Reaching the College Football Playoff the last two years with a transfer quarterback, the Oklahoma Sooners will look to repeat the process after trading for, I mean winning the transfer rights to former Alabama signal-caller Jalen Hurts. OU has earned three CFP berths and has played some wildly entertaining games once getting there. The only problem is that the Sooners have yet to win a playoff game.
OU has earned the respect of the selection committee and is once again the class of the Big 12. However, when the Sooners reached the CFP in 2017 their defense was bad. Last year the group was worse, and as we saw they weren’t able to outscore the better teams in the country. The Big 12 is improved this season and we could see the Sooners regress offensively without a No. 1 NFL draft pick behind center. Hurts is good, but he’s no Murray or Baker Mayfield. And if the defense doesn’t show improvement a pair of conference losses will keep OU out of the playoff.
College Football Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oklahoma Sooners To Make 4-team Playoff
Yes +190
No -250
Oklahoma has been able to make the quarterback transition the last few years and bringing in Hurts will bridge the gap. The Sooners are stacked on offense with second-string skill players being able to start at nearly every other FBS program. Lincoln Riley has worked wonders with his personnel and he’s going to put Hurts in a position to be successful. OU might not churn out 570 yards of offense and score over 48 points per game in 2019, but it’s not going to be far off.
2019 Oklahoma Sooners Schedule
Week 1: vs. Houston Cougars
Week 2: vs. South Dakota Coyotes
Week 3: at UCLA Bruins
Week 4: OFF
Week 5: vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Week 6: at Kansas Jayhawks
Week 7: vs. Texas Longhorns
Week 8: vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
Week 9: at Kansas State Wildcats
Week 10: OFF
Week 11: vs. Iowa State Cyclones
Week 12: at Baylor Bears
Week 13: vs. TCU Horned Frogs
Week 14: at Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma Sooners Schedule Analysis
On paper the schedule is challenging. Non-conference matchups with Houston and UCLA figure to be shootouts, but for a team with CFP aspirations those are games the Sooners should win and win big. The Big 12 figures to be better with Texas and Baylor showing significant improvement last season. TCU will be better, West Virginia is always a tough game and Iowa State showed it can compete with anybody. The good news for OU is that those games are in Norman.
Improved or not, there is no Big 12 club outside of maybe Texas that should frighten the Sooners. They are likely to be favored in every game and their off weeks are strategically placed to maximize down time. OU opens league play at home against Texas Tech following its first bye and plays the final four games after the second bye. Closing the season with road games against Baylor and Oklahoma State in the final three weeks isn’t going to be easy, but nothing is if you want to play for a national championship.
Oklahoma Sooners Season Preview
Other than having a new quarterback there won’t be much different with the offense. And why change things after leading the nation in total yards and points per game. Hurts is a veteran with two national championships and a 26-2 record as Alabama’s starter before being replaced by Tua Tagovailoa. The schemes are different and Hurts has to make the adjustment, but he’s talented enough to do so. And he has plenty of help.
The tandem of Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks combined to rush for 2,003 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2018. And that was the team’s weak spot finishing 11th in rushing yards per game nationally. Hurts isn’t as accurate as Mayfield and Murray meaning the ground game will get the chance to produce more. When OU does throw the football, a bevy of receivers can make plays. Four starting linemen from last year are gone, as is leading receiver Marquise Brown, but Riley said, “We don’t plan on the offense dipping.”
Defense is just a suggestion in the Big 12, but in order to compete for a title you better at least be decent. The Sooners weren’t in 2018. They ranked last in the conference in total defense and scoring defense, and had the worst pass defense in the FBS. So there is plenty of room for improvement. Spearheading the makeover is new coordinator Alex Grinch, who has nine returning starters to work with, if that’s a good thing.
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