It’s not fair to call the 2019 season a stop-gap year. But that’s always what it felt like. Head coach Lincoln Riley was bringing in a quarterback in Jalen Hurts for a one-and-done type of career.

First-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was going to somehow figure out a way to transform this defense and have the Sooners looking respectable again.

Granted, the 63-28 loss to No. 1 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl doesn’t give anybody an impression that things did actually go well, but there’s reasons to be optimistic about 2020 and beyond.

Defensively, the young crop there has had a baptism by fire. So many underclassmen in key positions forced to sink or swim, or in some cases, sink and then swim. The defense feels like it’s turning a corner and definitely has a clear direction.

The offense? This is where OU will be turning the page. Gone is Hurts. Gone is CeeDee Lamb, who announced Sunday evening he will enter the NFL Draft.

To call it a rebuilding process, though, would be going a bit too far. Ever since the 2019 class signed, OU fans have been waiting for quarterback Spencer Rattler, tight end Austin Stogner and wide receiver Theo Wease, Jadon Haselwood and Trejan Bridges.

Those who were hoping they would just come in and dominate in 2019 were sorely disappointed, but the group now can let the world know they have next. Rattler will be a redshirt freshman, while everybody else will be sophomores.

The waiting should be over.

“Those are my guys, and other than them, we've got a great team,” Rattler said. “A lot of other great guys coming in that are still here. I know we're going to work hard in this off season coming up. We're going to have a good spring ball, good fall camp and then we'll see where it goes for next season.”

You started to get a feel of the future in the Peach Bowl. Even before the game got out of hand, Haselwood and Wease and Stogner were starting to see more time.

Haselwood led the group with 19 catches for 272 yards and a touchdown. Wease added eight receptions for 136 yards and two scores. Bridges had seven grabs for 72 yards and two scores. Stogner finished with seven receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns and also recovered a blocked punt for a score.

“I think all those young guys are going to be really good players, and we’ve also been able to build up the tight end and h-back side of it, too,” Riley said. “I think that’s going to continue to be a big part of what we do, and all three of those kids are young and all did a really nice job this year, and all have the chance to be really, really good players.”

Now there are some questions looming forward. It remains to be seen what the early part of the 2020 season will be for Bridges. Suspended for the Peach Bowl, Bridges’ status was not clarified by Riley on Sunday morning.

And Riley was adamant that although he’s not looking to bring in a graduate transfer this time around, there will be a legitimate competition between Rattler and Tanner Mordecai. Almost everybody has pegged Rattler as the guy, but he’ll have to show it first.

“He's a special guy. You can't even speak on it,” Haselwood said. “You just have to see it.”

If 2019 didn’t see the former five-star players produce eye-popping numbers, it did let help ease the transition to being a Sooner. To maturing on and off the field.

You’re not going to be in a room with Hurts or Lamb or a Grant Calcaterra or Nick Basquine or Lee Morris and not take away some positive traits to apply to yourself moving forward.

“They were always on us,” Wease said. “They kind of shied away from telling us good job so much to telling us what to work on and do better. They taught us many different aspects of the game.”

In talking to the freshmen last week at Peach Bowl media outings, you get the sense if ever there was any frustration, it was early. It’s not now. They understand what’s ahead of them. They understand what they can do.

They’re ready.

“As a unit, period, the offense is going to be special,” Haselwood said. “We have potential to break all types of records. Not just me and Spencer. We got Trejan and Theo and Stog. We'll spread it around, for sure.”

No, seriously. They’re ready.

“We all just going to step up to the plate like anyone else would,” Wease said. “We're all going to have a great opportunity next year to do something special. We're going to stick to the script and let everything take care of itself.”