Article - Top Three Questions For Oklahoma Heading Into Big 12 Media Days

[Triple Option]

Top Three Questions For Oklahoma Heading Into Big 12 Media Days
Bryan Clinton July 6, 2023

WILL WE SEE A BRENT VENABLES DEFENSE IN YEAR 2?
When Brent Venables showed up in Norman two Decembers ago, it was expected that he would immediately raise the defensive standard at Oklahoma. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case right off the bat. Oklahoma struggled mightily defensively in 2022, ranking 122nd nationally in total defense (461.0 ypg) and 99th in scoring defense (30.0 ppg). In terms of both of those metrics, it was the worst unit that Venables has ever put on the field. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe that OU will look completely different in Year 2. It goes without saying that another season in the system will help, but the Sooners have upgraded along the defensive line and brought in several key transfers on the defensive side of the ball. With new faces like DE Rondell Bothroyd, LB Dasan McCullough, S Reggie Pearson, and DL DaJon Terry, Oklahoma should be much better on that side of the ball, but will it be?

WHO WILL EMERGE AS THE TOP PASS CATCHER FOR THE SOONERS?
Perhaps the biggest question mark on Oklahoma’s roster coming into 2023 is the wide receiver position. The Sooners must replace Marvin Mims, who hauled in 54 receptions for 1,083 yards and six touchdowns a season ago, averaging 19.4 yards per reception. They also lose TE Brayden Willis, who many would argue was Oklahoma’s best player a season ago. Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops are the only proven pass catchers on the team that return, but does add some interesting pieces from the portal. Austin Stogner returns to Norman after one season with South Carolina and gives OU a solid option at TE, but there’s not much depth behind him. At wide receiver, the Sooners add Andrel Anthony from Michigan and Brenen Thompson from Texas, but sophomore Jayden Gibson is expected to play a major role as well. Then you have true freshman Jaquize Pettaway, who was a top 100 player nationally in last year’s cycle, that will certainly play a role of some sort.

CAN OKLAHOMA PLAY COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL?
Last season, we saw Oklahoma find new ways to lose close football games as the season pressed on, and plenty of times it was due to an inability to play complimentary football. Jeff Lebby’s offensive scheme was run at a blistering pace last season, and a lot of times, it was to Oklahoma’s demise. The Sooners’ defense was on the field way too much a season ago, and that has a lot to do with their offense going three-and-out without taking more than a minute off of the clock. Last year, Oklahoma ranked 127th nationally in time of possession, with just 26:11 per game. Now, T.O.P. doesn’t necessarily correlate directly to playing good defense, but it’s not a coincidence that 11 of the Top 25 defenses from a season ago were also ranked in the Top 25 for T.O.P. If Jef Lebby can slow the offense down when its needed and give the Oklahoma defense some more time off the field, it would certainly help the Sooners out. With Brent Venables having a year under his belt as a head coach, it will be important for him to take a step as a game manager as well. Manage the clock, use timeouts wisely, and capitalize on opportunities more in 2023, and Oklahoma will look very different from a year ago.

https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/ ... days-2023/

[Bixby_Sooner]

I'm sure Media Day will be interesting again this year, in keeping with the theme I thought I'd toss out a few of my own tongue-in-cheek questions (in case they run out of things to ask).

Question 1) Knowing you won't have to kick around any more after this season, what are your feelings about the end of Bedlam?

Question 2) What are you and/or your staff doing to encourge the current trends of OU football players dating/marrying softball players as a way to improve the gene pool of future recruits?

Question 3) How many scholarship players will you have to convert to PWOs in order to reach the NCAA 85 limit, this year?

Bonus (Heard on the radio) Will Danny Stutsman ask more questions than he answers during Media Days?

[captnop]

to me of the original 3 questions 1 & 3 are similar. Last year, because of injuries and lack of depth the defense was just not good about 80% of the time. To me complementary football is both the offense and defense clicking, for that to happen the D needs to be better. It's almost the same question. Will the defense be better ? We all expect the Offense to be better.

[RussC]

to me of the original 3 questions 1 & 3 are similar. Last year, because of injuries and lack of depth the defense was just not good about 80% of the time. To me complementary football is both the offense and defense clicking, for that to happen the D needs to be better. It's almost the same question. Will the defense be better ? We all expect the Offense to be better.

Yes. Whenever the offense goes three and out after only 27 seconds of clock time, that is a prime example of (a) not clicking, and (b) ultimate non-complementary football.

[captnop]

Offense was ranked 13th Nationally, the Defense was 120th

[RussC]

In baseball, there is an unwritten rule on offense that if you give up two outs on two consecutive pitches, you take the next pitch. That’s a complementary mindset.

[WishBone]

And yes thats in "BaseBall" you are correct?

[RussC]

The original post had a question about “complementary football”. There are some people that apparently believe there is no such thing. In that view, offense and defense exist as separate teams in isolation. Imagine this conversation:

BV: Leb you’re killing us with this tempo stuff right now. I need you to have some sense about game flow and game time and scoreboard situation, etc.

Leb: my O is top 20. Your D is trash. Be better.