Let me put some lipstick on a pig for a second.
Go back to 2019. Specifically, go back to one of Joe Burrow’s 7 touchdown passes in the Peach Bowl and how helpless the concept of “defense” was throughout the Lincoln Riley era at Oklahoma. You know, the guy who led the Sooners to 4 consecutive top-10 finishes, but led just 1 top-50 defense during his time in Norman. And that top-50 defense was during the 2020 COVID season when OU surrendered 37+ points in its first 3 games vs. FBS competition, which ultimately halted the Playoff path in early October.
OK, now fast forward 5 years. Not only did a Brent Venables-led OU put forth a better defensive team than any under Riley, but it also did so in Year 1 in the SEC. Riley’s teams allowed an average of 45.5 points in 4 games vs. SEC teams from 2017-21. Compare that to 26.4 points allowed vs. SEC teams under Venables, though if you take away the non-offensive scores, that number was actually 22.6 points per game allowed to SEC offenses.
(Let’s just run right past the part where Riley faced those 4 SEC teams in New Year’s 6 Bowl games and he wasn’t able to get matchups against offenses like Auburn and Brady Cook-less Mizzou.)
There’s your lipstick. Your pig? Well, Oklahoma fans know the pig was the 2024 season, and specifically an offense that was historically dreadful. That’s the obvious negative. At a place that had just 1 losing season in the 21st century before last year, a 6-7 campaign with an offense that scored 16.5 points per game vs. SEC competition didn’t exactly prompt widespread belief.
But in 2025, are there still enough positives to suggest that improvement is on the way in Year 4 of the Venables era? You bet.
There’s no better time to be positive than talkin’ season. That’s what I always say. Each of the next 16 days, we’ll look at the best things about each SEC team. This daily series will align with the SEC Network Takeover, which runs from Saturday, June 28 until July 13, AKA just before talkin’ season officially kicks off at SEC Media Days on July 14.
For those keeping track at home, that’s alphabetical order.
So far, here are the teams that we’ve done:
Today, we’ll continue with the best things about Oklahoma in 2025:
Best offensive player: Jaydn Ott, RB
Oh, you thought I’d just pencil in John Mateer in this spot? I’m not there yet. Earlier in the offseason, I voiced some reason to believe that Mateer is much more of a wild card than a lock to become the next great Oklahoma quarterback. I have some questions about the grace he’ll get with Venables with how much he likes to roll the dice, and I say that with the full understanding of the commitment made to Mateer after his Washington State offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, was brought in as a packaged deal of sorts.
But for now, give me Ott as Oklahoma’s best offensive player. As in, the Cal transfer who was brought in as a major post-spring splash after a lost 2024 season because of injuries. When Ott was last healthy in 2023, he had a 1,315-yard season (9th in FBS) and he finished 11th in FBS with 833 yards after first contact.
(Yes, OU fans. I chose that clip of Ott because it showcased a Riley defense … you’re welcome.)
When he’s right, Ott is one of the best backs in the sport, but it’s also worth mentioning how versatile he was early in his career. He had 46 catches for 345 yards as a true freshman in 2022. Just for a little perspective, he had more catches than pre-draft Jahmyr Gibbs and all but 2 Power Conference running backs, and Bucky Irving was the only Power Conference running back who had more snaps out wide than Ott (48) that year. In the 2 years at Cal since then, Ott’s role in the passing game has been much more traditional for a running back.
It’ll be interesting to see how Ott is used in this offense. In his 2 seasons at Washington State, Arbuckle never had a back hit 430 snaps in a season (91 FBS running backs did that last year), and the team leader in rushing attempts were Cam Ward and Mateer, which means Ott could be freed up more in the passing game.
Either way, a healthy Ott is the most established player in that offense … until we see Mateer do it consistently against Power Conference competition.
Best defensive player: R Mason Thomas, Edge
I’m tempted to go with Eli Bowen here, and not just because I have a soft spot for younger brothers who overcome their big brother’s shadow. The younger Bowen is the real deal, and I’m all in on his potential after what he showed as a true freshman corner against SEC competition.
But with tons of talent back on Venables’ defense, Thomas gets the nod here because of the player he was in 2024. He was a second-team All-SEC selection after posting 12.5 tackles for loss, 9 of which were sacks, as well as 35 pressures and 10 QB hits. He also added 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries for a defense that needed game-wreckers just to stay afloat because of how much the offense struggled.
Thomas opted for a return to Norman instead of heading for the NFL, which will have plenty of eyeballs on him this season. Fortunately for the rest of the Oklahoma defense, SEC offenses will also need to have plenty of eyeballs on the senior defensive end.
Best freshman: Michael Fasusi, OL
The good news for Oklahoma’s 2025 offensive line outlook is that it should be much older than it was at times in 2024. The Sooners would’ve been in a tough spot if they had stayed healthy, but a lack of continuity torpedoed that unit in ways that we’re not used to seeing in Norman. There was only so much that the great Bill Bedenbaugh could do with that group.
With someone like Fasusi, however, there can be more of a runway to get him meaningful reps as a true freshman. The 5-star recruit and No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2025 class seems like an obvious name to watch on the 2-deep. In this era of the sport, a healthy Fasusi gets legitimate playing time in Year 1. Maybe that means the freakishly athletic freshman is the first one to plug in a hole if there’s a non-center injury to a first-teamer. The most stunning development would be if Fasusi supplanted Logan Howland at left tackle after he was a bright spot late last season as a redshirt freshman.
More likely is that Bedenbaugh develops Fasusi into someone who rotates in early and eventually finds a starting role somewhere by season’s end.
Best game: Week 2, Michigan vs. Oklahoma
Wait, isn’t the Red River Rivalry an annual lock for this spot? Nah. Give me Sherrone Moore’s reunion game in Norman. That’ll tell us a ton about where this Oklahoma team is at in 2025. Last year, it told us a ton about Texas that the Longhorns went into Ann Arbor and dropped the hammer on the defending champs, albeit with a new-look roster. This year, it would tell us a ton about OU if the Sooners were able to silence Michigan’s on-the-rise buzz.
Think of the questions that we’ll get answers to. Is OU’s offense ready to take a major step forward with Mateer and Arbuckle? Will the Sooners get to show the world that they’ve got defensive studs at every level? And will Moore roll out prized true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood for what would be his first career road start? This game might only have a fringe-top-25 matchup billing, but it’s an elite home-and-home showdown that’ll be among the best games in nonconference play.
Best reason for improvement: Lightning simply cannot strike twice with an offense that bad
Isn’t it weird that lightning striking something is the ultimate worst-case scenario, yet whenever we reference in in sports, we talk about “catching lightning in a bottle” as if it’s hitting the lottery? That ends today. In this example, lightning striking was watching Oklahoma have its top 5 receivers go down before October, and watching the Sooners roll out 8 different starting offensive lines in Year 1 in the SEC.
Dare I say, there’s no way that happens again.
You can debate how much of that played a part in Jackson Arnold’s benching and subsequent transfer, and some might point to the Seth Littrell offensive coordinator whiff as the biggest culprit for the offensive woes. That’s all somewhat irrelevant now because it’s an overhauled offense. While so much of this will depend on if Mateer can step his game up to the level of competition he’ll face, a healthy group of receivers (most notably Deion Burks) and some decent offensive line continuity would make a major year-to-year difference.
It’s likely that at least 1 element of the 2025 Oklahoma offense won’t go according to plan. It’s darn near impossible for virtually every element of the Oklahoma offense to not go according to plan like we saw in 2024. Pairing a competent offense with a Venables defense was always the plan.
If that blueprint is carried out in 2025, we won’t be putting lipstick on a pig at this time next year.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
