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Oklahoma football: Staff roundtable – 12 questions facing OU in 2019

By Christopher Dukes

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: Oklahoma Sooners fans cheer during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: Oklahoma Sooners fans cheer during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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Can Lincoln Riley achieve a third consecutive season with 12 or more wins?

CR: No Oklahoma head coach has won more than 32 games in his first three seasons. Lincoln Riley’s 12-2 record in each of his first two seasons and 24 wins total is the best ever by an OU coach in his first two seasons. Another 12-win season is very much in reach for this year’s Sooner team. That would give Riley 36 wins in his first three seasons at the helm, bettering Barry Switzer’s 32 wins from 1973-75. It should be noted that Oklahoma is No. 1 in college football with 25 seasons of 11 or more wins and 39 others with 10 or more wins.

CD: All the parts are on the table for the Sooners to win 12 or more games this season. Riley has really built the program up in recruiting and continues to work to make both the talent and coaching level better every season. With the dynamic playmakers this offense has again in 2019, even a moderate improvement on defense under Alex Grinch could be enough to bump the Sooners into the elite club with Clemson and Alabama.

Which trap game should scare the Sooners?

CR: Beware of Bedlam! The annual Bedlam rivalry with Oklahoma State returns to the final weekend of the regular season, and this year the scene shifts to Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys are projected to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 this season, but this makes no matter when it comes to Bedlam. OU has won 14 of the last 15 meetings against coach Mike Gundy‘s Cowboys and seven of the last eight played in Stillwater. Those are the facts, but this is Oklahoma State, and this is a rivalry game, with deep-seated pride and emotion and generally with a lot at stake. This season a stumble against OSU could torpedo everything the Sooners will have worked for the entire season.

I take you back to 2001. OU was 10-1 heading into their final game that season against 4-7 Oklahoma State, coached by Les Miles (now th head man at Kansas). Oklahoma State scored with under two minutes to go in the game to pull off a 16-13 upset victory and knock the Sooners out of the Big 12 Championship game.

Three of the last seven games in this series have been decided by three or fewer points. Except this year’s game to be more of the same, despite the records and rankings.

CD: The Baylor game is one that should loom large on the Sooners’ calendar. The Bears were significantly improved last season and might be taking another step toward being a contender this year. The Sooners take a trip to Waco a week after the Iowa State game and a week before a contest against TCU.

The last time the Sooners went to Waco they were taken to the brink in a 49-41 shootout that was simply too close for comfort. The Bears might have the best pure passer in the Big 12 and receivers Denzel Mims, Tyquan Thornton and Chris Platt are all big, physical receivers who can exploit the Sooners lack of size in the secondary.

If the Bears can improve on defense, particularly against the run, they are going to be a tough out, especially on the road for Oklahoma in 2019.

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