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Oklahoma-SMU: One Big Thing

The Sooners played nearly perfect last week, and that may need to be a recurring theme as neither the non-conference schedule nor the Big 12 will do them any favors.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma-SMU: One Big Thing
Oklahoma-SMU: One Big Thing

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Oklahoma Sooners

Was last week a true indicator of where this Oklahoma team sits?

Or was it more of a perfect-storm scenario, where one team played tremendous football for four quarters and the other declined?

Voters in the AP poll and coaches poll seemed to lean toward the latter when they moved the Sooners up just two spots in the rankings this week following OU’s 73-0 takedown of Arkansas State.

Surely the Red Wolves aren’t that bad.

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SMU at OU

But against one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the country, and one of the weakest in modern program history, OU will not get the benefit of the doubt this season from voters, pollsters or pundits. Another epic rout of SMU on Saturday — the Sooners and Mustangs meet at 5 p.m. at Owen Field, and the game is on ESPN+ — and they might jump another two spots into the top 15.

But don't expect another rout.

“It’s a veteran football team,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “They’ve got, give or take, 14 or 15 seniors on defense and offense. Very experienced football team. … They’ve recruited well. They’ve really attacked the portal. They have excellent skill guys on offense that they’ve been able to develop and, again, have recruited in the transfer portal.”

OU is a 15-point favorite over SMU, and might need to win by more. Because one thing became painfully clear after one week of the college football season: the Sooners might not get the respect they seek in Venables’ second season even after stepping into Big 12 Conference play — because the Big 12 doesn’t look very good.

Adding three Group of 5 refugees and an independent didn’t do much to strengthen the Big 12’s image, and the league opening 2023 with four losses and five unimpressive wins did even less.

No, if Oklahoma is going to threaten a playoff return this season, the Sooners will have to continue to administer the type of thorough beatings America witnessed last Saturday to get any traction in the polls. And then, of course, the Sooners still need to flip last year’s script on Texas in the Cotton Bowl, and probably survive some zany upset bids along the way.

One thing for sure: Venables doesn’t coach with “style points” in his vernacular. If he’s going to lay 73 points on some hapless opponent, he’d rather his starters play perfect for two quarters, his backups come in and continue the fight, and his reserves finish the game by not screwing things up — kind of like last week.

From start to finish, it was one of the most complete wins the Sooners have had in years.

“I feel like we set the tone,” said quarterback Dillon Gabriel. “But now we’re rolling to two and flipping the page.”

SMU’s offense won’t get shut out. That’s a guarantee. And the Mustangs’ defense isn’t apt to lay down a seventy burger.

Remember last year’s week two victory over Kent State? OU won 33-3, but trailed 3-0 heading into halftime before Marvin Mims found the end zone on a deep ball from Gabriel with 18 seconds left on the clock. In Venables’ second game, his team was nearly shut out at halftime.

Those kinds of performances need to be avoided this season — at all costs.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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