Oklahoma Football Hot Links: Dillon Gabriel, Xavier Hutchinson and a crucial game for both teams

What’s good?

The Oklahoma Sooners are attempting to crawl closer to .500 in confrence play, and the scheduling gods SEEM to have done them a favor. Oklahoma will be coming off their bye week with what is likely the worst offense in the confrence in front of them. Iowa State, now led by their new QB Hunter Dekkers, has struggled in just about every phase of offense. Ranking last in rushing attack and first in turnover rate, Iowa State is just begging to be held under 20 and restore some confidence to a struggling defense.

Bad news? Iowa State likely has the best WR in the confrence this season in Xavier Hutchinson. Hutchinson has been the only bright spot on offense for the cyclones so it all begins and ends there. Does OU have the juice to take away Hutchinson and force Dekkers to look elsewhere? Dekkers, espcially when targeting other recievers, has been a turnover machine. Guys like CJ Coldon, who has been good at that the last two, games should be excited to take a swing at the least expereinced QB in the Big 12 currently outside of Quinn Ewers.

OU Links

• Oklahoma now does not feel like it is taking on water for the first time in weeks. Which is cool. Ya know what would reverse that feeling? Dekkers hitting bombs on your head and an offense that can’t score on the best defense in the confrence. What does OU need to do win this game? Hoover lays it out.
• Ames, Iowa hasn’t always been a “tough place to play” but it has turned into that in the past 5 years. Cyclone fans are going to be walking into that stadium and thinking their team has a real shot. Eli and Eric talk about what Oklahoma needs to do to win in Ames.
• I say this through gritted teeth (kidding, love Eli), but this is the best thing I read this week. He writes about DJ Graham, switching positions and living with regret. Eli talks to his family about the change.
• Change in head coach, quarterback, and captains all were the storylines this offseason. We all were so focused on who was going to be calling the plays and running them that I don’t know if enough of us took the time to ask “who will be leading the lockerroom?” Hoover lines out our answer.
• Dillon Gabriel I think is coming off his best game as a Sooner with context factored in. Can he replicate that against a much better defense? Ryan Aber talks through how he could and why it’s so critical for him to do so.
• Setting a culture takes time. How do the Sooners respond to the bye week? And how much of that answer lays on the shoulders of the man in charge in Brent?
• This is the biggest question of the game and the one with the toughest answer to track down. Leave it to my cohost to be the one to try and tackle it. Can Oklahoma slow down Xavier Hutchinson?
• OU “making the main thing the main thing”. Also, I am giving the costume of the video to Buzz Lightyear. Joe Jon being the winner of the apple contest was not suprising, the only thing that was is that Miguel Chavis didn’t flip the table when he lost.

• Hot take? This number needs to go up the rest of the year. Gabriel has to be more aggressive.

• We got some OU men’s hoops this weekend. Bob Przyblo lines out the freshman who stood out the most to him.
• We all know the next QB at Oklahoma after Gabriel... or at least we think we do in Jackson Arnold. Well, despite Notre Dame rumors swirling, he is lighting up high school football in Texas.

• OU Baseball schedule release is officially out now. Sooners look to make it back to the World Series again but close the deal this time.

Anthing else going on?

• I have heard this my entire career. I want to make one thing clear. Every sports journalist ever was a fan of someone at some point. I love hearing fan topics and conversation because generally you guys think of things that I never would because I don’t “breathe” Oklahoma Football. I cover it. Don’t let clowns like this tell you anything (the guys in the video, not our guy Joe, obviously).

• Basektball is dumb. I have watched hundereds if not thousands of games in my life and I can’t think of anything like this ever happenning before. Its truly amazing.

Talk to you knuckleheads tomorrow.