College Football Playoff: Which Top 25 teams are contenders, pretenders?
After Bob Stoops, the team’s head coach for the past 18 seasons, unexpectedly retired mere weeks before the 2017 season, many fans tempered their expectations for first-year head coach Lincoln Riley’s Sooners squad.
But after the first four weeks of the season, Riley’s team remains undefeated.
Following a Week 1 victory over UTEP by a score of 56-7, the Sooners made a statement in Horseshoe by defeating the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in a resounding 31-16 victory.
This win, and the team’s subsequent victories over Tulane and Baylor, have cemented the Sooners into the College Football Playoff conversation, and much of their success can be attributed to the play of senior quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Behind Mayfield’s veteran leadership, the Sooners have been able to remain explosive through the air and on the ground even after the majority of their offensive weapons left Norman early to enter the NFL.
While the Sooners’ offensive ability is impressive, the real surprise in Oklahoma has been the team’s defensive resurgence.
After fielding one of the worst defenses in college football last season, Oklahoma’s new 4-3 defense has pleasantly delivered a top-40 unit to pair with the top-ranked offense.
If Oklahoma is going to run the table for the remainder of the season, it will need to whether the last month of its season, and three games against ranked Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia squads with only one loss if it wants to have a chance to compete in the Big 12 Championship Game and earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.