Oklahoma hasn’t been Oklahoma for years.
The as soon as perennial school soccer contender has fallen on arduous instances lately, however the storied program’s fortune may start turning on Saturday night time.
Within the lone sport between two Related Press prime 25 groups this weekend, No. 18 Oklahoma (1-0) hosts No. 15 Michigan (1-0) in a serious out-of-conference showdown.
Week 2 winner may set the tone for remainder of 2025 season
Each groups are coming off of Week 1 wins and have cause for optimism this season, notably at quarterback.
Michigan true freshman Bryce Underwood accomplished 67.7 p.c of his go makes an attempt for 251 yards (8.1 yards per try) and one landing in a 34-17 win towards New Mexico.
Oklahoma switch John Mateer set a program report for many passing yards in a participant’s debut, ending a 35-3 win over FCS Illinois State with 397 yards and 4 complete touchdowns.
He adopted his former Washington State Cougars offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, to Norman, and the familiarity bore fast fruit.
Going through Michigan is an enormous step up in competitors from Illinois State, however certainly not is it insurmountable. Oddsmakers presently checklist Oklahoma as a 5.5-point favourite, and ESPN Analytics offers the Sooners a 53.5 p.c probability of profitable.
A win can be enormous for head coach Brent Venables, in his fourth season as Oklahoma head coach. The Sooners are 23-17 below Venables, with two dropping data (to not point out an 0-3 report in bowl video games) in his first three seasons.
Oklahoma has a formidable second-half schedule. If it could possibly even handle a break up in its six ranked video games towards SEC opponents, Oklahoma may have a viable argument for a School Soccer Playoff auto-bid with a win over Michigan in its again pocket.
From Oct. 11 by means of the top of the common season, Oklahoma performs six currently-ranked SEC groups, starting with No. 7 Texas (0-1) within the Pink River Rivalry, adopted by street journeys to No. 10 South Carolina (1-0), No. 22 Tennessee (1-0) and No. 21 Alabama (0-1), plus dwelling video games towards No. 20 Ole Miss (1-0) and No. 3 LSU (1-0).
For example the Sooners break up these video games and finish the common season 9-3. They may end with a worse report than different energy convention groups vying for an at-large CFP berth, however with a dominant win over Michigan, they will have a shred of proof that they are higher than their energy convention friends with extra wins.
For greater than twenty years, from 2000-21, Oklahoma was considered one of school soccer’s premier applications. It produced 18 10-win seasons and essentially the most wins (239) by an FBS program throughout that span. (h/t Stathead)
However ever since former head coach Lincoln Riley left for USC, the Sooners have been mediocre.
With expectations hovering following Mateer’s glorious debut, this system may need a quarterback able to prepared it again to relevancy.
With a win on Saturday, Oklahoma would possibly lastly begin to resemble itself.
