Big 12 Football: 5 incredibly early bold predictions for the 2023 season
By John Buhler
2. We will know by Red River if Brent Venables is safe or it is Bob Stoops time!
It’s hard to say it’ll pop under Brent Venables in year two at Oklahoma, mostly because, well, it’s Oklahoma… The former long-time Clemson defensive coordinator took the Big 12’s Porsche and drove it into a ditch. Not since I could read have the Sooners been this bad on the football field. He may have been a first-time head coach, but all eyes will be on Venables and OU during Red River.
The Sooners don’t have to beat the Longhorns in Dallas, but they can’t be dog food either. Some have argued for Oklahoma to be this year’s TCU and go on a magical run, but going 6-7 in the Big 12 doesn’t hit the same as going 8-5 in the SEC. Kirby Smart may have lost to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech in year one at Georgia, but those last few years of Mark Richt football were so rough.
While I do expect for Venables to add some substance to a program that wasn’t exactly brimming with it under predecessor Lincoln Riley, it wasn’t like it took first-time head coach Bob Stoops very long to turn this puppy around after that John Blake unmitigated disaster. Once Red River reaches conclusion, we’ll either be buying into Venables long-term or trying to get ole Big Game Bob back.
Oklahoma cannot be wobbling heading into the SEC in 2024, or that will be beyond catastrophic.