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- [00:00]
Host
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- [00:16]
Josh Calloway
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- [00:42]
Host
Jack Archer Ready when you are. For a limited time, get 15% off your first order using code getjack@jackarcher.com Again, that's promo code getjack@jackarcher dot com for 15% off your first order. Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts, so let's take a minute to go over some of my faves. Snapple real fact 2064 the first college football game broadcast on TV was on September 30, 1939.snapple real fact 1896 the tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving originated with College Football in 1876. Snapple Real fact 1983 the first player drafted to play pro football never played in the league. Snapple Real fact 11:19 the Grand Canyon could hold about 900 trillion footballs. That's a lot of footballs. So grab a Snapple take, take a second and enjoy the moment. Because let's be honest, this might be the most refreshing part of your day. Snapple, make your break more interesting. All right, now let's get back to the show.
- [01:56]
Josh Calloway
Indiana can can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore. Malachi Toney, is he going to be ready?
- [02:03]
Co-host
Dante Moore, he showed improvement. Better command. What's going on, y'?
- [02:13]
Josh Calloway
All?
- [02:13]
Co-host
Bud Elliott here at the COVID 3 college football podcast. This is summer school and school is in session. We are talking today. Josh Calloway of Sooners Illustrated has joined us many times now since coming over to the network to break down everything Oklahoma, which is it's a good time to be Breaking out. Oklahoma coming off an excellent year, looking to run it back and do it even better. How you been? Doing well.
- [02:33]
Josh Calloway
Doing well. Yeah. Definitely a lot better vibes around the program this time this year compared to last year coming off 2024, which was a total disaster we talked about. It was a huge year in 2025 and a great year to get back to the playoff. And. And definitely a lot of positivity, a lot of good vibes around the program right now. I know you fans very excited about the way things are moving and obviously the season coming up here in a few months.
- [02:56]
Co-host
Absolutely. So Venables, obviously there was a lot of questions about him coming into 2025, but, you know, the 103 season, as you mentioned, I want to focus on our buckle a little bit. The office coordinator who came over and I thought was a big get for them and. And like the offense improved dramatically year over year. I know Sooner fans want more, as they should, but how do you see this transitioning from year one to year two? Is there stuff that, you know, he wants to do that maybe wasn't able to do last year?
- [03:23]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, I do think that there's. It was certainly a lot better in 2025 compared to 24. Right. Which he took over an offense that was historically awful for Oklahoma the year before. So he has work cut out for him.
- [03:35]
Co-host
He.
- [03:35]
Josh Calloway
It certainly helped that he brought his quarterback with him right. In John Mateer, who knew the offense. But it's a learning curve. It's a learning curve for all the players, but also for Ben. I mean, it was a big jump up in competition for him going from Washington State to the sec. He also just hadn't coached for that long. He's only called plays at the college level for a few years going into last year. So you knew there'd be a little bit of like a, you know, need some patience here to give him a little time to just kind of get his feet wet a bit. But it was a good year overall. And, you know, I think the. The big emphasis of this off season for Oklahoma and certainly this spring, which just wrapped up, you know, obviously in April, has been to try and get better running the football. They did not have a run game really at all last year. John Mateer kind of was the run game for a lot of the year, which can't really do in the sec. John was really beat up last year. Ironically, the play where he hurt his thumb, which was, you know, the big storyline, it really kind of altered. Oklahoma season happened on a pass play. So he didn't actually get hurt on a run, but he was beat up by the end of the year. And so they know they just need to get more out of their run game and out of the running backs, and there's a lot of belief that they will be able to do that. The offensive line feels like it's in a better place. They've, you know, signed a couple of highly tatted freshmen. They got some key guys back in that running back room. And so that, that was the main emphasis is incorporating more into the run game. A big part of that is they've really upgraded the tight end room quite a bit. And so there's a belief that, you know, a lot more, two tight end sets, guys who can actually set an edge, and they'll be able to run the ball quite a bit better this year. So it was a good first year for Ben, but certainly nowhere near where he wants it to be or certainly where kind of like you said, the expectations are among the fan base. And this is a fan base that's used to seeing, oh, you score 40, 50, 60 points for a long time going back to Sam Bradford days, but obviously with Lincoln Riley and all that, that era, Right. And so good first year, but definitely a lot of expectations and a lot of belief from Ben himself that they're going to take a big jump in year two for him and this offense for sure.
- [05:34]
Co-host
All right, let's dive into the quarterback here. So John Mateer decides to, you know, like, go, not go to the draft, which I think is probably a pretty wise decision. Mid season, there were some, like, Willie GoPro, you know, type or especially early on, I. You know it better than I do. I. I was like, on the show and like, Oklahoma fans got pretty mad. I was like, look, right, the thumb is a thing clip clearly. But also like, him not seeing stuff on time and structure creates a lot of this, like, chaos types. Like, some of this chaos is. Is of his own creation. Just if you like. And we were looking at some of the all 22 stuff, like the ball's got to be out now. Like, like our buckles call to play.
- [06:10]
Josh Calloway
This.
- [06:10]
Co-host
This thing is wide open. Like it's a. It's a free eight yards and break a tackle. It might get 30 on first down, you know, and all of a sudden it turns it like, like. But I don't know how much like, like, I don't know, like, what percentages to assign. Like thumb slash, new offense, slash. Hey, like, a lot of these issues were present at Washington State, but you could play out of structure and crush it. Because as you mentioned prior the competition, like, I assume he's healthy now, right? Yes, fully.
- [06:35]
Josh Calloway
Yeah.
- [06:35]
Co-host
Where do you see him going this year? Like, have they talked about, like, like, what's next in his progression?
- [06:40]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, you know, it's been a big off season for John so far, and he's been very open, refreshingly so. I, I can't, I'm, you know, I can only speak to the guys I've covered at Oklahoma, but just extremely open about him working on his mechanics, working on his footwork, working on his, you know, decision making, to your point. And you know, he was asked right the beginning of spring, like, did you have going back to the NFL part of it? Like, was that part of the plan? And he basically kind of was like, not really. Like, I. I'm not good enough to do that right now. Which is good to hear.
- [07:11]
Host
Right.
- [07:12]
Josh Calloway
I mean, you want to hear that. He's been very honest and open about, like, he knows he has to get quite a bit better. And so I do think the thumbnail really was a big factor. But it goes beyond that, like you said, like, the decision making and things like that. It was a little. It was really, you know, some of both. And the expectations were so, just ridiculously high for him coming in where the quarterback play in 24 was so bad. And John comes in with all these expectations and the way the season started, you know, the first month he was right at the top of kind of the Heisman convo and all that. And you know, the Texas game happens and I think his confidence was rattled a little bit. The back half of the year, we just didn't quite see the same guy, just like body language and mentality wise that we saw earlier in the year. Like after the Texas game, it just, it felt like he had a hard time finding his groove again the rest of the year. And it feels like he's getting it back. He's very comfortable. He's very, you know, in a good headspace, it seems like, and from everyone I've talked to around the program and. But it's been very, you know, open about, like, even his throwing motion. He's. He's been open about trying to get more over the top, less sidearm stuff. Like, he's kind of not going to the drawing board, like relearning how to play, but he's been very open about tweaking a lot of, you know, his mechanics and just kind of overall play as a quarterback because he knows he needs to be better and there's a lot of belief that he will be better in 2026 for Oklahoma, you know,
- [08:34]
Co-host
and, and I know it wasn't his first year in our book's offense, but. But they're probably, as you mentioned, like, like just kind of weave all together. Like there are probably certain things that Arbuckle could call at Washington State. You probably couldn't call with last year's Oklahoma and you know, kind of like first time you play a golf course, right? Hey, like I think I make that shot. Cool. And you don't realize, oh no, like it falls off. Wait. You know, there's elements of a play where it's like, yeah, that's technically an option, but like against this look, it's not even close to the optimal option and it brings like way too much risk. Factor in when we, we can, you know, take an easy profit here, you know, get, get the second and three and keep this thing rolling. Especially if we can incorporate some tempo in there. Like, I don't. Yeah, I mean maybe he will be great at like seeing the field, but like, I don't have any doubts that he could, you know, in theory get like two, like above average. You know what I mean? If that happens, like, this thing's got a lot of potential. I'm, you know, because he's got, I mean, I guess I want to go next, like offensive line. Like they were really young last year, but very talented, at least some at some of the spots. And you get what, four, four or five starters back. I think I was trying to like partially go to depth, trying to have some injuries so like who's technically a starter, you know, but starts back. Yeah, I mean you gotta be like pretty excited about the potential of this group for this year. No.
- [09:44]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, there's a chance for this to be the best offensive line they've had in a while for, for Bill beaten. Bo's obviously been around a long time and put a lot of guys in the pros. Yeah. Four starters back for Betchi. We woo. They're starting right guard. It's the only guy gone. He graduates off. He'll be getting drafted. He'll be off to the NFL this year, but everyone else is back and they started really young guys last year. I mean, Michael Fazousi and Ryan Fogey, their two tackles were two freshmen right out of high school last year and they played pretty well. I mean Michael Vassusi is a, he's a five star guy. He's a guy who will be in the NFL. Potentially a first Round pick, level guy down the road. He is just what it looks like. He's a classic what it looks like guy in practice. Like, whoa, that, that's an NFL offensive tackle. And Ryan Fogey is along that lines as well. They have Jake Mika back at center, which is nice to have your center back. And the other guard spot replacing Fabeti will probably be. It's kind of a conversation right now. You have Heath O Zida, who has played a lot of football for Oklahoma, so he's kind of a halfway starter back. And then they added Amarian Harris from Arkansas, who very well could be the right tackle. Then Ryan Fogey would kick inside. They have some pretty good options. And it's, you know, a group that was really young last year. Eddie Pierre, Louise, the other guard, he was a red shirt freshman last year, so also young. They were a really young group. And at the end of the year we're playing pretty good football. You know, down in that November run, that was the best offensive line play they'd had in a while. And so all those guys are pretty much back. They've all played together. A lot of reason for optimism there that, you know, they're going to take a step and it's certainly fair. They also added Peyton Joseph from Georgia Tech. He's expected to kind of be that swing tackle guy. And so, yeah, they really like their starting five. Now, the depth, I think is a fair question. Two or three injuries happen. What does it look like? I mean, they have dudes, but not a lot of guys who have played a lot. And so that's a fair question. Probably a fair question almost anywhere. But as far as the actual starting five, six, seven guys or so, top five, six, seven, pretty good. And as good as Oklahoma's had in
- [11:35]
Co-host
a while, receiver wise, I mean, yeah, Burks is gone, but Satana Trail Harris. Do you say. Is it Elena Orlean?
- [11:48]
Josh Calloway
Okay. One of the stories of spring camp for Oklahoma.
- [11:51]
Co-host
Yeah, yeah. I've been reading Sooner's Illustrated. Like, okay,
- [11:56]
Josh Calloway
yeah, yeah.
- [11:57]
Co-host
Are those the three that like, is there something else we need to be mentioning here? And obviously I know they bring in, you know, two tight ends as well.
- [12:03]
Josh Calloway
Sure. Well, Parker Livingston from Texas comes in, he.
- [12:07]
Co-host
So he's gonna play.
- [12:08]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, I would throw him in there for sure. I. I think the generally accepted trio would be Satania Shell Harris and Parker Livingston. That's kind of the group that everyone assumes will be that top line, but they've got some good depth after that. The question is, you know, and this goes back to Ben Arbuckle back at Washington State and kind of at Oklahoma as well. Even before Ben not really playing more than like three or four receivers. And that's been a big question of like will they actually play more guys because they have some really good young talent at the wide receiver position. Elijah Thomas is a year two guys at in state kid from year before. Just like one of those alien best athlete on the team type of guys. But will he actually see the field? I don't. You know, that's a question. Manny Choice, another year two guy that the very side. He's a big body guy that had a great camp as well. You mentioned Mackenzie Alleen who actually comes from Washington State a year later. So he, he knows Ben and Mattier now he's younger so he didn't really play a lot with those guys. But they know him, he had a really good camp. But yeah, that top line Satania, Trail Harris, Parker, Livingston, that's kind of the group that they're really excited about. I mean they didn't go after the massive fish at wide receiver in the portal. They kind of put their resources into retaining Satania which over the course of the season it was kind of a foregone conclusion he was gonna go to the NFL. I mean he had a great year. It was kind of just accepted like he'll, he'll go ahead and test that water. So the fact he came back was a big win. And then they went got just two solid Power 5 guys who have been productive in Trail Harris and Livingston. And there's a lot of belief that with those guys at it, plus what they've obviously recruiting at the high school level, guys being retained on the back end. Your Michael Carter's another kind of sneaky name, made some big plays in November who is also back that this is a chance to be a pretty good wide receiver core. But you know, last year it was really just kind of Isaiah Satan and that was kind of it. I mean Dion Burks had some moments. They're hoping it will not be that way this time. And you mentioned the tight ends. That's the position that if you had to pick one on the roster got the biggest makeover. Totally. As Brett Venable said himself, I think the word he used was transformed. It looks completely different. I mean they got Hayden Hansen from Florida, Rocky Beers from Colorado State and then Jack Van Dorsler from Tennessee and then of course Jason Whitten is the tight ends coach now. And it looks just worlds different than what they've had the last couple of years. Just from the body types, the athletes, there's a lot of belief that that position will be quite a bit better than a year ago. I mean, they didn't have. They didn't really have any tight end production last year or the year before, frankly. But that should not be the case this time, at least on paper. We'll see how it plays out. But they've upgraded the weapons for Jameteer quite a bit, it would seem, you know, through the portal.
- [14:43]
Co-host
So Barnes left for Kentucky. I. I mean, with all due respect to Kentucky, I, as an outsider read, this is like, all right, they probably don't want to pay whatever you got from Kentucky. And that probably means that, like, they feel like they've got some maybe younger, better options on the roster who are just as good, if not have a chance to be better. Like, is that. Is that a misread here? And if not, who are those guys? We can expect to step up for sure.
- [15:06]
Josh Calloway
You know, it was a weird year for Javante Barnes. Been at OU a long time. He kind of kind of. It was weird because, you know, the way the red shirt rule is structured. Four years into the. Four games into the year, he kind of shut it down. It was kind of one of those, like, his role was diminishing just enough. He has one year left. It was kind of one of those tricky kind of no win spots, I think. Oh, you kind of understood it. But, you know, at the end of the year, they didn't have any healthy running backs. It was. It was bad. The J. Not thing was a massive failure. Right. I mean, it didn't work at all. And so when it got to the end of the year and into the playoff game, they did not have a running back that was healthy at all. At the end of the season, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock just kind of toughed it out. Those guys are both back. Both guys are still banged up, though. Both guys missed spring. So I don't know. I mean, the hope is that they'll be ready to go by the time the fall gets here, but obviously that's a big question mark. But they go and get Lloyd Avant, a running back from Colorado State. But the main difference and what they're most excited about is actually two freshmen that they signed, Jonathan Hatton and Dean Walker. These guys are both expected to be immediate impacts as freshmen, which, as you know, running back is one spot that you can kind of get away with that and that. That's the decision they made. Right. Instead of going in the portal and looking for a Legit running back like they did a year ago with J. Not they chose to bet on what they had coming back and what they had coming from the high school ranks. We'll see if that pays off, obviously, but going into the season, you would expect Xavier Robinson, Tory Blaylock to probably be that one two with Lloyd Avant mixing in there. But those freshmen are in the mix and both guys were really good in the spring game. The Zeppen Walker had over 80 yards on Saturday, which is a spring game. You acknowledge that. But yeah, the running back room, it's interesting. They feel like they're deeper than last year, but not like that top end talent they had on paper, which didn't end up working out anyway with ott. But it's an interesting group on paper. And they also have a new coach there as well. D. McCullough comes in replacing DeMarco Murray. Obviously McCullough a lot of success at Notre Dame before a little, you know, stint in the NFL. So we'll see where that room shakes out. There's a lot of options there, and that's probably the one depth chart that's a little, little murky right now coming out of spring just because Robinson and Blaylock were out and those young guys kind of took it and ran with it. So going to be interesting to see where that ends up shaking out by the time the games get here.
- [17:20]
Co-host
Is there a guy on offense who you're not expecting. Probably the staff's not expecting to like, reach their full potential this year, but, you know, maybe if, if that year arrives early. I, I kind of got this question from thinking about, like, when I was, you know, doing the FSU beat, stuff like Jameis arrived a year early. Everybody thought 2014 was the year and was like, oh, no, he's this good right now. Like, if there's something. Is there somebody on offense like that for Oklahoma, whether we've discussed him or not, where it's like, oh, if that clicks this year. Like, I really think very differently of this offense.
- [17:50]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, I would say probably the ones that jump out to me would be younger guys like the two I just mentioned in the running back, especially Jonathan Hatton. I mean, this is a guy who really highly tattooed. High school was a guy that they had committed and then lost to A and M and then got back. And he's someone that, I mean, even going back to when he was a junior or certainly a senior down in the state of Texas in high school, that there was a thought like, that guy's going to help Right away. Like, that's an SEC running back now when he was in high school. And so he's one that I certainly. You could see popping to Zephan Walker, too. But Hatton's the one. I think everyone's kind of earmarked for that. And then there's a bunch of dudes that qualify for that at wide receiver. I mentioned Elijah Thomas and Manny Choice, both of those. And the other one that I didn't mention that's kind of a fun name is Jasir Rogers, another freshman running wide receiver they just signed. He was a Penn State commit, flipped Oklahoma.
- [18:39]
Co-host
He is a freak.
- [18:40]
Josh Calloway
He is a special athlete. And again, spring game, but he had five catches for 70 yards on Saturday. And the thing that's kind of impressive about that is that the way oh, you did their spring game is they basically split it up into like, an A team and a B team. He was on the B team, so he's going against the top line defense. Not playing with John Matier. He's playing with the backup quarterback. And he had five catches or seven yards. He was just burning dudes, I guess, a good defense, obviously. And so I don't know if he'll factor in there or not, but he is one that he. He turned a lot of heads in the spring, and there's a belief that, hey, man, maybe. Maybe as a freshman he can help us, you know, right away. So he's a fun one, for sure.
- [19:15]
Co-host
He was. I'm trying to think. He wasn't Pennsylvania, but he was, like, somewhere up in the Northeast. Yeah. Like, the competition was not great, but, like, the testing numbers were off the charts and the film was like, look, okay, this is. It's kind of comical to watch what he does to some of these Delaware kids. Yeah, for sure. All right, tell you what. We'll wrap offense there on the flip side after this break, we'll go ahead defense. We'll hit Oklahoma schedule and kind of, you know, complete our rundown of the 2026 Sooners.
- [19:39]
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- [21:00]
Josh Calloway
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- [21:28]
Co-host
right guys, welcome back here to Cover 3 podcast. This is Oklahoma's edition of Summer School. That's Josh Calloway of Sooners Illustrated. Give us a great breakdown on the offense. Now let's get to the Brent Bedles baby. This defense so notably better than the 2024 version. Todd Bates gets a raise. You know, Cody C improvement, you know, tied to personnel. It's now leaving or scheme identity under Bates. Like I I'm looking at this preseason and my thought is like the offense should improve more than the defense regresses and that's why this team is better. Like is there any chance this defense is actually better than it was last year? Are we just talking about like, hey, like don't have a big fallback?
- [22:08]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, I think there's a chance it's gonna be hard. I mean the defense was really good obviously in 2025 and that the big change there from, you know, in 20 going from 24 to 25 was that brand Venables decided to call the defensive self. Right? That was the big move of the off season on that side was Brent's gonna call it himself as the head coach, you know, the year before they had Zach Alley, he left to go to West Virginia and Brent said, instead of bringing someone else in, I'm just going to do it. And it worked out great. Right? They had a great year on, on defense, they were fantastic. And now this year the expectation is more of the same. Now the question is going to be the depth. They were really deep last year, especially on the defensive line. Their quartet of D tackles last year were awesome. But they lost two of them, right? I mean, Dominic Williams and Grayson Halton are both off to the next level. They graduated. You still have David Stone and Jaden Jackson, who are maybe the two. They're right in the column. The two best players on the team. Those are future NFL guys without a question. Maybe first round guys, but do they have a group like they had last year behind them? That's going to be the question. Same thing on the edge. No our Mason Thomas anymore. It's just, you know, some big guys you have to replace, but there's still certainly a belief that they're going to be really good on the defensive line. Taylor Wine was a breakout star last year. He's back. Danny Okoye is a name that everyone should, should circle. He's a year three guy who's just a monster. Fully prepared to make a big jump in year three. For him coming off the edge, I would, you know, pencil him in early as a, you know, a breakout guy this season. He had a great spring. It's just he's one of those dudes, you just look at him and you're like, oh my gosh, that, that's what it looks like for sure. And you know, linebacker a little thin. You got Kip Lewis back. You added Cole Sullivan from Michigan, which is one of their big portal pickups. Very excited by him. They get Owen Heinecke back, which is huge because they didn't know if they're going to get him back. It went to the courts and if you kept up with that whole story, it was a lot. But they do eventually, through a lot of like a months long saga, get Owen Heinecke back, which is a big deal. He's Green dot, he's a veteran, like, been around a long time, had a great year last year. So that's a big deal for them in the linebacker room. And so, yeah, I mean, overall, I mean, the basic question of will the defense be. Be better? I don't know. I do think it has a chance to be every bit as good though. It's going to be just a matter of will it be as Deep. And for it to be as deep, you're going to need some young guys to pop, which they've had. I mean, they've had that under Brent the last few years. Some young guys have come in and popped right away. And I think last year of Courtland Guillory as a true freshman at cornerback, you know, they were really beat up at cornerback. And going to the year, it was like, man, they're going to start a freshman over there. I don't know how that's going to go. And Cortland had a great year. He was a freshman All American. I mean, you know, so you're going to need a couple of those. You need a couple of young guys to come in and step up and play big snaps for you right away. But defensively, the expectation is that there's not going to be much of a step back. They still fully expect this defense to be really good like it was in 25.
- [24:56]
Co-host
I mean, if it can hold serve at all. With what we're rejecting improvement on offense. Like, this team's on the very short. Yeah, yeah, like, like, I mean, this team's on the very short list to, to, you know, take home the whole thing.
- [25:08]
Josh Calloway
Right.
- [25:08]
Co-host
Like, you know, I, I would think if they can avoid that defensive regression. Josh, like, just looking at this schedule, if you look at, like, the odds to win the sec, and a lot of times it doesn't matter, but the SEC actually holds. Like, underdogs don't win the conference. It's just like a pretty. The top team doesn't always win it, but it's usually from a pretty select group. We usually know it preseason. They actually play, I think, four of their games against teams that by the odds, have no shot to win the league. You know, so Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Missouri. And then the one that's kind of the edge case this year is Florida. Right? Like, they're not with that top group, but they're also meaningfully separated from the. From the bottom group, odds wise. So it's. It's basically over half your SEC schedule that has, you know, very little shot to win the league. And then you got to go play at Georgia. You got to play. Play Texas. So it's like a nice kind of four or five base there. And then you got to play the top two, which is tough. And then, of course, the A and M game, and you got Ole Miss, which is kind of five or six, I think, in most of the odds makers, depending on what you're looking at. But, like, I mean, this Feels like, like a. If they're really better on offense and the defense, you know, can hold serve, I mean you could probably go 10 and 2 here and, and get like, not only make the playoff but like have a pretty nice, nice seed. If you take care of that Michigan game early, you know.
- [26:25]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, it's a weird schedule because unlike a lot of Oklahoma scatchers in the past and certainly the one that they just played, it's not backloaded, it's all front. It's like at the beginning, it's all in September. They go to Michigan in week two, like you said, they go to Georgia in September and then the Texas game is right at the very beginning of October. That's their three toughest games. They're all in the first five games of the year. And so there's been a big conversation of like, what do they need to do, what do they need to go in that first five to feel like they're in position. Obviously if you go four and one, you feel great. Three and two, it's like, okay, the margin for error is gone and you certainly can't afford to lose all three of them. So it's a weird schedule because it's very front loaded. Like you said, the back half is pretty friendly for the most part. I mean, certainly compared to what they had last year, it's not nearly as bad. Like you said, there's, there's some more gettable games on there. I mean the SEC is tricky. I mean even going to like a Starkville, it's like if you no show that who knows what happens type of thing, but on paper it's not as daunting as a year ago, but it's all early. And so there's, it's the complete opposite of this past season where it felt like, man, as long as they just do their thing, they're going to be 5, 0, then we'll see what they do. The rest of the way is the opposite this year. Like they need to be able to hit the ground running a little bit faster, which, you know, you're not breaking a new quarterback this time, so hopefully you can do that and that sort of thing. But it's an interesting schedule for sure and there's definitely a, you know, an expectation that get back that 10 win, get back the playoff, hopefully be at home again when that gets there. But yeah, very interesting because they're diving into some big tough road games right away in September with Michigan and Georgia both in the first four games there.
- [27:56]
Co-host
Yeah, you're exactly right with how this is split weird. Your first five games, which is first six weeks, get the buy between Georgia and Texas and then you play in succession three of the four according the odds. Worst teams in the league, Ketucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina. I think November is like meaningfully harder than October is. Right. Like, you know, at Florida is not easy in the swamp. Right. Ole Miss A M. And then like at Missouri, like that's kind of a grind to go at Missouri you're a better team than Missouri, but like it's not. You can't go out there and play like your, your D or C minus game and expect to like just, just coast.
- [28:32]
Josh Calloway
Sure.
- [28:33]
Co-host
Like they're, they're decent enough athletes there. Right. You know, just watching that. How much pressure is there on Venables in a staff to, to get back to the playoff? I know this is kind of how like the narrative change college football, it's not really. Most coaches don't get this pressure to win the Natty. It's like, hey, like pressure to be in the dance and to, you know, be in the race for the dance, you know, down the stretch.
- [28:52]
Josh Calloway
Yeah, that's a good question. You know, I think reasonable pressure. I mean, certainly not like it was last year where it really kind of felt like frankly, Brent was kind of coaching for his job last year and, and he did more than enough to save it OB and there's a lot of, you know, with the way they're recruiting, you know, we'll see where the class ends up with their 27. Class is really highly tatted right now and, and so there's just, there's a lot of momentum and Jim Nagy in the front office is doing a great job and so there's a lot of optimism and just kind of the, the vibe. The approval rating is pretty high at the moment, but it's Oklahoma, it's college football. It's a, you know, it's a big fan base. It's a blue blood program. You go waiting for, it'll be the, the pressure's cranked right back up. You know, I see no world where Brent is not the coach in 2027. But definitely, you know, if this team were not here, back to the playoff, that would be very disappointing and there would be a lot of people that were calling for his head again. And that's just kind of the way it goes. You know, you got a program like Oklahoma, the expectations are really high, you know, pretty much every single year. So yeah, reasonable pressure, not, you know, you're going to get fired if you don't. But definitely there's an expectation that they need to get back to the playoff again and frankly probably win a game or two potentially and we'll see how the season ends up shaking out. But you know, if they just replicated the same season that they just had, win 10 games, get to the playoff and lose in the first round, I would say that like I know you fan probably would not sign up for that, right? Like they, they want to win a game or two in the playoff this year. So you know, reasonable pressure I would say to at least get back to the playoff and probably do some damage when they get there.
- [30:21]
Co-host
Man, I, I, if this team stays healthy and, and mater, you know, settles in a little more and improves, it's hard to see him, you know, not having a really good shot to get back there and, and to make some noise once they get there. We'll be following all your coverage for sure on on Sooners Ill. And Josh, really appreciate the time man.
- [30:36]
Josh Calloway
I appreciate it man. Always fun to do this and look forward to keeping up with you guys obviously all throughout the season. No doubt some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. And when you see the money side, you understand what others miss. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at bloomberg. Com.