Brent Venables’ debut season at Oklahoma went hardly as deliberate, with the Sooners stumbling to their first losing record (6-7) since 1998. However, Oklahoma’s poor efficiency on the sphere has but to carry over to the recruiting path. The Sooners are one of two groups in the nation with a top-five recruiting class and top-10 transfer portal class for the 2023 cycle, together with LSU. Venables’ success at buying expertise has Oklahoma poised for a breakout season in 2023, in accordance to Late Kick host Josh Pate.
“You have to expect Oklahoma to make a big jump this year,” Pate said on Late Kick. (*2*)
Five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, who enrolled at Oklahoma on Jan. 16 because the No. 8 prospect and No. 4 quarterback in the Class of 2023, headlines the OU recruiting class. He is the third-highest-rated sign caller to commit to Oklahoma since 2000, behind Rhett Bomar and USC’s Caleb Williams.
“They have Jackson Arnold presumably pound for pound my favourite quarterback in the cycle,” Pate stated. “In fairness, we got to see him up close out of the Elite 11 and got to know him a little bit. So I just happen to believe he’s got the right stuff to come in there and compete for a starting job right away. And here’s the thing about that. It’s kind of a blessing if he wins the job. It’s because he was good enough. And if he doesn’t win the job, it’s not because he wasn’t good enough. It’s just because Dylan Gabriel beat him out.”
Despite Pate’s optimism about Oklahoma’s prospects subsequent season, he expressed concern over the Sooners’ defensive regression below Venables.
“When Venables got hired, I didn’t necessarily think that they were going to push for a playoff spot,” Pate said. “Brent Venables is a defensive guy, a defensive mastermind. He had great defenses at Clemson. He also had personnel at Clemson better than what he inherited. I said in the summer, and I believed that pretty sure they were going to improve on defense without Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch and with Brent Venables at the very least. Quite the opposite happened. Last year, Oklahoma was No. 58 in the country in points per game allowed. Not good. But this year, they were No. 98. Brent Venables is getting a C- for his debut season. If you were to do this in year four, you would be getting an F.”
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