This guy could very well be right that Arbuckle is the second coming of Lincoln Riley, but the article really hand waves away the talent advantage of that 2015 team and who exactly they lined up against versus who Oklahoma lines up against this year.
For receivers, 2015 OU had Sterling Sheppard, Dede Westbrook and Mark Andrew’s catching passes from Baker Mayfield. I can’t even name an Oklahoma pass catcher beyond Deion Burks. Does that mean none of the others won’t step up and become all-SEC performers? No. Is that likely? Probably not.
But surely, Jaydn Ott—the top* transfer portal RB—will help make up the difference? Well that 2015 OU team had Semaje Perine and Joe Mixon splitting carriers…
As painful as it is to chant “SEC SEC SEC”, Oklahoma has an absolutely brutal schedule this year that you can’t compare to what 2015 Oklahoma faced. Starting next month, Oklahoma has to face Michigan, Auburn, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and LSU; all of these teams project to have top-30 defenses. 2015 Oklahoma did actually have to face some successful teams: #6 Baylor, #11 Oklahoma St, #18 TCU, and #23 Tenn. And the fact that they beat all of those teams makes Riley’s and Baker’s performances that much more impressive. But none of those teams likely have the defensive talent of their 2025 schedule.