Five Oklahoma football story lines as 2017 training camp commences
By Chip Rouse
Talent-wise, the Sooners are a deserving top pick, but are they hungry enough for a three-peat?
Oklahoma is the choice of the media covering the Big 12 Conference, as well as at least national college football preview publications, to win its 11th conference championship in 2017 and third in as many seasons.
There is no question that the Sooners, barring any serious injuries to key personnel, have the talent and depth at the skill positons, to get the job done. This includes having one of the nation’s best and most experienced quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield) at the offensive controls.
The bigger issue that Oklahoma must overcome is the complacency that naturally begins to set in when you win three conference championship in the past five seasons, including two in succession.
Is the 2017 edition of Sooner football hungry enough to stave off potential upset bids, hold off an opponent on a scoring drive late in a close game or mount a come-from-behind winning rally when a game is on the line.
As a perennial top-10 team, the two-time defending conference champion and the winner of 10 Big 12 crowns in 18 seasons Oklahoma enters every game in the season with a target on its back. The Sooners can expect to get virtually every team’s best effort, if not their best game.
Usually in close games, the team with the greater will to win will come out on top.
Entering the first week of training camp, it appears the Sooner players and coaches are approaching the new season with the right attitude and a championship mind-set. They even have come up with a catching rallying cry: “The Chase for Eight” (as in national championships.
We’ll have to wait and see how that translates on the field when the 2017 season officially kicks off for the Sooners and the vast majority of other major college teams.