Plenty of parallels, changes for OU in return to Alamo Bowl

Following Oklahoma’s 47-32 win over No. 14 Oregon in the 2021 Alamo Bowl, then-interim coach Bob Stoops made a prediction.

"I'm gonna tell you right now, Sooner Land isn't going anywhere," Stoops said on Dec. 29, 2021, while standing on stage behind the Alamo Bowl Trophy. "We're actually going to keep climbing, I promise you."

Stoops was then asked what Oklahoma fans should expect from Brent Venables, the former Oklahoma and Clemson defensive coordinator who was just hired to take over as the Sooners' head coach.

"They're getting a guy with passion, a guy that loves the game, a guy that loves his players, and a winner," Stoops said. But then, the old ball coach took off his white visor, a symbol of success, consistency, and dominance, and placed it on Venables' head, who received it with a huge smile. It was at that moment that the torch was officially passed to the then-51-year-old.

"It's great to be back home," Venables said with the freshly-adorned visor atop his head. "This is home. You know, home's where the heart is and I can't wait to start working with these guys here. Man, tonight showed what the future is going to look like. Caleb Williams leading us, as the leader for our offense, and that damn defense, coming up with those stops and dominating the line of scrimmage in the first half. In the second half, the offensive line wore their asses out they got that dub."

Fast forward to today, almost exactly two years later, and things couldn't look more different than they did that night.

In the offseason that followed Oklahoma's 2021 Alamo Bowl victory, the roster was ravaged with several contributors, none bigger than Caleb Williams, leaving the program in the aftermath. The Sooners saw 13 players leave in the transfer portal and several of their top commitments in the class of 2022 decommit, leaving the roster in a state of flux following Lincoln Riley's departure.

After retaining nearly the entire offensive staff and hiring Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator, Oklahoma was able to piece together an offense that could compete, but unfortunately, the defense was another story.

There were playmakers on the roster, with names like Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, Woodi Washington, Ethan Downs, Jordan Kelley, and Isaiah Coe. However, the depth just wasn't there. Whether it was bad evaluations, mismanaged roster numbers, inadequate strength and conditioning or a culmination of the three, Oklahoma's defense in 2022 was the worst unit that Venables has ever sent out onto the field.

Their inability to get off the field and stop the bleeding cost OU several games in that transitional year, with five of their seven losses coming by one score. The 6-7 season, which ended with a 35-32 loss to No. 10 Florida State, was the first losing season in Norman since 1998.

Forced to use a combination of leftover players and contributors acquired via the portal, the Oklahoma defense rolled into the 2023 offseason with plenty to prove. The roster turnover was even more dramatic after Venables' first season, with 22 players leaving and 19 coming in.

After signing a 2022 signing class that ranked eighth nationally, most of which were commits from the former staff, Venables and company signed the No. 6 class in 2023, with five-star players like Jackson Arnold, Adepoju Adebawore, and Peyton Bowen in tow. Add in a transfer class that included names such as Da'Jon Terry, Rondell Bothroyd, and Dasan McCullough and there was plenty of reason to believe that things would be different, and they would be.

The Sooners' defense made massive strides in 2023 and became a fairly formidable unit, especially when it came to situational football. OU ranks 13th nationally in 3rd down defense, allowing conversions on just 30.4% of their opponents' tries. They rank second nationally with 19 interceptions on the year and fifth in turnover margin (+11). Oklahoma ranked 12th in tackles for loss (88), 11th in passing efficiency defense (115.57), and 34th in Red Zone defense (.795). However, the biggest improvement for OU was undoubtedly scoring defense, which improved from 30.0 points per game (99th) in 2022 to allowing just 22.25 points per game (40th) in 2023.

While the unit wasn't elite, the vast year-over-year improvement was certainly a major contributor to Oklahoma rediscovering the success it's grown so used to over the years.

At 10-2, Oklahoma found itself back in Big 12 contention and despite falling short of the conference title game, has a chance to win 11 games for the second time in three seasons.

Back in San Antonio, the Sooners will face a dangerous Arizona team that has been one of the biggest surprises in college football this season. After going 9-3 and finishing as the No. 14 team in the country, the Wildcats will come into the Alamo Bowl with all kinds of confidence, especially with the way their quarterback Noah Fifita has been playing as of late.

In fact, Oklahoma currently sits as a 2.5-point underdog in this game thanks to a flurry of opt-outs and transfer portal entries. For the third straight season, the Sooners have double-digit players in the portal with 16 outbound players as of Tuesday. If there's been one thing that's been consistent in the time since Venables came to Norman, it's been change. The Sooners have had to deal with change from Day 1, as have many other programs around the nation, but the amount of change is staggering when it's laid out on paper.

Of the 105 players listed on Oklahoma's roster for the 2021 Alamo Bowl, just 10 scholarship players remain. Just 13 total players on the Sooners' 111-man roster for the Alamo Bowl were there two years ago to see Coach Venables take the reins. Yet, the team finds themselves in a position to win their 11th game of the season and head into the SEC with a ton of momentum.

Oklahoma just signed all 27 members of its 2024 class, which ranks sixth nationally once again. The Sooners are the only team to knock off the third-ranked Texas Longhorns this season and will almost certainly be a Top 10 team with a win on Thursday night.

Symbolism seems to be something that we get in college football from time to time, and this feels like an obvious instance of it. While Oklahoma was snubbed from competing in a New Year's Six Bowl, it feels as if it's only right that a Venables-led Sooner team is about to conclude its 2023 season in the same building that his time as the head coach in Norman began just under 730 days ago.

After undergoing one of the most dramatic roster turnovers in the country, which wasn't void of its turmoil and heartbreak, Oklahoma has emerged on the other side of its final journey in the Big 12 with a better, more balanced roster and a better, more balanced head coach.

While the journey that awaits OU in the SEC is certainly exciting, the 2023 Alamo Bowl has a lot on the line too. Public perception is everything, and losing to an up-and-comer like Arizona would certainly put a damper on the program after a 10-2 season. However, a win and an 11-2 finish would be further validation that Venables is not only the right man for the job, but he was the only man for the job.

The roster that Oklahoma has built over the last two seasons is much better equipped to be a contender in the SEC next season.

The coaching and support staff that Venables has assembled is much more in line with the nation's elite programs.

The recruiting success that Oklahoma has had since Venables' arrival has been as good as the Sooners have ever seen.

A win over a fully-equipped Arizona team, despite several key contributors and its offensive coordinator missing, would further prove all of those points.

The stability and culture that Venables has instilled in Norman over his first seasons are easily distinguishable from what was inside the Switzer Center when he arrived, and that will still stand, win or lose.

Just as Coach Stoops said he would, Venables has brought passion and love for the game and his players to Norman, and the winning has come along now too. Now, all that's left to do is go out there and prove that the program is in a better place than it was in 2021, and that Coach Stoops was right: Oklahoma is just going to keep climbing.

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