Can Red October Ever Be Matched? 2025 Oklahoma Hopes Red November Can Do the Trick

A special thank you to George Schroeder, Berry Tramel and Mike Brooks for their invaluable help and added perspective for this story.

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Brent Venables has coached in, at last count, five of the biggest games of his head coaching career this season. It comes with the territory when you're the CEO of one of the football institutions known as a blue blood.

Need more evidence? This Saturday's game between No. 8-ranked Oklahoma and unranked LSU is Venables' sixth "biggest game" of his career. Win, and the Sooners have earned the right to play meaningful football in December, thanks in large part to a string of wins in November.

The Sooners — fresh off a disappointing loss at home to Mississippi — stared down the barrel at two consecutive road games at two SEC cathedrals. At Tennessee and at Alabama. Even great Oklahoma teams would struggle with that slate.

But OU prevailed. Their reward? Two home games against two elite defenses. The Sooners answered the call last week against Missouri and now have LSU standing in the way of their College Football Playoff hopes.

Oklahoma Sooners, Sammy Omosigho — Oklahoma lineman Sammy Omosigho | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

This month's run of Oklahoma victories has brought back the echoes of another famous month from Sooner lore. As fate would have it, this season is the silver anniversary of that season.

Red October became a phenomenon for OU fans, the rallying cry of the 2000 season that led to the school's seventh national championship — back-to-back-to-back games against No. 10 Texas, No. 3 Kansas State and No. 1 Nebraska.

Most Sooner fans would have been happy with a 1-2 split during that three-game stretch. Beggars can't be choosers, as the program was still trying to distance itself from the dark ages of the '90s. A 1-2 finish against those three would show Bob Stoops' progress as a head coach. So 2-1 or, heaven forbid, 3-0, was simply too much to ask, right?

Stoops' team didn't care about trajectories or the hero's journey — they won all three and never looked back.

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Venables' team hasn't cared about disappointing losses to Texas or Ole Miss. They haven't cared about two 6-7 seasons in the last three years. They just won their games and now have the grand privilege to finish off November by painting it and the Bayou Bengals red.

The question becomes: if Oklahoma triumphs over LSU and earns the playoff bid — potentially to be played in Norman — will this month, Red November, match Red October?

To answer the question casually: we won't know until the season ends for OU. Red October led to a championship, and while Venables' fourth team reaching the playoffs would be a monumental step forward for him as the leader of the program, OU doesn't hand out participation trophies.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Sooner — OU coach Bob Stoops talks with Lynn Swann during 2000 Nebraska | DOUG HOKE via Imagn Content Services, LLC

To further answer the question and provide some context, Sooners On SI reached out to three individuals who covered the 2000 team, each holding a deep understanding of the history of the program, to provide perspective between Red October and Red November, should the Sooners finish the job on Saturday.

George Schroeder was the Sooners beat writer for The Daily Oklahoman in 2000. Alongside Berry Tramel — now with the Tulsa World — Tramel and Schroeder were side-by-side as they followed and covered OU's legendary run. Mike Brooks is the OU historian within the sports information department and understands the nuance of Sooner football historical runs.

The following quotes come from interviews conducted from October 15 to October 21 — after the Sooners' loss to Texas and just prior to their loss to Ole Miss.

"It’s a different era," Schroeder told Sooners On SI. "Back then, two schools got a chance to play for the BCS National Championship. Losing to Texas (in 2025) puts a damper on it and makes you think is it even worth talking about, but it's a different era.

"The first goal is to make the playoff, the second goal is, because it's Oklahoma, is to compete and win a national championship," Schroeder added.

Tramel echoed Schroeder's understanding of the changing era.

"If they could make the playoff, that would be amazing," Tramel told Sooners On SI. "But I don’t think anything could match Red October."

While Oklahoma prides itself on championships, the added context of OU's new conference affiliation and the addition of the transfer portal, name, image and likeness and revenue sharing make the comparison between 2000 and 2025 easier to see.

Oklahoma Sooners, Brent Venables — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

"Only the idiots wouldn’t celebrate this season if they make the playoffs and they get drummed in the first round," Tramel said. "Right now with a 12-team playoff, OU’s schedule and the dip since 2022, it would be cause for celebration.

Historically it would stand out," Tramel added. "People who know how tough the schedule is and the SEC this year, if Venables gets them to a playoff, if they could just get to the playoff, it would be widely hailed and remembered."

"If they were to do that (get to the playoff), you would find some sort of semblance within the program of unbridled joy," Schroeder said.

"Is it possible to match it? Of course it can," Brooks told Sooners on SI. "This gauntlet (in November) is every bit of tough as 2000. This year’s expectations, the question (going into the season) was, 'Is Coach V going to keep his job?'

"Now, to have a potential Red October-type finish to end the season, wouldn’t that be something?" Brooks added.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma Sooners — Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables celebrates after Oklahoma defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 23-21 | David Leong-Imagn Images

Of course, the elephant in the room is the historical context that went into 2000's Red October run.

From 1950 to 1985, Oklahoma won six national championships.

But from 1994 to 1998, the Sooners did little else but lose.

Their final bowl game until Stoops' first season in 1999 was a 31-6 spanking in the now-defunct 1994 Copper Bowl. While 7-5 showed competitiveness and brought back hope in 1999, 2000 was simply a surprise to a lot of people.

Sure, Venables has struggled in two of his first three seasons. But Oklahoma has been a perennial winner since Stoops arrived. The two 6-7 seasons are blips on an otherwise pristine 25-year run.

Still, the surprise factor is certainly present considering the Sooners not only won their November games to date, but won them rather convincingly — with defensive physicality, big plays from special teams and timely offensive plays.

"That was the thing about 2000, was the surprise factor," Schroeder said. "Red October by nature is going to be much harder for someone to do again because one or two losses don't end you. The goal is get to the playoff.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Sooners — January 3, 2001 Orange Bowl. Florida State vs. Oklahoma at Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops celebrates beating FSU 13-2. | Robert Deutsch - USA TODAY Network via Imagn Content Services, LLC

"You can’t match Red October — it's not even just the three teams (OU won in 2000) or how they did it, but it was where they were coming from as a program," Schroder added.

"We were terrible in the '90s and floundering," Brooks said. "Then, we go 7-5 and we lose our minds happy — 'Maybe we can win eight games and go to the Gator Bowl or something!' "

The 2025 Sooners must still write their final chapters. The story isn't done, but there's no doubt this run, and potential continuation, has been an adrenaline shot to a program that was desperate for hope about its future.

If Oklahoma beats LSU and gets into the playoff, perhaps Red November can match Red October. Maybe R Mason Thomas' 71-yard scoop-and-score at Tennessee can mirror Rocky Calmus' 41-yard interception return for a touchdown against Texas. Maybe Eli Bowen's 87-yard interception return for a touchdown at Alabama can match Derrick Strait's 32-yard pick-six against Nebraska.

That's the fun thing about a program like Oklahoma. There's so much history to dive into that you can find echoes throughout time. The 2025 Sooners have, so far, earned some comparisons to the 2000 squad by virtue of their victories over quality teams.

If they can finish the job, how then will the story go?