11am - @ Temple - Yep, OU is going to Philly. I honestly don't think that's a bad H/H/A deal, provided you like Philly. I personally dislike Philadelphia more than any other major city I've ever visited, anywhere on the planet. Angry, shitty people. Dirty overall landscape. Usually, the weather fucking sucks. But, hey, the history is awesome. I'm talking more about the city than Temple because there isn't much to discuss with regard to Temple. They return their atrocious QB and a 4 time transfer to challenge him, 3 OLs, the SHSU RB that followed new HC Keeler, and 2 CBs. That's all the starters. Temple opens against UMass, also with a new HC, and Howard. They'll be 2-0 coming into this game and the hype leading into will be through the roof. A mole rat's roof.
9/20 2:30 or nighttime - Auburn - A lot of people are sleeping on Auburn for 2025. Maybe that's justified, I don't know. Freeze has been a disappointment. Arnold has been a disappointment. But, Freeze has recruited really well. Auburn has, potentially, an amazing WR corps. They return 3 OLs, a likely 1st round pick at Edge and the entire secondary except Jerrin Thompson. DJ Durkin has yet to kill anyone there, also. This one should be physical.
9/27 - OFF
10/4 3pm - Kent State - Another brave scheduling match-up in the non-con on the part of OU. I assume Kent State will be the worst FBS team yet again, even with Delaware and Missouri State joining the ranks.
10/11 2:30 - Texas - Rubber meets the road for Venables with this game. I predict pain.
10/18 11am - @ South Carolina - SCar has two of the best players at their position in the country in Sellers (QB) and Stewart (Edge). They have to replace a metric ton around both of them. SCar is going to be overranked heading into this season and, by that, I mean they'll be ranked. Still, I'm sure they'll be a tough team and they certainly have no fear for OU after last season.
10/25 11am - Ole Miss - Yet another team that is likely to start the season ranked and will not finish the season as so. Kiffin has to replace almost every starter this season. I think Ole Miss is headed for an FSU 2024 type of year unless they really hit on all transfers.
11/1 2:30 or nighttime - @ Tennessee - Crazily, Tennessee will also likely open the season ranked. They lost most of their starters on offense and they're going to battle in the SEC with the former App State QB as their starter. Woof. They return most of their defense, but they lost 2 of the front four and Pearce. The front seven was the key to their team last season.
11/8 - OFF
11/15 2:30 or nighttime - @ Alabama - Bama returns numerous high quality starters, including Ryan Williams, Miller, and Proctor on offense. They also return Keenan JR, Lawson and most of the secondary on defense. Bama hosts LSU the week before and that might be a giant help to OU, coming off of a bye. The talent disparity in this game is gigantic.
11/22 11am - Missouri - Mizzou was a paper tiger in 2024 and everyone knew it. Once they were exposed later in the year, the bloom was off the rose for 2025 expectations. They lost key talent all over the field. I expect them to struggle to get to a winning record.
11/29 2:30 or nighttime - LSU - I did a write-up on LSU on a recruiting thread discussion and I've spoilered that below. The bottom line is that LSU is going to be good this year, but they're also not a top 10 team. Nussmeier gets a ton of credit for being a guy that can really hit a 10 yard out or dig decently.
From May 8th:
We'll obviously discuss this more later in the offseason, but the hyping of LSU for 2025 appears comical.
On offense, they're replacing all but one OL. They didn't win big last year with a veteran OL that included 4! draft picks last month. They couldn't run the ball well with that group but surely that's getting fixed now with underclassmen who have never played, right? They also lost their starting TE, and his blocking, in the second round.
They return an overrated QB in Nussmeier. He's going to be pitched by the national media as a Heisman candidate and proclaimed QB1 or QB2 in the 2026 draft without, apparently, most of the people doing it having watched this guy or his film.
They will certainly have a strong WR corps including Barion Brown and Nic Anderson to go with Aaron Anderson and Zavion Thomas. The TE spot is fucking terrible. They took Bauer Sharp and Donovan Green in the portal and people actually lauded those takes. Durham is an excellent RB1.
Offensively, they should be able to put up points, but there will be growing pains with 3 RS Sophomores and 2 RS Freshmen on the OL and a noob at TE as well.
On defense, both Edges are gone to the draft, and they replaced one of them with the renowned loser, Patrick Peyton from FSU. Once crowned part of the greatest DL in the entire country by Thamel and other idiots ahead of 2024, if that guy was worth a shit, he'd have left for the draft. On the other side is Pyburn from Florida and he's decent.
They're relying on a soft as pudding Dominick McKinley and a butterball whiny bitch trending towards 450 pounds in Sydir Mitchell at DT. Their DT situation is laughably bad. Strong work by Bo Davis there.
Then you have Harold "I'm pretty good against Arkansas" Perkins Jr coming off of an ACL injury and being honked about again as some sort of wizard. The guy had 16 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 FFs, O INTs last season in 4 games before injury. He was really making his presence felt. Next to him is Weeks, coming off a fractured lower leg himself.
They return most of their secondary, which I am not sure is a good thing. They added the UH Safety, maybe he helps. The LSU defense of 2024 was plain as grits. They didn't get a ton of pressure, they didn't stop the run well, they didn't stop the pass well, they didn't get a bunch of turnovers and they sucked in the red zone. But suddenly this season, they're going to be awesome and the SEC is shaking in its boots. Right.
Regarding the schedule, they go:
-@ Clemson 8/30
-La Tech 9/6
-Florida 9/13
-FCS 9/20
-@Ole Miss 9/27
off
-SCar 10/11
-@ Vandy 10/18
-ATM 10/25
off
-@ Bama 11/8
-Arkansas 11/15
-WKU 11/22
-@ OU 11/29
It's pretty easy to consider that depth chart, the lack of experience, and that schedule and see a ceiling of 9-3. GTFO on them as a playoff team in 2025, especially with Brian Kelly running things. Anyone talking about LSU being better than 9-3 or a playoff either hasn't critically reviewed the team at all, or they're inherently in the tank for LSU in the first place.
Outlook: I've continued to think that this team is better than they're getting credit for, and after thinking through the schedule, especially when removing brand vaneer for some of these teams, I'm still thinking that OU is a 8/5-9/4 team in 2025. That's probably good enough to keep Venables on as HC, and to keep us happy.
I've quoted the write-ups from the beginning pages for OU's offense, defense, STs and schedule. I think I whiffed on like one thing - Ole Miss not finishing the season ranked, as they definitely look like a top 15 team. Credit to Kiffin there.
Beyond that, what we witnessed on Saturday should not be considered an aberration for this season for OU. They're going to finish the season out of the top 25 and struggling to get to 7-5 with the back-loaded schedule. The SCar game is kind of huge.
OU is what I thought and said they were - mediocre, wildly overrated offense and offensive talent with an absolutely shitty OL, TE and WR group and they're truly mediocre at RB. Nagy lit money on fire with Ott. The defense is solid, led by the front 4, with questions in spots behind them. The schedule was going to be rough and they had to win early to have a winning record.
Meanwhile, they'd get overhyped by their own mouthbreathing idiots such as Ikard, Plank, and Lehman, and then the national media would follow. Steele had them 9th in his rankings and they were one of his top surprise teams. He can't help himself with OU.
Saturday was fun, and so will the rest of the season. Their posters on their boards are back to the spot where they're all as flummoxed as we are about why Joe Jon Finley and Demarco Murray are on staff, and wondering what happened to Bedenbaugh. Many are now condemning Arbuckle as perhaps more flawed than their media spinners were breathlessly proclaiming him to be this spring and summer.
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15 hours ago, Dbeasy said:
I’m talking about ctj lambasting everyone for suggesting he might play.
“Lambasting”. If I ever actually lambasted you, you’d know it.
Congrats on calling the sooners getting the guy back, never mind that he had no business playing and it showed. Enjoy the flowers.
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On 10/6/2025 at 9:56 AM, Stringer said:
Any of you guys want another bite at the apple or nah?
How did this condescending follow up age for you? Do any introspection, or nah?
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12 minutes ago, trythisathome said:
I pray to all gods that our AD isn't micromanaging our head coach.
No need for prayer, even. Just realize you’re responding to a mad man. A desperate fool at the end of his pitiful rope.
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33 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:
Agree completely with your analysis, but...
I mean, we did embarrass the fuck out of them last year 49-17 so maybe they have a little more motivation for revenge.
I guess. I have heard UF guys from last year forward, players, SBB, Doering and Rutledge, other talking heads discussing them, and the Texas game never comes up. Not once. It’s like it didn’t happen because they were wracked with injuries.
I’m kind of torn about revenge as a motivator and what it can unlock in sports. Against a rival is one thing, but against a random conference foe? I just remember Galveston Ball beating us 51-3, and 34-0 my first two years on varsity. My senior year, they came to see us finally and our coach picked that as the Homecoming game for revenge. “Payback’s a motherfucker!!” we screamed as we ran through the paper banner onto the field. Walking off the field losing 69-14, I’m just not sure the revenge angle made all that much of a difference when they were better coached and far more talented.
17 minutes ago, Thetexashammer said:I'm gonna assume you're playing devil's advocate. I mean, we have a decided schematic advantage, that being that our players are a lot better than their players.
They’re still a talented team. They have a QB who has flashed dynamism on the field, albeit last year before adding a shoulder injury and 25 pounds of bad weight.
I hope everyone here is right, to be sure.
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I'm of the opinion that this game sets up as a dead cat bounce for Lagway and the gators. They're not stupid. They know their coach is likely toast. Lagway knows he's getting dragged by his own team's fanbase and the Internet. They're finally back at home and they get to play a team/brand that never lacks for hype. They have no special disdain or reason to not like Texas, but they're tired of all of the bullshit and Texas is as good of a brand as any to try and exorcise some demons.
That doesn't mean Texas will lose or come in unprepared or scared. Texas has an advantage over most teams when it comes to road preparation, simply related to the volume of tough, big away games these guys have played. Texas will also be tired of beating up on themselves and the sisters of the poor they've been playing. They also need to show everybody something and shut some of the noise up for their own mental health.
So I'm expecting a true rock fight with Texas ultimately prevailing due to better health, better talent and depth, and better coaching. I will be stunned by Texas blowing Florida out and stunned if Florida really has stereotypically just quit on their coach and program. I know they're in basically the same spot as Arkansas last week, but surely these guys have more pride than that, right?
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As bad as AD Mitchell's fumble into the end zone was, he poured gasoline on the fire by getting called for a hold on a what would have been a lead-taking score late in the game. Whoops. Hope it doesn't impact his playing time.






My Red River Rivalry Experience 2025
in Football
Posted
I was at a table with my wife drinking Manhattans until the end of the ATM/Florida game at that bar in the Anatole. Ships passing in the night, sir.