OU-UTEP: Three Keys to the Game

Quarterback play

If we’re being honest, it’s not a stretch to say Oklahoma has helped redefine what elite quarterback play looks like at the major college level.

Of course, Lincoln Riley had a big hand in all that — from Baker Mayfield to Kyler Murray to Jalen Hurts to Spencer Rattler to Caleb Williams.

That’s a lot of stars.

But like Mayfield, Dillon Gabriel wasn’t a high-priority recruit — at least not until he’d already entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on his way out of Central Florida.

Then, it seemed, he was a hot commodity — 30 minutes away, he said, from boarding a westbound plane to UCLA when new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby (his QB coach at UCF) called to tell him Oklahoma was a better fit.

OU quarterbacks have exceedingly high standards. Unrealistic, almost. The multiple statues outside the stadium prove it.

Teammates say Gabriel is unusually cool under pressure. He says he embraces the lofty expectations.

Gabriel has more playmakers around him than he’s ever had. Lebby will give him a lot of opportunity to succeed. If Lebby and Gabriel can truly connect on that interpersonal level and turn that into touchdowns, then Gabriel will have the kind of season that puts him on a different plane — this one headed east, to New York.

Defensive mindset

The Oklahoma defense was at a low point when Alex Grinch arrived in 2019.

Immediate improvement was made. Then, an impressive surge in 2020. But the Sooners took a significant step back defensively in 2021. Riley and Grinch weren’t always on the same page (Grinch wanted more practice, more hitting, Riley wanted less), and Grinch’s curious substitution patterns alienated some of his best players.

Enter Brent Venables, who brings with him a ferocious, unrelenting, suffocating defensive mindset. Players — both offense and defense — say they can tell a distinct difference between how much emphasis Venables puts on the defense compared to Riley. It’s night and day, and the defensive personnel say they’ve been like a pack of starved hunters throughout preseason training camp.

Blitzing, attacking, chasing, hitting, tackling — if that new mindset takes hold on Saturday, UTEP will be hard-pressed to find the end zone.

If it doesn’t — well, then August was just a lot of talk with an all too familiar lack of substance.

Sooner Nation

Remember that time 75,360 fans descended on Memorial Stadium for a scrimmage?

What will Saturday sound like for poor UTEP?

Although OU has a long streak of 141 straight sellouts (regularly scheduled home games) — a streak that’s actually a little hollow, as upper-deck seats are frequently empty and COVID and Hurricane Ida pretty much ruined everything — Saturday’s game is literally sold out. Every ticket is gone as of Thursday afternoon, per an OU press release.

OU is 130-11 (.922) at home since Bob Stoops’ debut against Indiana State back in 1999. Think about that. Eleven home losses. Fourteen Big 12 Conference championships.

Saturday, the fan base will be juiced — more excited and more enthusiastic and certainly more throaty than they’ve been probably since the 2008 “Jump Around” game against No. 1-ranked Texas Tech.

Memorial Stadium will be awash in a Venables-fueled crimson fury.

Poor UTEP.

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