Blatant Homerism: Sooners have plenty of room to grow
In the annals of the program’s history, the 2025 Oklahoma Sooners won’t stand out as an especially elite squad.
A mediocre offense put a hard ceiling on the team’s ability to compete with the best college football had to offer. Exiting the College Football Playoff in the first round with a loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide might have been disappointing, but it didn’t feel inappropriate relative to what this team was. In fact, wringing 10 wins out of this roster easily qualifies as Brent Venables’ best achievement in four years as head coach of the Sooners.
In that respect, you can understand why Venables’ staunchest supporters in the OU community are now taking a victory lap. The school’s administration used Lincoln Riley’s abrupt departure for USC after the 2021 season as an opportunity to reorient OU football in preparation for life in the SEC. The decision to entrust Venables with that project – set against college football’s rapidly changing landscape – looked like a blunder after the Sooners produced three up-and-down seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024. However, only the haterest of haters would dispute that the efforts to overhaul the team’s identity and infrastructure paid off in year four.
But this kind of season can simultaneously represent a dramatic leap forward and illustrate that the program has farther to go reach its historical standards. The name of the game is, um, winning games, and OU did that part well this year. Teams that fare as well as OU did in matchups decided by one score typically need a healthy dose of good fortune, though – it’s delusional to believe otherwise. It’s equally delusional to believe those same balls will bounce your way every time in the future.
In other words, the Sooners had a good year, but they still need to get better.
Fortunately, this season positioned OU and Venables to continue fortifying the program.
Winning 10 games and qualifying for the CFP can go a long way towards quieting negative recruiting about your job security. Venables and his staff were fighting an uphill battle on that front before the season started while laying the foundation for OU’s 2026 recruiting class, which Rivals now ranks 17th in the country. The haul includes the late addition of Jonathan Hatton, a touted running back who previously committed to OU, jilted the Sooners for Texas A&M, and rejoined OU’s class prior to signing day earlier this month. The Sooners also landed their potential quarterback of the future in Celina, Texas prep Bowe Bentley.
Venables’ job stability should also assist OU in capitalizing on one of the strongest crops of recruits to come out of the state of Oklahoma in recent memory: The 2027 class from Oklahoma features nine blue-chip prospects. The Sooners have already secured pledges from the top two players in the state, offensive linemen Cooper Hackett and Kaeden Penny, and they are apparently favored to snag many more in the coming months.
Meanwhile, stacking the roster for the immediate future gets easier when key donors see tangible signs of progress from a coaching staff. That should lessen concerns about enticing quality free agents to sign with OU for the upcoming season.
All things considered, Venables picked a great time to make a compelling case that he is the right coach to lead the Sooners into the future. He needs to make an even stronger one next year.
ALLEN’S KITCHEN NON-CONFIDENTIAL
Looking for something to dazzle your friends at this year’s holiday party (or any other party)? “Pig Candy” is two-touchdown favorite to be the talk of your next gathering.
Essentially, we’re talking about bacon coated in a mixture of brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Complemented by a drizzle of maple syrup, the mixture has a glazing effect on the bacon as it cooks on a wire rack, which takes about 20 to 30 minutes in total.
I used a recipe from Serious Eats for my latest batch, but there are numerous versions floating around out there. I made three pounds of it for a party I attended last week, and all of it was gone within a couple minutes of putting it out on the spread. Save a little for yourself, in other words.