Oklahoma Football Hot Links: Venables practicing this week for the biggest question left this season

Whats good?

If you are reading this on Saturday, congrats. It is game week. Wild, right? The Oklahoma Sooners play in just over seven days. You have waited 240 days for a game week (yes I checked) but your wait is over.

Man, so much has changed since that bowl win against Oregon. At that time, in case you forgot, we knew the coach. We knew the OC. We, however, did not know where Caleb Williams would play next season. We didn’t know who would play QB for the Sooners against UTEP. Who would replace the NFL talent that left in the draft along the defensive line? Heck, we didn’t know who would coach the defensive line or the secondary, or the linebackers.

Now? A ton of Sooner fans think the team sits better than it did 365 days ago. What an offseason. But it’s over, time to turn the page... just like BV did at practice this week. BOOM. THAT IS CALLED A TRANSITION, FOLKS. Big J journalism stuff right here.

Brent said that the Sooners will practice every part of gameday this week, and our buddy John Hoover was there to cover it.

“We’ll get our guys to have a level of comfort for what to expect around the corner,” Venables said after practice Thursday night. “So we’ll do that tomorrow, everything from team hotel to champion walk to game day simulation. So we’ll work on that. Halftime, how we single the alma mater, all those things will be rehearsed before we get there next week.”

I don’t know how serious routine is taken across the country. I don’t know if being this diligent about the game day routine actually makes a difference. Doesn’t matter what I think though, Venables clearly does.

Why am I leading this post talking about practice?

Because practicing a game routine is key for this team in the eyes of the coaching staff, but for me? I think its key for this coaching staff. What is the biggest X factor for OU this year? Gabriel? No. Mims? no. Defensive Line? No. It’s Brent. Brent is BY FAR the biggest X factor for this team. Did Joe C make the right hire? We just can’t know yet. The early returns are certainly promising.

Brent is

• A great guy
• a great defensive mind
• a great recruiter
• a great guy
• a great molder of character
• a great guy
• a great defensive play caller
• a great guy

We know that. What do we not know?

• Is he composed and clear minded as a head coach?
• Is he aggressive in game or conservative?
• Does he have his team OVER hyped or totally asleep going into a game?
• What is his halftime impact like as the motivator?
• Does he pull guys quickly on mistakes?
• Does he ‘call off the dogs?’
• Is he prone to a letdown game agaisnt an inferior opponent or does he run bad teams off the field?

Brent, in my eyes, was the exact right hire all those months ago. Since then, he has been better than I actually thought he could be. All that, we still don’t know if he will be successful as the head man on game days (even if he is practicing it this week)... but we will soon. Prayers up to UTEP for being the practicing dummy.

Goodness, I am ready for this season and all the stories we will get to tell.

OU Links

• Recruiting giveth, and recruiting... well, mostly giveth right now. This time the big recruiting win comes in the form of a commitment from speedy WR Anthony Evans of Converse, Texas. Evans had long been considered an OU lean before recent reports that Georgia had seized momentum. Fortunately, Oklahoma was able to stem the tide and get the verbal.

• Keep an eye out for another commitment later this evening. Tallahassee, FL DB Makari Vickers will be announcing his decision very soon live on his Instagram, and the Sooners have been considered the heavy favorite for quite some time.

• Looks like we know the starting offensive line. No it has not been formally announced but everyone seems to be coming to the same conclusion. From left to right it seems to be, Harrison - Mettauer - Raym - Murray - Morris. Only one question remains... How long before Billy B makes a change? We know that Bill Bedenbaough has always tinkered with the group up through the Texas game. Are these guys “locked in” or is there a world that we see Guyton, Congel, or Byrd this season?

• Ya know some people like to keep a low profile and ‘work in darkness’ approach. Joe Burrow talked about this before the Superbowl and honestly I am just plugging it becuase I think its a great quote. Key Lawrence isn’t exactly lowering the bar on Dillon Gabriel before the season with this quote. I think Dean’s face says it all.
• Future Sooner QB and now five-star prospect Jackson Arnold spoke with 247 after racking up this season’s first win in high school. Looks like Arnold is still keeping the full court press on his team mate to also be a Sooner.

• One of the bigger questions that remains on offense is who takes snaps when Eric Gray goes to the sideline. Looks like Barnes is turning some heads at practice this week. Major, Barnes, and even Sawchuck will likely all get a chance to take that 2nd RB job in the non confrence schedule this year.

• I will let Jordy and Grace be the ones to tell you this news.

• Google did not confirm nor deny if Zoo Animals are allowed to play football but Brent seems to be incredibly serious that his pet Cheetah will play on the defense this year. A surprising announcement, we will see how the referees react when UTEP and the Sooners take the field. Our Allen Kenney also wrote some good stuff on this development.

• I know you won’t believe this but you are allowed to return punts in college football. Totally legal. I heard there was a rumor that Oklahoma last few years were lead to believe that they weren’t allowed to but BV checked the rule book so adjusted the game plan. Looks like a transfer WR will be taking this honors this year along with Mims and Gray.

• Porter took some time to talk to the volleyball team, this speech is worth listening too... the beard is also worth the price of addmission. Good look for coach.

Is anything else going on?

• Troy, known for their horses almost exclusively, might start being considered for their impact on the social media world if they keep up with the content like this. Also the guy at 1:22 just not even flinching and committing is incredible.

• Bad news for Oklahoma City Thunder fans this week that Chet will miss the upcoming season. I will tell you.. this won’t hurt their win loss total as much as maybe Thunder fans want to believe. 3 or 4 wins at the most... but man this is a major blow on the “fun to watch” scale for this upcoming season. As always, for Thunder stuff check out my guy Andrew and Down to Dunk. Great little breakdown here.
• Tennis has got some explaining too do and might need to go read a page out of David Sterns book on how to cover this stuff up. Wow.
• I can’t wait to become a national celebrity one day so I can just live in an alternative realtiy that I make up. I could like 100 tweets of why this isn’t true from Tyreke Hill but... I think we all know that Hill isn’t exactly a moral compass. Once a clown show, always a clown show.

Am I allowed to post other stuff? Ya know what, ask forgiveness not premission.

• Anyone play League of Legends? I have taken a long break but will football season coming up and my schedule about to get more hectic, I need to add the stress relief back to my life. Hit me up, looking for a carry. If you don’t know what I am talking about... count yourself as blessed.

Talk to you Monday knuckle heads.