Oklahoma football: As season-opener draws closer, Sooners’ star shines brighter
By Chip Rouse
![Jayden Gibson (1), wide receiver, goes through drills as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) holds fall camp practice at the rugby fields on Aug. 16, 2022 in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]Ou Practice](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fad24620f24c7ee4c5fae27942ab775fd76b820ab33672cc5ed9fea3779168782.jpg "Jayden Gibson (1), wide receiver, goes through drills as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) holds fall camp practice at the rugby fields on Aug. 16, 2022 in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]Ou Practice")
For those who live by numbers and long for Oklahoma football, we’re now at 15 days and counting to the start of the new season and Year 1 of the Brent Venables era in Norman.
This could be the final season for the Big 12 in its current structure, with four new teams scheduled to join the league next year and Oklahoma and Texas expected to leave the conference a year or two after that.
It’s still not certain when the Sooners and Longhorns will make their official leap to the SEC, but both programs are recruiting and building rosters clearly with that move in mind. And in doing so, both are strengthening their already strong position in the Big 12.
Oklahoma enters the 2022 season as somewhat of an unknown. The Sooners have a new head coach, although someone who is very familiar to and with the program, two new coordinators and nearly 40 newcomers to the program as freshmen recruits or transfers.
Despite the uncertainty, a number of major media sources are picking Oklahoma to regain its customary spot atop the Big 12 standings and lay claim in 2022 to what would be a 15th Big 12 championship.
The Sooners are expected to continue putting up big numbers on the scoreboard as well as in the field of play behind an up-tempo offense designed and directed by new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and new starting quarterback and former Lebby pupil Dillon Gabriel. The difference maker this season for Oklahoma could well be the defense, where this is talent at all three levels, plus the value added of having the expertise and impact of a head coach who is widely recognized as being one of the best defensive coaches in the college game
Oklahoma still must prove it on the field, but the Sooners have been drawing more and more favor the closer we come to the kickoff of another exciting college football season.
And with the new season almost upon us, these national media sources have jumped on the OU band wagon as the team to beat in the Big 12: Phil Steele, 247Sports, Coaches Poll, Associated Press and Sports Illustrated.
As of this week, you can ESPN to the list. A Big 12 Conference preview co-authored by staff writers Harry Lyles Jr. and Dave Wilson picked Oklahoma and Baylor to finish one, two in the Big 12 2022 championship race, with the Sooners defeating the reigning conference champs for the title.
That’s the way things look on paper. If only it was that easy.