Why Oklahoma's Seniors Are the One Big Thing That Can Put Texas in the Rearview Mirror

No. 15-ranked Kentucky is the opponent this week, not the Longhorns, and Brent Venables can't wait to see those seniors respond against the Wildcats.

Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Peyton Bowen (22) celebrates with the Golden Hat. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What does Brent Venables do for an encore?

Venables is a man of monotonous repetition. So somehow finding a way to step beyond what Oklahoma did last week seems painfully unimportant.

Beating No. 1-ranked Texas won’t be topped any time soon in OU annals. But for Venables, that’s the last thing on his mind.

“We’ve got a really good Kentucky team coming in Saturday night,” Venables said.

As he should be, Venables is hyper focused on Will Stein’s Kentucky squad.

But is his team?

All the plaudits, all the accolades, all the pats on the back since shocking the Longhorns — do the Oklahoma players have a grip on what exactly lies ahead of them?

OU’s seniors surely do. 

P.J. Adebawore, Peyton Bowen, Jacobe Johnson Taylor Wein, Taylor Heim, Kade McIntyre and Heath Ozaeta were cornerstone pieces of Venables’ first full recruiting class. The 25 members of that class, which ranked No. 5 nationally are now down to seven.

But those players have lived the ups and downs of playing for Oklahoma during the Venables era: 10-3 as freshmen, 6-7 as sophomores, 10-3 as juniors and a trip to the College Football Playoff. This year, they’re off to a 3-2 start.

If OU is going to turn this season around, those seven veterans will need to be the tip of the spear over the next seven weeks, just like they were last Saturday in Dallas.

Adebawore had a tackle for loss, Bowen had a game-changing pick six, and Wein had a quarterback sack for that indomitable OU defense. Ozaeta started and played 59 snaps at right guard for a suddenly and markedly improved offensive line. (Johnson, Heim and McIntyre were injured and couldn’t play.)

Bowen even used the moments after Tate Sandell’s walk-off field goal to step forward and make sure his teammates understood the assignment ahead: put this game, this win, this moment, this feeling behind you and get your heads ready to play great against Kentucky. 

Venables has always been struck by Bowen’s maturity and inner strength. But even he was profoundly moved by Bowen’s message to the rest of the squad.

“They expect me to say it, and other coaches to say it. To preach to ‘em,” Venables said. “But when players are leading from the front, it just hits different. So for him to — again, I’ve been promoting and applauding Peyton for his leadership for some time now. Just his growth and maturation. 

“But that was as good of a moment as I’ve seen from him. In the moment when everybody’s celebrating, just the excitement, the enthusiasm for winning the game, to think like one of us coaches in the moment was fantastic and just right on time.”

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