NORMAN, Okla. — Brent Venables is in his fourth season as Oklahoma’s head coach, and this version of the Sooners is very different from the ones that previously reached the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma reached the playoff four times — once under Bob Stoops and three times under Lincoln Riley — in the 2010s, when the Football Bowl Subdivision’s national championship chase was still a four-team event before expanding to a 12-team bracket in the 2024 season. Those squads of Sooners were known for their high-scoring offenses and relatively leaky defenses, with the best example being a 54-48 overtime loss to Georgia in the Rose Bowl national semifinal for the 2017 season.
Times have changed. This year’s eighth-ranked Sooners (10-2) feature a rugged, aggressive defense that leads the country in tackles for loss (9.6 per game) and is tied for the national lead in sacks (3.42) heading into a Dec. 19 home game against No. 11 Alabama (10-3) in the first round of the CFP. Oklahoma is also seeded eighth, while the Crimson Tide are seeded ninth.
Venables, who helped Oklahoma and Clemson win national titles as a defensive coordinator, took over defensive play calling duties this season in Norman after the Sooners went 6-7 last year. He has gone from the hot seat to the playoff.
“I didn’t want anybody else to have to show up every day and carry that burden,” Venables said. “I wanted to carry it. It’s my responsibility. And that’s, again, something that I’ve cut my teeth on. It’s why I was hired. And so I had confidence in our roster and confidence in our staff to play at the level that we’re playing at.”
Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally in rushing defense (81.4 yards allowed per game), seventh in scoring defense (13.7 points allowed per game) and ninth in total defense (273.6 yards allowed per game). The Sooners surrendered a combined 67 points in Southeastern Conference regular-season wins over Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU.
Defensive end R Mason Thomas, whose 6 1/2 sacks this season lead the Sooners, was voted to the AP All-SEC second team despite missing the past three games. He injured his hamstring while running a fumble back 71 yards for a touchdown at Tennessee.
Defensive tackle Gracen Halton and linebacker Owen Heinecke also were named to the second team when AP honors were announced this past Wednesday. Defensive back Courtland Guillory was named to the SEC coaches’ all-freshman team. Defensive lineman Taylor Wein leads the way with 14 tackles for loss and Heinecke is second with 10.
Linebacker Kip Lewis tops the team with 72 tackles, followed by Heinecke and safety Robert Spears-Jennings. Kendal Daniels, the versatile transfer from Oklahoma State, is fourth on the team in tackles. Brothers Eli and Peyton Bowen lead the team with two interceptions each.
Venables said the heroes have been many on a mature, disciplined team that has often stayed in games without complaint.
“I think the credit goes to the players,” Venables said. “Just their determination, their toughness, their ability to adapt and adjust, their strain, their physicality, their precision — that’s where it starts.”
Venables said his coaching staff agrees on most things and works well together, making adjustments relatively easy.
“We all kind of get back to the same answers,” he said. “We’re not in five or six different places. We’ve got a really good staff that works well together cohesively in a very short amount of time and come up with a few small, minor adjustments. But at the end of the day, the players are the ones that are out there making whatever scheme we have really good.”
Alabama’s defense wasn’t at its best during a 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game on Dec. 6 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Crimson Tide can’t afford to struggle again, given Oklahoma’s consistency on defense.
It may not take many points to put Oklahoma — which beat the Tide 23-21 in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 15 — over the top considering how stingy the Sooners have been.
“It’s going to be a physical game,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s going to be be hard fought. I know it’s going to be an awesome environment, especially on a Friday night to kick off the playoffs.”