When Oklahoma takes the field next Friday night at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to open the season against UTEP, the Sooner defense will feature eight returning starters from a unit that led the SEC a year ago in total defense.
The Oklahoma defensive performance in the 2025 season was the team's best in almost two decades, and with the talent and experience the Sooners have returning on the defensive side of the ball, many believe this year's unit will be even better.
Last season, Oklahoma allowed just 15.5 points a game, seventh-best in the nation, and was second among FBS teams in tackles for loss (122, an average of 9.4 per game) and third nationally in rushing defense (77.3 yards a game). The Sooners finished sixth nationally in total defense, allowing opponents 272.5 yards per game.
Surprisingly, there were no Sooners named as first-team selections to the 2026 Preseason All-SEC Team. Five Sooners -- defensive linemen David Stone and Tyler Wein, linebacker Kip Lewis and defensive backs Peyton and Eli Bowen -- were voted by the league coaches to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team on defense.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables had two No. 1-ranked defenses while he was defensive coordinator at Clemson, and he is well on his way elevating the Sooners to similar status. That represents a dramatic change from what he inherited from his predecessor, Lincoln Riley. The year Venables took over the OU program from Riley, the Sooners ranked 122nd in total defense, allowing 461 yards a game, and 99th in scoring defense, giving up 30 points a game.
The Sooners feature strength and experience in every position group within the defense, and many believe the Oklahoma front seven is the best in the SEC, if not the entire country, heading into the 2026 college football season.
"We have the opportunity to be a really good defense because we have guys who are bought in, have been developed and have shown enough body of work to give you reason to believe," Venables said a week into fall camp. "Respectively, (though), it's not a great defense yet."
Here are three Sooner defensive players who are destined to have a breakout 2026 season and could be important factors in getting the OU defense to that next level Venables talked about:
CB Courtland Guillory
Courtland Guillory came to Oklahoma as a highly touted defensive back prospect in the Sooners' 2025 recruiting class out of Houston, Texas. He chose the Sooners over offers from such other Power Four programs as Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, TCU and Missouri. Guillory made 11 starts last season and became the first Oklahoma true freshman to start the season at the cornerback position.
On3 college football analyst J.D. Pickell recently said this about Guillory, only a sophomore: "He might be the best DB in the SEC, period." Now, he has to go out and play that way, he said.
Guillory will be paired on the other side with another talented cornerback in junior Eli Bowen. Both players earned freshman All-America honors during their first seasons at Oklahoma.
As a freshman last season, Guillory made 41 tackles, one tackle for loss and seven pass breakups. Those numbers should get even better this season, with Guillory toting a year of experience playing in the SEC and defending against some of the best wide receivers in college football.
S Michael Boganowski
Michael Boganowski begins his junior season at Oklahoma as the expected starting free safety. Although he has appeared in every Oklahoma game the past two seasons and made 39 total tackles, his main role has been on special teams and as a rotational backup to Robert Spears-Jennings, who has departed to the NFL.
The 6-foot-2, 214-pound Boganowksi, a native of Junction City, Kansas, has more than earned his starting opportunity and is excited about the 2026 season and the chance to fulfill his full potential. One of the hardest hitters on the team, Boganowski was a four-star recruit and the top overall recruit in the state of Kansas, signing with the Sooners as a member of the 2024 recruiting class.
"Honestly, I can't wait," he told reporters during training camp. He's put in a lot of work and study this offseason in an effort to further improve the mental side of his game and anticipating what opposing offenses are going to do.
"This year, I'll be able to do what I came to Oklahoma to do," Boganowski said.
DE Adepoju "PJ" Adebawore
Considered one of the top overall recruits in the country when he signed with Oklahoma as part of the Sooners' 2023 recruiting class (No. 4 overall prospect, according to 247Sports), PJ Adebawore has fallen short of expectations so far, but this could be the year that Sooner fans finally get to see what he's truly capable of and why the national recruiting services awarded him five-star status out of high school.
Adebawore registered only 10 total tackles over 23 games his first two seasons at Oklahoma. We began to see glimpses of his inherent talent and potential last season, when he registered 17 tackles, 5.5 of which were for negative yardage, and 2.5 sacks. Even then, he was hobbled by a nagging foot injury, which required surgery this offseason.
Adebawore is battling with junior Danny Okoye for the other starting edge-rusher spot opposite Taylor Wein. Regardless, the former five-star recruit, who may be the best athlete on the entire squad according to his head coach, is healthy and sure to see plenty of action this season. Adebawore is of the size and length to be a major disruptive force off the edge, and it feels like this really could be his year to show up and show out.
Add us as a preferred source on Google