Difference between Oklahoma now and last year is 'night and day' heading into Texas game
Oklahoma was not prepared to face Texas last season and it showed in the result. The Sooners entered the Red River Rivalry coming off of back-to-back losses and were run off the field in embarrassing fashion as the Longhorns won 49-0.
With the way things have looked early this season, however, OU enters this year’s contest against Texas in a much better position. The Sooners are off to a 5-0 start and coming off a dominant 50-20 win against Iowa State in Week 5. They rank top five in the country in both scoring offense and defense, looking nothing like the team that finished last year 6-7.
George Stoia of SoonerScoop joined On3‘s Andy Staples on his Sunday podcast to discuss that difference, and why Oklahoma believes it can make last year’s blowout loss to Texas a distant memory.
“It’s night and day,” Stoia said. “Last year, things were starting to crumble for Oklahoma. There was little hope going into that Texas game that they had any chance. Obviously, they didn’t. That game was not even competitive a year ago. You were starting to see everything fall apart for OU.
“This year, they’re playing their best football. I know they’re 5-0 and they haven’t really played anybody. You can argue their best win is at Cincinnati. Who knows how good Cincinnati really is, but they’re winning these games and they’re winning in dominant fashion. They’ve just been taking care of business all season.”
Of course, as Stoia mentioned, the Sooners have yet to face a true test so far this season. Four of the five teams they’ve played so far weren’t even in the Power 5 last year. If they had lost one of those games, it would have come as a big surprise.
What has been impressive, however, is the way they’ve won those games. Oklahoma has an average margin of victory of 36.6 points this season with its closest call being a 20-6 win against Cincinnati on the road. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel leads in the Big 12 with 1,227 yards passing, 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Don’t tell that to Texas QB Quinn Ewers, though. He’s had a hot start to the season as well, and the battle between those two on Saturday should be an exciting one to watch.
“The narrative with Oklahoma all offseason was their schedule lines up to where they should be 5-0 heading to Texas and feeling good about themselves,” Stoia said. “I think there was a large part of people that thought, ‘They’ll just skate by. They’ll have a close game.’ They haven’t really had that. They keep taking care of business. Dillon Gabriel’s playing great football. He talked last night about his confidence has never been higher. He was talking trash to Iowa State players, running guys over in the end zone. I was like, ‘Where did this guy come from?’
“…Oklahoma feels really good about themselves. They are flying under the radar a little bit coming into this one. The narrative’s gonna be about Texas, but I think Oklahoma feels like they can go in and win this football game.”
Oklahoma’s defense is ultimately the biggest difference from last year, though. The Sooners were one of the worst units in the country in giving up 30 points per game and 461 yards per game, both of which ranked in the bottom half of the FBS.
OU brought in several new players to make up for that and it’s clearly made a difference. Names such as freshman safety Peyton Bowen and transfer edge rusher Rondell Bothroyd have made an impact early and are a big part of the transformation.
More than that, returning players like linebacker Danny Stutsman and defensive back Woodi Washington have taken steps forward. Stutsman is currently tied for seventh in the country with nine tackles for loss, just 1.5 shy of his 2022 total.
“Clearly, they’ve gotten a lot more talented,” Stoia said. “When you go from Jeffrey Johnson and Justin Broiles to DJ Terry and Peyton Bowen, you’re talking about five-star guys replacing guys that were just OK players. You’re gonna make more plays. We’ve seen that through five games. They’re getting more turnovers. They’re getting more stops. I think they are in the top 10 in third-down defense, which has been really impressive. Then you add that on top of the guys that came back and are feeling more comfortable. You look at a Danny Stutsman, who’s in the Butkus conversation. I think he’s top five in tackles among Butkus Award watch list members. I think he’s No. 2 in tackles for loss.
“So you add that on top of guys that are just more talented than what they had a year ago, whether it’s freshmen or transfer portal guys, that’s just going to cultivate success. I think there’s also just a belief. Sometimes last year guys, and they’re no longer in the program, didn’t really believe in what Oklahoma was doing. A lot of those guys ended up transferring to lower-tier schools and it didn’t work out at Oklahoma. So I think that’s what it is. There’s a belief in what they’re trying to do on top of they are getting a lot of talented players in the program.”
Oklahoma will hope that new belief and talent pays off when it kicks off against Texas at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.