Oklahoma football: Sooner position units rank among nation’s best
By Chip Rouse
Every year, it seems, the teams projected to finish in the top 10 in the college football rankings represent a step and repeat of seasons gone by. To the delight of Sooner fans, you can count Oklahoma football among that select grouping.
Oklahoma, like practically every team in the college ranks at some time or another, experiences a down cycle. Since the end of World War II, no Division I team (now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision) has won more games than Oklahoma’s 652 (Alabama is the closest with 609).
The Sooners were 93-10-2 in the 1950s, 103-13-3 in the 1970s and 110-24 in the opening decade of the 2000s under Bob Stoops. It has always been this good for OU, though. Oklahoma’s 10-year record in the 1990s was just 61 wins, 51 losses and three games ending in a tie.
Over the last 20 seasons, the Sooners have won 11 or more games 14 times. That’s an average of 10.7 wins a season during that time span and a record of consistency and excellence matched by few teams.
Oklahoma Sooners Football
You don’t win games and conference titles with the consistency of an Oklahoma without outstanding coaching (since 1950, OU has had three head coaches win more than 100 games), a winning attitude and culture, some good old Sooner Magic and, most of all, a recruiting pipeline filled with top talent.
Oklahoma has delivered 393 players to the NFL Draft, fourth most of any college program, including 45 first-round selections and five No. 1 overall picks.
In the final two recruiting cycles under Stoops (2016-17) and two more under head coach Lincoln Riley, the Sooners have brought in four consecutive top-10 national recruiting classes.
Finding, recruiting and ultimately signing top talent is the lifeblood of any college program. You are constantly replacing players, adding new players and filling future needs, but that is just part of the process. Not all high school stars evolve into college stars. Once you have the players on campus, you have to develop them and help them get better and make sure you have them in the right positions to succeed.
Oklahoma does as good a job at that as any program in college football. Again this season, college football data master Phil Steele, in his 2019 College Football Preview publication, ranks several Sooner position units in the top 10 nationally.
After three seasons with Baker Mayfield as the starting quarterback, followed by a season with Kyler Murray at the helm, Oklahoma now brings in Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts as the starter, with the No. 1 quarterback prospect out of high school, Spencer Rattler, waiting in the wings as a true freshman. The Sooners are set at the QB position again in 2019, which is terrific news for the country’s No, 1-ranked offense the past two seasons.
Steele ranks the OU QB situation at No, 5 in the country behind Clemson, Alabama, Texas and Oregon.
Oklahoma always seems to have a stable of quality running backs on hand, and this coming season is no exception. The Sooners are at least five deep at the position, and that doesn’t take into account the running ability of QB Hurts.
Back are sophomore Kennedy Brooks, who led the Sooner running backs in rushing yardage (1,056 yards) despite not starting a single game last season, and junior Trey Sermon (972 rushing yards). Sophomore T.J. Pledger and a pair of talented newcomers, JUCO transfer Rhamondre Stevenson and true freshman Marcus Major will challenge Brooks and Sermon for playing time.
Steele ranks the OU running backs as the fifth best in the nation. Wisconsin, Georgia, Clemson and Alabama make up the top four, which is pretty heady company for the Sooners to be in.
Wide receiver may be Oklahoma’s deepest position unit entering the new season. The Sooners are absolutely loaded at wide receiver. In addition to a quality returning group, led by junior CeeDee Lamb, OU brings in three five-star freshman receivers. They also have Grant Calcaterra returning at tight end, along with four-star freshman recruit Austin Stogner.
According to Steele’s 2019 position unit rankings, the Oklahoma receivers rank No. 4, the highest rated Oklahoma position group.
The Sooner offense line, which loses four of five starters from the O-line judged to be the best in the college football a year ago, has some rebuilding to do, but offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has some depth at the position and believes the next men up for OU will be fine. Steele hasn’t lost faith in the Sooners’ ability to regroup upfront, but ranks the new group at No. 24 nationally.
Not surprising, the lowest Oklahoma position rankings are on the defensive side, according to Steele’s evaluation formula. He ranks the OU defensive line in the top 25, at No. 22, but the defensive secondary is all the way down to No, 48 and the linebacker unit is ranked 50th.
Looking just within the Big 12 Conference, here is how Steele ranks the Oklahoma position units in comparison to the other nine teams in the conference:
QB – 2
RB
OL – 2
DL – 3
LB – 4
DB – 3
ST – 5
CO – 1
In case you are wondering, Steele ranks the Sooners No. 5 in his 2019 Preseason Top 40, and he projects that they will play No. 7 LSU in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Those same two teams met in the in the 2003 BCS National Championship, also in the Sugar Bowl, with LSU winning 21-14.