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The Oklahoma Sooners are heading into their 129th season of varsity football ranked 20th in the nation by the AP. OU kicks off the season by hosting Arkansas State for an 11:00 AM kickoff, in a game that will be televised by ESPN. It’s just the third meeting between the two universities, and the first one since the 2000 season. Oklahoma heads into the 2023 season leading the country with their 50 all-time conference championships, 27 11-plus-win seasons, 33 AP top-five finishes, seven Heisman Trophy winners (tied) and five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks
(tied).
Here are some key storylines to keep an eye on as the Sooners and Red Wolves officially open their seasons on Saturday.
- Where’s Brenen Thompson? Is is sick? Injured? In the dog house? Rumor has it that he’s dealing with an injury. There’s no official word out just yet but the speedy transfer from Texas did Tweet out, “In due time.” earlier today. As Saturday gets closer it seems more and more unlikely that he’ll play, but will he be on the sidelines? I feel like that’s a legitimate question at this point?
- How far behind are Barnes and Sawchuk? Brent Venables mentioned that being a bit banged up in camp factored in to the two starters from the bowl game being listed at the bottom two running backs on the depth chart. The question is, how far are they behind Marcus Major and Tawee Walker?
- Can Dillon Gabriel stay healthy? Oklahoma’s starting quarterback has missed 11 games throughout his collegiate career due to injury.
- Three new starters along Oklahoma’s offensive line make this a key position to keep an eye on for Saturday. There appears to be no open competitions along the line and the starting five is set moving forward. Now, as a unit, can they play clean and effective?
- Is Andrel Anthony a star in the making? The transfer receiver from Michigan was able to earn a #1 spot on the depth chart and seems to have speed for days.
- Can Austin Stogner pick up where he left off? The 6-6, 258-pounder has started 20 career games (all over the last three seasons) and has racked up 67 receptions for 864 yards and nine touchdowns. Eight of those TDs came over his three seasons as a Sooner.
- Oklahoma has faced current Arkansas State head coach Butch Jones three times and is 3-0 against him. In 2010 he was the head coach at Cincinnati when the Sooners scored a 31-29 victory on the road. Then in 2014 and 2015 he was the head coach at Tennessee when Oklahoma won 34-10 in Norman and 31-24 in Knoxville.
- The Sooners have added 65 new players for the 2023 football season. That means 52% of OU’s 2023 roster is comprised of first-year Sooners.
- Brent Venables added 21 players during the offseason who transferred from four-year schools. Among the 16 scholarship transfers, nine are on defense and seven on offense.
- Of the nine new scholarship transfers on defense, six are on the defensive line – Rondell Bothroyd (Wake Forest), Trace Ford (Oklahoma State), Jacob Lacey (Notre Dame), Phil Paea (Utah State), Davon Sears (Texas State) and Da’Jon Terry (Tennessee).
- Oklahoma returns just 10 players (not including specialists) who started at least nine of the team’s 13 games last season (five on each side of the ball).
- Dillon Gabriel, who was the 2022 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year, has 95 passing touchdowns over the last four years rank as second most nationally.
- This marks the 24th straight year that OU has appeared in the preseason AP Top 25, which is the second longest current string behind Ohio State (35) and the second-longest streak in program history.
- This is just the third time in the last 23 years that OU is not ranked in the AP preseason top 10.
- With the Sooners set to join the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2024, the 2023 football season will mark their last in the Big 12 Conference. OU has won more than half of the Big 12’s football championships (14 of 27) since the league began in 1996.
- Oklahoma’s 14 Big 12 titles are 11 more than the programs with the next most (Baylor, Kansas State and Texas have three each).
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