Oklahoma Football: 3 takeaways from Cotton Bowl win over Florida

1. Oklahoma will be a playoff team next year

Getting off to a 1-2 start put Oklahoma in a tough position that would break a lot of teams with high expectations. Oklahoma would go on to win eight straight with this young team that seems to only get better the more they play.

We will have to see if Rhamondre Stevenson and Nik Bonitto return to the Sooners. The offensive line also features one senior and four redshirt juniors so their statuses will also be monitored. But even if those key players don’t return, there are plenty of young players to pick up the slack.

Leading tackler Brian Asamoah will return as will the Defensive MVP of this game, Tre Norwood. Those two plus a return of their favorite pass rusher Bonitto, would help this defense continue to soar up the rankings.

Now on the offensive side, we may have not even seen the best of Spencer Rattler. After a shaky start, Rattler settled down and played mistake free football down the stretch. Rattler threw just two interceptions in his final seven games. While at the same time having two-plus touchdowns in every game this year.

Just by watching Spencer, you can see he has tremendous arm talent. Another year Lincoln Riley’s system should help his growth as an all around player immensely. Another year working with Marvin Mims will also help. Mims broke out in his freshman season and finished with 610 yards and nine touchdowns.

Rattler and Mims will be one of the most fun duos to watch next year. With them plus a vastly improved defense and one of the best young coaches in the nation. I see a team that will be dominant in 2021 and make a push back into the College Football Playoff.