After eight long, agonizing months of all talk and no action, the new college football season is finally here.
This weekend is designated as Week 0, with a smattering of teams set to kick off the 2026 season. That will serve as a teaser and prelude to the more official opening that will will take place a week from now, including the season kickoff for Oklahoma against UTEP on Friday.
Fans are literally and figuratively chomping at the bit for the games to get going so we can begin to separate fact from fiction and see for ourselves how the season will unfold. Surprises abound every college football season, and until the full body of work is completed, it is impossible to predict with any certainty how things will shake out from week to week, let alone at season's end
We don't know where the finish line will be this season for Brent Venables and the Oklahoma football team, but we do have an idea of the things that need to happen for it to be as fulfilling and rewarding a season as those of us who pledge our allegiance to Sooner Nation and OU football are hoping for.
Here are five superlatives we see as crowning achievements to Oklahoma's success in the 2026 season:
Most Outstanding Player: QB John Mateer
The play of returning starting quarterback John Mateer and how he will respond from the hand injury he suffered and played through last season was the prime concern of most college football analysts this offseason in previewing how much better Oklahoma and its offense would be in 2026. The Sooners are expected to be even better than the 10-win team of last season, but that largely centers around Mateer.
The hard work and physical and mental preparation Mateer put in this offseason will pay off handsomely for the Sooners, and he won't even have to put up dramatically better numbers -- except perhaps in his touchdown-to-interception ratio -- to have a career year.
The Sooners have surrounded Mateer with better offensive weapons and more of them, and an offense that will operate behind a strengthened and more experienced offensive front. As a direct result, Mateer leads Oklahoma to a second straight 10-win season and a return to the College Football Playoff for a second straight season.
Most Improved Player: DE Adepoju "PJ" Adebawore
Senior defensive end Adepoju "PJ" Adebawore has the size, length and talent to be one of the top edge rushers in the SEC, but in three seasons at Oklahoma, he has not lived up to his five-star recruiting status. He began to show glimpses of that potential last season with totals of 17 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
I predict Adebawore will win the starting job opposite Taylor Wein, one of the team's most improved players last season, and go on to have the kind of season the Oklahoma coaches were hoping for when they signed him as a 2023 recruit. I wouldn't be surprised if Adebawore doubled his 2025 season totals.
Most Outstanding Freshman: RB Jonathan Hatton Jr.
One of Oklahoma's top priorities this offseason was to improve the running game. One of the players the Sooners have added to the roster this season is freshman Jonathan Hatton from the 2026 recruiting class. Many believe he is just the "dude" to help get that done.
"Hatton is looking better and better," former Oklahoma Butkus Award winner Teddy Lehman said recently on "The Oklahoma breakdown with Ikard and Lehman" podcast. "You've got a 235-pound tailback that's one of the fastest guys on the team. So, we have a dude."
Hatton, rated as the No. 6 running back in the 2026 class nationally by 247Sports, is being compared to several former Oklahoma running backs who had standout seasons as freshmen: Adrian Peterson, Samaje Perine and Marcus Dupree.
"His film shows a powerful back who can navigate the 'trash' at the line of scrimmage, but also one who can hit the gas and win a track meet once he breaks through," wrote Stormin in Norman contributor Kellen Coleman in an article last week on Hatton , calling him potentially the next Oklahoma freshman phenom.
Most Disruptive Defender: DT David Stone
Former five-star recruit David Stone was a college All-American in the making when he arrived at Oklahoma for the spring semester in 2024. He appeared in all 13 games as a freshman in 2024 but played just 94 defensive snaps. His defensive line presence ramped up considerably last season as a sophomore, as did his contributions, recording 42 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries.
This past spring, CBS Sports named David Stone one of the 26 most-feared defensive players in college football ahead of the 2026 season at No. 7. Named this week as one of the Oklahoma captains for this season, Stone also has been honored as a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation and Phil Steele, publisher of the eponymous 2026 College Football Preview publication that carries his name.
Best win of season: Texas in the Red River Rivalry
Regardless of the rankings, the biggest game of the season every season for the Oklahoma football program is the annual showdown with archrival Texas. The emotional and competitive nature associated with that game is just at another level from every other game on the season schedule. Texas is ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll and could be No. 1 in the country by the time this year's game is played if the Longhorns are able to beat No. 1 Ohio State in Week 2 of the season.
Oklahoma has lost three of the last four meetings with its hated Red River rival. This is the season the Sooners will atone for that losing skid and hand Texas what could be a second crushing loss on the season. John Mateer outduels Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning and former Longhorn Parker Livingstone catches a touchdown pass as Oklahoma pulls off a 28-24 upset over the widely favored Longhorns.
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