Red-White Game: Thinking about seasons to come for the Sooners

Spring games in college football don’t mean much.

After a few months on hiatus, fans can reassemble to tailgate and get a possible glimpse of what’s to come in the fall after another long layoff. Coaches and players can use the event as something different to break up the monotony of spring practices. In terms of what it means on the field for the coming year, though, it’s just another day in the offseason.

Spring games do serve as a vibes check for programs in various states of flux. This year, for instance, FOX did a national broadcast of Ohio State’s spring game showcasing the Buckeyes’ determination to level up in response to Michigan’s national championship. And in a hilarious example from the past, old heads might remember the enthusiasm around Austin for the arrival of the Garrett Gilbert era following Texas’ 2010 spring game.

Looking back, the vibes around the Oklahoma Sooners circa spring 2022 might be best described as unified. Irked by Lincoln Riley absconding to USC months earlier, a program-record crowd of more than 75,000 fans turned out to honor legendary quarterback Baker Mayfield and watch new head coach Brent Venables cut a wrestling promo on the field before the game.

Last year, you could say the mood was indignant. The Sooners took their lumps during a 6-7 season that had the haters overjoyed, but the disappointing campaign offered some insight into the mess Venables inherited (and perhaps why Riley skipped town). For the most part, confidence that the Sooners could take a step forward seemed to outweigh the fear that Venables was in over his head.

Twelve months later, it’s more difficult to put a finger on what the vibes are like around Norman heading into OU’s third Red-White Game with Venables at the helm.

Optimistic? To a point. OU will probably field its best defense in about a decade this fall, and fans will get a first look at new additions such as defensive linemen David Stone and Jayden Jackson on that side of the ball. Meanwhile, the Sooners have continued to raise the ceiling on offense by fortifying the skill positions with players like Purdue transfer Deion Burks at slot receiver.

Anxious? That seems fair. If the ceiling has been raised on the offensive side of the ball, the floor has been lowered. The primary issue is a rail-thin offensive line that still needs more contributors from the ongoing cycle in the transfer portal. Feels ominous with OU slated to join the Southeastern Conference, a notoriously trenches-centric league.

Personally, I’m not so interested in what we might learn Saturday about the 2024 season. It may seem unfair to keep pinning OU’s problems on Riley, but the compounding problems with his roster mismanagement for years put the program in a hole. Venables and his staff are trying to pull the team out of it. Last season provided a sign that what they’re doing is working, but ‘24 will be a different animal as the Sooners face their first SEC slate.

I plan on focusing more on the players who will set the tone for 2025 and beyond. That group includes Jackson and Stone, of course, but we’ll also get a chance to watch freshmen like Danny Okoye and Nigel Smith. Given the logjam in the linebacker room, this may be one of the few times we see intriguing sophomore Lewis Carter in anything close to a game setting. He won’t overtake Jackson Arnold in the short term, but does rookie quarterback Michael Hawkins really have the goods? Is it a good or a bad thing if early enrollee Eugene Brooks wins a starting role next season?

We won’t get definitive answers Saturday to the questions that will need to be answered 12 or 24 months from now. Never too early to think about the future, though.