SOTC Update: Oklahoma Sooners

Injuries plagued what was a disappointing 2024. How will Brent Venables' squad come out in 2025? It will certainly look a bit different. This is the State of the Chart update for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Feb 13, 2025

State of the Chart™ Recap Edition

Live All-In Ranking: 29th
Offense: 73rd
Defense: 8th
2024 Results: 6-7 (2-6 in SEC)

All of the information that follows is just the beginning and everything will be updated in our first edition of the State of the Chart™ digital magazine. Slated for a launch in July of 2025, learn more about this and shoot us your email to be kept up-to-speed on launch dates and receive sneak previews…

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|||||| STATE OF THE CHART™ SUMMARY

It was a frustrating season to say the least. They just couldn’t seem to get healthy on offense and things spiraled out of control. They thought they had the next great quarterback on the roster and a year later he was a complete cast off (to Auburn to be exact). It wasn’t all Jackson Arnold’s fault, but it happened. And it was ugly. On defense, the unsurprising strength of this team, things were much better. Still, though, they allowed too many explosive plays and in their ‘defense’ they were on the field a TON as the offense could not sustain drives. This is the Clemson model, though, Venables is much more involved and willing to play ball in the portal market. He still wants to identify talent at the high school ranks and develop them. They hit on CB Eli Bowen, who, with some seasoning could be one of the best players in the SEC. The highlight of the season was a thorough whoopin’ laid on the Crimson Tide, but it was followed by poor performances against LSU and in the bowl game against Navy. Six wins is not okay in Norman. Four wins is a fireable offense. Our ‘deserved Win’ metric says they were closer to that four win team. There are swift, sweeping changes on the offensive side of the ball to attempt to right this ship and have a more balanced performance. The ‘Pullman experiment’ is coming to Norman with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and dynamic quarterback John Mateer. It’s believed that combo can get this back on track right away. This is the SEC. It won’t be that easy.

|||||| HEAD COACH AND COACHING STAFF

Brent Venables enters his fourth season at the helm of this program and it is time to see some results as the Sooners officially have moved to the SEC. They are doing it on the defensive side of the ball. The offense just has lagged so far behind and brought it down to a point that they won just two games in their inaugural season in the new conference. Moves have been made to bolster the coaching staff and now the results must follow.

Coaching Staff Notes/Changes:

A big change was needed on offense and Venables made what many believe to be a splash hire in Ben Arbuckle. He comes in from Washington State, where he was the offensive coordinator in 2023-24 and before that was on staff as co-OC at Western Kentucky. He has only been a part of great offenses and the hope is that he can bring that back to Norman.
Rich Rodriguez came in an poached a young coach from this staff as he lures away Zac Alley to take over as defensive coordinator at West Virginia. It’s long been speculated that Alley would like to find a role that he had more control over things with Venables keeping a very close eye and oversight of the defensive side of the ball. Venables has not hired a replacement, rather he will take over play calling duties and surround himself with veteran defensive coaches, capable of taking over if needed…
First, they hired Nate Dreiling, the former Utah State defensive coordinator and interim head coach for the 2024 season. He will work with the inside linebackers. Former Clemson DC Wes Goodwin joins the staff as an assistant linebackers coach, focused on coaching the outside linebackers. Both will join up as the brain trust with Venables, developing one of the top defensive coaching staffs in the country.
This staff also added John Kuceyski as an offensive assistant working primarily with the quarterbacks. He was brought in by Arbuckle after working as the QB coach at Washington State in 2024. He was also with Arbuckle at Western Kentucky and is a trusted coach/advisor.
Update (2/18): Venables has added veteran offensive mind and former Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson as an offensive analyst. He’ll join up with new OC Ben Arbuckle to create a solid new offensive brain trust.

Note: This is a “dynamic” article; meaning we will update any information that comes in this “off-season” and post a note when impactful moves are made or news breaks.

|||||| 2024 SCHEDULE / RESULTS ANALYSIS

The SEC gave the Sooners a ‘welcome to’ slate of SEC opponents that included some really tough road trips, in addition to playing their entry-mate, Texas in the annual Red River game. They handled their three non-conference games to get started, including what ended up being a solid win over a good Tulane squad. Post-game win expectancy (PGWE) numbers say they should have lost the 16-12 win against Houston in week two. That would impact the ‘deserved Wins’ (dWIN) total, which finished up at 4.4 wins, one of the lower outputs against their actual wins posted. They got the toss up with Auburn to go their way and everything else seemed to go as deserved. The end of the season was filled with some up-and-downs. They handed an overly dominant performance against Alabama, shutting down the Crimson Tide in week 13 at home before going on the road to Death Valley and being overwhelmed by LSU. They finished with a loss in the bowl game to Navy.

||||||| POSITION GROUP CHECK-INS

OFFENSE: The whole ‘Seth Littrell running the offense’ thing sounded like a good idea. A former head coach, involved in many successful offensive campaigns in the past and now he has a quarterback with a big-time arm and mobility in Jackson Arnold. What could go wrong? You could place blame many places. You could start with Littrell himself. Maybe Arnold just didn’t develop in the way they had hoped. There sure were a lot of sustained injuries to the receivers that really limited their ability to do much of anything through the air (6.1 yards per attempt ranked 128th in FBS). Or, maybe the offensive line that struggled to keep opposing front sevens from wreaking havoc in the backfield (129th in tackles for loss allowed). Whatever you choose as the primary reason, it’s safe to say this dumpster fire had each of these as contributing factors and a change is needed. That change comes swiftly with the splash hire of Ben Arbuckle from Washington State, who brings with him quarterback John Mateer and his over 4,100-yard, 44 touchdown season with the Cougars. Will this translate into instant success in the SEC? Not necessarily. However, the seeds are here to get this turned around in 2025.

||| QB

Jackson Arnold was the 'can't miss' kid a year ago, poised to take over and run things. A myriad of factors contributed to that demise and he moves on to Auburn to try to ressurect his career. Michael Hawkins Jr. eventually took over and was not a whole lot better. John Mateer comes in from Washington State, along with his OC Ben Arbuckle and will do his best to put up even close to the production from Pullman. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

||| RB

Jovantae Barnes has completed his ascent to the top of the depth chart and continues to get a bit better with experience. He averaged a respectable 4.7 yards per carry despite a lot of stacked boxes and poor offensive line play. His season ended with an ankle injury that he tried to rehab, but was unable to overcome. Taylor Tatum and Xavier Robinson were true freshman who carved out roles along with returnees Gavin Sawchuk and Sam Franklin. Just about everybody returns and with a better passing game, they should all take a step forward.

Update (3/6): Barnes is going to sit out spring ball, likely due to the lingering ankle injury that was suffered late in 2024.

||| WR

Here is the MASH unit from 2024. As you can see, this will need to be a (near) full rebuild. Deion Burks’ injuries allow him another year and he announced he will return as the No. 1 option. Jacob Jordan ended up showing out, despite his walk-on status and caught 27 passes out of the slot. Zion Ragins and Zion Kearney also return after getting game experience as true freshman. Adding in Cal’s Josiah Martin and Arkansas’ Isaiah Sategna is helpful, but certainly not newsworthy. The dark horse is FCS transfer in Javonnie Gibson, who could emerge as that top target they will certainly need.

Update (2/14): Shout to Brian Grover (X: LrdImDiscouragd) for pointing out that Burks would in fact be coming back and the clear number one - if he can stay healthy.

||| TE

Bauer Sharp ended up as the most targeted receiver on the team in 2024. He was also very efficient with those chances, catching 42 for 324 and two touchdowns. He moves on to LSU in search of a bit more consistency from the offense as a whole. Jake Roberts, his primary backup, graduates. 4-star from the 2022 class, Kaden Helms could be asked to step into a bigger role. They also bring in a pair of lesser known transfers. The tight end is not a big part of the Arbuckle offense, so they will be fine here without a star.

||| OL

This group was a mess all season. It was primarily due to a lack of cohesion with so many injuries forcing a weekly game of musical chairs. Right tackles Spencer Brown and Michael Tarquin both battled injuries and their careers at Oklahoma are ending. Center Branson Hickman played in just six games due to injury and his eligibility has expired. Most everybody else should be back and if fully healthy, they could scrape together a solid unit. They get a big-time 5-star tackle recruit in Michale Fasusi, but he can’t be expected to jump right into a starting role. It’s surprising this hasn’t been addressed more directly (yet) in the portal. Work to do here.

DEFENSE: The Sooners signed up for a stark change in philosophy when hiring defensive-minded Venables from Clemson after Lincoln Riley’s sudden departure for Southern Cal in the 2022 off-season. Venables wanted to build the defense and hire a defensive coordinator he could trust to handle play calling and he could focus on CEO-type rule over the program. Though, when you have always had a meticulous control over something, it’s difficult to just give it up, right? Venables surely had a stranglehold and a micro-managed approach to letting defensive coordinator Zac Alley do this thing. They ended up making a pretty solid team as this defense is the only reason it won as many games as it did. They did a particularly good job of creating problems in the backfield, tackling for losses and sacking the quarterback. They were a little less effective against the pass and also didn’t do a fantastic job of limiting big plays (52 plays of 30+ yards allowed; 36 of them through the air). They did stiffen in the Red Zone, allowing just 47% of opponent trips ending in touchdowns. Overall, this staff is primed to get the most out of this unit and if the offense can sustain some more drives in 2025, it will help keep them a bit more fresh and even more effective.

||| DL

This was a really solid group, led by R Mason Thomas and his nine sacks. He has developed into a true pass rushing threat. Ethan Downs and Gracen Halton also posed a problem for opposing offensive lines. In fact, it went about seven deep without much of a trade-off in impact. That’s a good place to be. Thomas will return to lead again. Depth is challenged, but the hope is that former 5-star Marvin Jones Jr. (FSU) comes in and lives up to that big hype.

||| LB

This is another group that went very deep in the rotation without there being much of a dip in production. It was led by Danny Stutsman, who played the most in the middle. Kip Lewis was a starter at outside linebacker. Sammy Omosigho had a growth year, showing well in run defense playing a STAR-like (hybrid DB/LB) role. With Stutsman graduating, they hit the portal to bring in Oklahoma State’s Kendal Daniels to likely take on a role right away. Others returning with upside should see more playing time. That group is led by Kendel Dolby.

||| DB

This was the group that was most maligned. Though, they have a budding star in Eli Bowen, who showed up as a true freshman and ended up starting and developing into a top tier corner right away. Billy Bowman Jr. was solid in coverage over the top and Robert Spears-Jennings was reliable in all facets but particularly excellent in run support (18.3!). They will lose some depth with Kani Walker transferring out to Arkansas, but with plenty returning and the Sooners focused on player development, there should be better results here. That’s not to say we would completely remain stagnant in the portal market.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Zach Schmit and Tyler Keltner split the kicking duties and both were effective. Luke Elzinga developed into a good punter as well. The return game was nothing to write home about. Schmit should be back with no competition for the place kicking role in 2025. Elzinga moves on and they quickly grabbed Kennesaw State’s Jacob Ulrich to compete (and likely win) the job for next year. Getting some explosion from the punt return game could help with field position going forward.

Reader feedback is requested and encouraged! Who knows these teams better than their passionate fan bases? We don’t pretend to know it all and would love your feedback. We will update/edit based (and credit) for anything that is brought to our attention. Let’s do this together…

|||||| TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

The impact on the losses you see on the right side of this tracker (below) are a bit nullified by the fact that three of the top players happen to be wide receivers. We have gone over the fact that nobody stayed healthy at that position all year so them leaving the program, while impactful and they would certainly rather have them back (healthy), it isn’t going to set them back too far. That said, they got the prized possession in quarterback John Mateer coming in with OC Arbuckle from Washington State, but haven’t really surrounded him with dynamic playmakers at the wide receiver position. Maybe that’s because Mateer does so much himself with his legs, that the focus should be elsewhere? They lose a big-time linebacker in Lewis Carter to UCF and impactful defensive lineman Davon Sears (uncommitted quite yet). The total “talent churn” is a very ugly number that certainly doesn’t instill much confidence in a turn around in Normal. At least, not yet.

Below is a screen shot of the full, live Transfer Portal Tracker over at CFBDepth.com. Click the image or the button below to view it in its entirety…

Live Oklahoma Portal Tracker >

|||||| 2025 RECRUITING CLASS

This class isn’t knocking anybody’s socks off and is a bit of a topic of angst amongst those hoping for a Sooner turnaround. Ranked in the mid-30’s nationally at this point, this group is led by a big “get” out of Texas as Michael Fasusi, a five-star consensus player, has signed with the Sooners. Fasusi is believed to be a tackle, but does also have the athleticism and flexibility to move inside if needed. That will help get him on the field quicker. Beyond that, this is an “identify and develop” class that Venables saw work with Dabo Swinney from their time together at Clemson.

Here is a snapshot of the 2025 Recruiting Class+ with a link to the live page with updates throughout the cycle:

2025 Recruiting Class+ >

|||||| 2025 SCHEDULE LOOK AHEAD

Michigan really jumps off the page with this 2025 schedule as they have a non-conference, week two showdown on the road in Ann Arbor. That will be a real test for this new look offense right out of the gate. They travel to Columbia (South Carolina), Knoxville (Tennessee) and Tuscaloosa (Alabama) this year. They get Auburn, Ole Miss, Mizzou and LSU at home. They will finish up with the two home games in Norman and if they are able to take care of some business leading up, that could pay dividends. They get Alabama after a bye - which they’ll need after that trip to Neyland Stadium in week ten. Overall, a very tough slate of action once again.

There is a lot of movement and decisions to be made throughout the off-season, including more portal moves, winter workouts and spring ball. Get all caught up with the full-on State of the Chart Magazine coming in July. If you missed the ad before, get more information and give us your e-mail to stay in the loop on everything SOTC!

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