Oklahoma football appears ready for run at national title in 2021

It’s been over 20 years since Oklahoma football captured its last national championship and this fanbase is tired of losing the big game.

Oklahoma has a string of national title game and playoff losses, but that’s about to change. The Sooners have the Heisman Trophy favorite in quarterback Spencer Rattler and one of the game’s top coaches and offensive minds in Lincoln Riley. They are improving greatly on defense and found enough impact transfers to help make them deeper.

At the start of last season, it looked as if Rattler was not going to be as ready as everyone assumed he would be to be the next great Oklahoma quarterback. The Sooners lost two games early to Kansas State and Iowa State and the season was teetering on the edge of disaster. Rattler was benched in the game against Texas and that is when everything appeared to turn around. Rattler came back in to led the Sooners to victory and Oklahoma has played great football since and had a blowout victory over Florida in the Cotton Bowl to top everything off.

The biggest reason for optimism about Oklahoma taking the next step is its defense.

When Oklahoma made the playoff in 2017, 2018, and 2019, it had some of the worst defenses in the country. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has done a great job turning the defense around and while they are not an elite top-five unit, the Sooners hold their own and that is what is making the difference.

If the offense keeps humming as it usually does and the defense takes yet another step forward, there is no reason for this team to miss the playoff and they might just be the best team in the country.