Oklahoma Sooners College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Oklahoma College Football Preview 2024

It was the right move and the exact right time leaving for the SEC. Oklahoma can now have it's big revenue cake and eat it, too.

Oklahoma is a superpower program. No question, no excuses, no lowered expectations.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oklahoma is in a far tougher league now - whatever. It’s OKLAHOMA, and it needs to get back into the College Football Playoff in the new expanded 12-team era.

You have the Big 12 success this place enjoyed under Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley - keeping this in the modern era and not even including the obvious history that always factors in - you’re supposed to matter in the national championship chase.

That requires being good enough to get in, and this year is the big test for that in the third season under Brent Venables.

2019 was the last College Football Playoff appearance. That’s too long, and that needs to change immediately.

Last year’s team would’ve been the first one out in a 12-team field. (Just a hunch, but I’m guessing that Sooner fans wouldn’t have exactly accepted that with a jaunty "c'est la vie" zest before moving on to more important matters.)

The 2021 and 2022 teams would’ve been out, too, but Oklahoma would’ve been in the CFP in each of the previous six seasons.

(And before going any further, anyone who didn’t get to at least four of these CFP things in the four-team era had best keep their pieholes shut when it comes to dogging OU for not doing more once it got there.)

But here’s the thing going forward, and it’s going to be an issue, and this goes triple-big for Texas considering the preseason hype.

Welcome to the SEC schedule.

Not to conference-shame, but think of it this way. Instead of getting Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, UCF, West Virginia, BYU, and TCU like last season, Oklahoma now plays Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, and Auburn, and five of those games are away from home.

And to go there, who did that 2018 Oklahoma team beat on the way to the College Football Playoff? Uhhhhhhh, it lost to Texas, and … uhhhhh … won the rematch over Texas in the Big 12 Championship, and there was that win over …

The 2017 team beat Ohio State on the road and took out a strong TCU team twice - ZERO beef about that run - but the 2019 team beat … ummmmm, Baylor in two tough games?

You get the point, and that’s the world of the SEC that both Oklahoma and Texas live in now.

You can be really, really good, and it might amount to a fat load of jack squat - 2023 Georgia, 2020 Texas A&M, 2022 Alabama, and on and on - because you just so happen to be playing a slew of great teams on the road and had to deal with an Alabama instead of a Vanderbilt in the wrong year.

But that was in the four-team College Football Playoff era. It’s a new time with far more forgiving criteria, and with a lot more money for Oklahoma to make by making this move.

Now finish at least 10-2 against a stronger schedule than the 2023 version, get into the expanded College Football Playoff, and let’s go.

Oklahoma Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The Oklahoma offense was good, and it should be even more wide open and fun with former North Texas head coach Seth Littrell joining Joe Jon Finley to run the attack.

For all of the concerns that the 2022 offense wasn’t as dynamic or dangerous as the it was under Lincoln Riley, out came the 2023 attack that scored the most points since 2019, was highly-efficient, and ended up third in the nation overall averaging 507 yards and 41.7 points per game. It should all continue, but …

- Jackson Arnold had better be great. Dillon Gabriel has a decent shot at becoming the NCAA’s all-time passing leader this season, but he’s at Oregon now, and Arnold has all the pressure - and all the opportunity - and rise up into the job after coming in last year as a big-time recruit.

Former Texas Longhorn and Nebraska Cornhusker and Florida Atlantic Owl Casey Thompson is a capable backup, but this is Arnold’s offense to quarterback.

The receivers are there. This has a shot at being the SEC’s best corps even with 84-catch leading receiver Drake Stoops gone.

Nic Anderson is an NFL-level deep threat averaging 21 yards per grab with ten touchdowns last season. Andrel Anthony is another big-play guy on the outside, and in from Purdue is Deion Burks coming off a seven-touchdown campaign. Baylor transfer Jake Roberts and SE Louisiana’s Bauer Sharp form a good pass-catching tight end combo.

- The line is undergoing an almost total overhaul. This isn’t as much of a concern as it is a relative unknown that has to come together fast. Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton should be okay at the tackles, but the overall depth is really, really young, and the interior is all transfer portal.

Brandon Hickman (SMU) will likely start at center, and Geirean Hatchett (Washington) and Febechi Nwaiwu (North Texas) will step in at guard. Again, the line isn’t a problem - the talent is there - it might just need a little gelling.

Gavin Sawchuk ran for a team-high 744 yards and nine scores, but second-leading man Tawee Walker is off to Wisconsin. The depth is talented, but untested and thin.

Oklahoma Football Preview 2024: Defense

- It’s way past time for the Brent Venables defense to be a killer. One of the best defensive coordinators in college football at OU and then Clemson before getting the head coaching gig, his defenses have finished 122nd (2022) and 79th (2023) over the past two seasons.

The plays behind the line have been there, but the sacks have been missing. The D wasn’t bad in a bottom line results way - no one really lit this bunch up except Texas, and later TCU in the wild 69-45 late season Sooner win - and this group has been great on third downs and better at taking the ball away.

But with this coaching staff the defense should be dominant, and this season that starts with …

- The linebacking corps will be so good. The 1-2 punch of leading tackler Danny Stutsman and second-leading tackler Kip Lewis will be a problem for the rest of the SEC. There’s good depth behind these two in what should be a good rotation when needed.

They’re all working behind a line that’s not starting over, but will look a bit different with the four main starters gone. TCU transfer Damonic Williams is a 320-pound option inside next two fellow 320-pounder Da’Jon Terry.

Stutsman led the team in tackles for loss with 16, but end Ethan Downs was second with 6.5 and Trace Ford should be more of a factor on the other side.

- The secondary is really deep and extremely strong. OU allowed over 250 yards per game through the air, but it only had real problems against Texas and Oklahoma State.

Safety Billy Bowman led the team with six picks, corner Gentry Williams came up with three - Woodi Washington on the other side led the team with seven broken up passes - and the combination of Kendel Dolby and Dasan McCullough at the team’s Cheetah position will be all over the place. So …

Key To The Oklahoma Football Season

Don’t get lit up through the air, and …
Don’t turn the ball over. OU was 0-3 last season when giving it up three or more times, 10-0 when it didn’t.

Three teams completed more than 63% of their passes against the Oklahoma defense. Oklahoma State and Arizona were losses, and Texas was a thriller that needed a late rally and score to win.

The 2022 team had plenty of issues, but in the first two seasons under Venables, OU is 3-5 when teams complete over 63% of their throws.

Oklahoma Key Player

Jackson Arnold, QB Soph.
A superstar recruit expected to be the next great Sooner quarterback, he got in a little work last season including the start in the bowl loss to Oklahoma, He threw three picks and looked like he needed a few more at-bats, but he also threw for 361 yards, ran well, and showed off why there’s a whole lot of hype.

It’s not exactly sink-or-swim with him - Casey Thompson can be okay and there are a few young options - but he’ll have to more than hold his own against a nasty schedule.

Oklahoma Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Caiden Woullard, DE Sr.
He might fly a bit under the radar compared to all the key transfers for the offensive line, but Wollard was a really, really nice get for the pass rushing rotation.

He made 70 tackles with 13.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss over the last two seasons for Miami University, and he should find a role right away as a specialist, if nothing else.

Top Transfer Out: Dillon Gabriel, QB Sr.
Arnold should be fantastic. He’s a big-time talent with the upside to grow into the type of playmaker to carry OU when needed, but Gabriel is a sixth-year veteran with close to 15,000 passing yards and 125 touchdowns logged in. This is Arnold’s gig, but Gabriel should be in for a huge year at Oregon.

Oklahoma Key Game

Tennessee, Sept. 21
Of course it’s always going to be the Texas showdown, but winning the SEC opener against Tennessee is a must or this might be a really, really long conference season.

The Sooners don’t get any real breaks in the SEC schedule - South Carolina at home might be about it, and even that’s hardly a given. Five of the last seven conference games are away from Norman, and one of those home dates is against Alabama.

10 Best Oklahoma Football Players

1. Danny Stutsman, LB Sr.
2. Billy Bowman, S Sr.
3. Jackson Arnold, QB Soph.
4. Ethan Downs, DE Sr.
5. Nic Anderson, WR Soph.
6. Gentry Williams, CB Jr.
7. Deion Burks, WR Jr.
8. Kendel Dolby, S Sr.
9. Kip Lewis, LB Soph.
10. Gavin Sawchuk, RB Soph.

Oklahoma 2023 Fun Stats

- Rushing TDs: Oklahoma 34, Opponents 18

- Fumbles: Oklahoma 19 (lost 11), Opponents 13 (lost 6)

- 3rd Down Conversions: 87 for 178 (49%), Opponents 61 for 197 (31%)

Oklahoma Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

Body blows.

Of course Oklahoma can beat anyone and everyone on its slate, but it doesn’t catch a whole lot of breaks in Year One of SEC life.

There’s no Georgia to deal with. That’s a massive solid, but Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt all failed to go to a bowl last year, and none of them are on the schedule.

Kentucky and Texas A&M will be tough, but relatively speaking, the Sooners would take their cuts against those two, and they’re not on the slate, either.

Again, Oklahoma will be good enough to win against anyone - especially since Alabama is a home game - but Texas in Dallas, at Ole Miss, at Missouri, at LSU, at Auburn. There are too many 50/50 spins at the wheel that might go the other way - OU probably won’t be favored against any of those teams but Auburn.

The Sooners will beat Houston and Tulane at home, but they get those two before dealing with Tennessee.

With Maine, Temple, and realistically, South Carolina - to go along with Houston and Tulane - that should be five wins right there. They’ll win three of the tough SEC battles, but it’ll take something special to push through for more.

Set The Oklahoma Win Total At … 8

Likely Wins: Houston, Maine, Temple, Tulane

50/50 Games: Alabama, at Auburn, at LSU, at Missouri, at Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (in Dallas)

Likely Losses: No projected games Oklahoma can’t or shouldn’t win

2024 Oklahoma Football Schedule

Aug 31 Temple
Sept 7 Houston
Sept 14 Tulane
Sept 21 Tennessee
Sept 28 at Auburn
Oct 5 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 vs Texas (in Dallas)
Oct 19 South Carolina
Oct 26 at Ole Miss
Nov 2 Maine
Nov 9 at Missouri
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 Alabama
Nov 30 at LSU

Missing: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt