Young Sooners can springboard into 2021 with positive momentum from a Cotton Bowl win
The 2021 season has been circled on the calendars of Oklahoma fans for some time now.
On paper, it appears to be a chance for the Sooners to not only return to the College Football Playoff, but even win their first semifinal game and maybe bring a national championship to Norman for the first time since 2000.
Members of this year’s Sooners are high on next year’s possibilities. But before turning the page, OU could gain a ton of momentum heading into the offseason if they can take care of business in the Cotton Bowl.
Spencer Rattler
Pool photo / Josh Gateley
Not a believer in year-to-year momentum?
Look no further than the embarrassing close to last season for Oklahoma. After LSU handed the Sooners a 63-28 beat down and ran them out of Atlanta, a young team was left to pick up the pieces.
Oklahoma had to replace its starting quarterback, leading wide receiver, and best player at every level of the defense. All before spring and summer activities screeched to a halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic (resulting in the opt-out of Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma’s most productive running back in 2018 and 2019).
As a result, the youthful Sooners stumbled out of the gate, falling to 1-2 after their first two conference games.
Fighting through the adversity, Oklahoma was able to put it together in the final six games to win its sixth straight Big 12 Championship. But a victory against the Florida Gators can set the stage for the core of this team to reach new heights in 2021.
Despite falling short on their goal of reaching the playoff, defensive back Tre Norwood said he was pleased with the fight the Sooners showed and how they grew throughout the season.
Marvin Mims
Pool photo / James Smith
“I'm very excited because you can just see, as a player, the growth that we've grown as a team as a whole, all three units, offense, defense, and special teams, from Game 1 to now has been tremendous,” Norwood said Tuesday in a video conference with the media. “I feel like we're still climbing and going to continue to just elevate and climb and get better.”
The 2020 Sooners have been led by a group of talented, but inexperienced underclassmen.
Redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler dazzled in his first season as a starting quarterback. Completing 68 percent of his passes for 2,784 yards and 25 touchdowns, Rattler was named the Big 12 Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus.
Rattler also had a plethora of young weapons this season, with 64 percent of Oklahoma’s receiving production coming from underclassmen. The top three pass catchers for Oklahoma — Marvin Mims, Theo Wease and Austin Stogner — have spent two years or less on campus in Norman.
While Rattler, Stogner and Wease all saw action against LSU in the Peach Bowl, the Cotton Bowl will be their first matchup against a major non-conference foe where they are relied on as the major cogs in Lincoln Riley’s offensive machine.
Junior tight end/H-back Jeremiah Hall isn’t worried that the stage will be too bright for the young contributors.
“When you're playing games every year like the Red River Rivalry, when you're playing Bedlam, when you're playing in the Big 12 Championship, we've already had pretty big games in terms of how much it means to this program,” Hall said. “Our young guys have already got a taste of what it's like to be on the center stage, be on primetime. I'm pretty sure they're going to carry the same attitude towards this next one.”
Alex Grinch’s defense has relied on a healthy mix of experience and youth all year long, but his secondary will get the opportunity to trot out the young duo of Woodi Washington and D.J. Graham to replace the production of Tre Brown.
A strong performance against one of the most explosive passing offenses in the country, paired with some key contributors returning to Norman next season, could propel the Sooners into the offseason and their preparations to return to the playoff.
Perrion Winfrey
Pool photo / Liz Parke
“I'd say something that stuck to us and that we took with us from that LSU loss is don't take the moment for granted,” defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas said. “You don't get too many opportunities to play in the playoffs. And, obviously, we didn't make it this year. So definitely that loss to LSU definitely stuck to us and knowing that we shouldn't take that for granted. Going into next year, we can definitely start the season off stronger, just like how we finished this season.”
Winter workouts and spring football are, like everything in the time of COVID-19, an uncertainty. But after a season of learning how to live and operate under Coronavirus restrictions, a victory against the Gators would give Oklahoma all the momentum and positive vibes it needs heading into the offseason.
“We know our goals before the season and our plans to check out those boxes next year,” Rattler said.
“We definitely have the guys to do it, and we're excited for that next season.”
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