OU Football LOW On Coaches Poll | DeMarco Murray Has a Good Problem | Houston Scared? | Sooners

we've got a coach's poll which means we're almost to college football season you are locked on Sooners your daily podcast on the Oklahoma Sooners part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's up sooner Nation welcome to lockon Sooners and thank you for making lockon Sooners your first listen every single day shout out to all the every dayers tuning in subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast we're here to cover all things Oklahoma Sooners for you every single day here on the lock on podcast Network today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as the playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com to get started hej Smith I'm John Williams we got the USA Today uslbm coaches poll released for the preseason on Monday which means college football is really here I think it's here I mean we got fall camps going on we're less than a month away from the 2024 season kicking off with week one we're just like two to three weeks away from week zero which is crazy to think and Jay the Oklahoma Sooners come in at number 16 in the US lbm coaches poll yeah I feel like that's a very very good spot for the Sooners right last season we came in it with like 18 19 maybe 20ish right same thing the you know first year so I actually like being in that range that gives us something to work towards and it doesn't inflate our heads a little too much right I know venables mentioned this in his presser he actually mentioned his SEC media days he was talking about how he felt like the team just got a little too full right after that Texas win being undefeated Riding High then the UCF game happened and then we started seeing injuries and attrition kicked our butt this is going to give them something to strive for just to prove everybody ahead of them that they're going to have to play which is a lot and very noteworthy that they can compete yeah 16 is not a bad spot to be it's interesting that okay that puts them at eighth among SEC teams just like where they were in the SEC preseason media poll so the coaches the media kind of both agree that Oklahoma is the quote unquote eighth best team in the SEC going into the season but you look at the teams that are in front of them you've got six teams that Oklahoma will play on their 2024 schedule ranked ahead of them and it you know Texas at number four Alabama at number five Old Miss at number six I mean this is a a lot of strength of schedule possibilities for you so if you are able to be successful this season I mean the schedule's going to really help you and give you a boost if you're able to get to that nine10 win range oh yeah this this schedule is built for Oklahoma to make a playoff if nine wins happens right nine wins gets you in because of just how tough the schedule is and as you mentioned I mean you go from four five and six are on Oklahoma schedule then 11 and 12 and 15 are on Oklahoma schedule out of all of them as you said georg's the only one that we don't play but you know personally I don't like preseason polls very much I don't even like polls being created when it comes to like ranking teams until like week four because that's when you start understanding the true identity of teams and so for us keeping it you know I'm going keep it a buck here I just hope the teams ahead of us actually do their jobs and stay ranked before we play them that way when we do beat them we can feel good about it but it's no fun if they all start spiraling right before they get to us then at that point everybody's going to make all kinds of excuses which of course are tools of incompetence used monuments of nothingness we're not going to get into that portion of it but the good thing is is that we do get to see six which can guarantee an opportunity to jump up in the PO yeah and at some point I mean I would say most of those teams will stay ranked throughout much of the Season like Alabama they're going to stay ranked all season long now whether they're a top five Team all year long that remains to be seen I think Texas will stay ranked I don't necessarily think they're going to be one of the best four teams in the country but they'll stay ranked uh same for Old Miss I I so I think at even if they don't live up to those top five top six expectations I do think that they will be ranked teams by the time Oklahoma goes to play them a team like Tennessee we'll see they've got a bit of a non-conference challenge ahead of them before Oklahoma gets to them um you know the Auburn's probably not going to be ranked although they could be ranked if if things go well for them in the non-conference part of the Season LSU is going to be one of those that I think has a chance to fall out of the top 25 by the time Oklahoma faces them especially if they get off to a rocky start our guy Spencer mlin over at locked on college football did his USC schedule prediction uh for 2024 and actually has the Trojans beating LSU week one in Allegiance stadium in Las Vegas so we'll see I mean they've got a lot of retooling they got to do on the defensive side of the ball they've got to they've got to figure that out but if there's any of those six teams that I think isn't going to be ranked top 25 by the time Oklahoma faces them LSG would the one that probably stands out the most just because I think of all those six teams ahead of Oklahoma they're the one I have a little bit more question about and a lot of it is the defense grant nus me and then obviously replacing two first round wide receivers as well so any what what else do you take away from this I know you're not a big fan of the polls it's fine but what else taking away from this is there a team that you think is ranked a little bit too high too low yeah I think the other thing that interests me too is as we're talking about who we're going to going to face youve got Michigan here right sitting there dead smack at number eight now all of the like investigation stuff is like happened St starting to come out right before the season starts to me at this point it it is what it is Jim Harbaugh did what he did he ain't coming back to college he's done with the college ranks he got his national championship and he's bouncing and unfortunately you can't take that ring away from him it's going to be in his pocket for the rest of his life same thing with those players but because of all the stuff going on with there I'm wondering how much is that going to Cloud their preparation for thatas game which is going to be huge coming to the big house right now Michigan is still a very physical team so I don't anticipate them losing their physicality but I'm wondering about their focus uh with everything going down but that's that one game is going to be super pivotable that makes sense Notre Dame is always ranked super high to me and I just don't never understand it like I just don't get why Notre Dame is always here for them to you know let us down now Marcus Freeman is doing I think he's doing a solid job but if he finishes with 10 wins cool he ain't going to finish at number seven so to me if the anticipation is that Notre Dame is going to have 10 wins we may as well keep them between 12 and 15 because that's where they're going to always end every single season is gonna be I think highly ranked on a regular basis just because they're Notre Dame now they made some good additions in the transfer portal Riley Leonard is a solid quarterback I don't necessarily know that he's better than what they had last year for them I think it's just just making sure they start off strong because they didn't really get off to a great start and then they came on strong down the SEC you know down the stretch and and looked really good but yeah Notre Dame is always gonna be one of those toss-ups because you never know what you're going to get with them but they're always going to be kind of highly favored uh as far as coaching the coach's poll and the AP poll are concerned uh you know if I look at it you know in the top 10 is there another team that that maybe I'm concerned about or I don't think not I mean Florida State maybe you know they're Fringe top 10 team kind of right there at number 10 I can see an argument for LS or for Missouri being ahead of them uh maybe Utah might be a little bit high but you know I think the coaches have this pretty right you know I I don't really have any big complaints here um you know it's it's nice to see Kansas getting a little bit of love in the preseason poll at number 24 uh yeah I would probably flop you know flip flop Oklahoma State and Kansas State but again that's just one spot you know a lot of teams are a lot of people are are predicting it to be Utah or Kansas State winning the Big 12 I'm like why are we not thinking Oklahoma State now this is not locked on Cowboys or locked on pokes or locked on Big 12 but I just think we're sleeping on Oklahoma State going into this season with Alan Bowman olly Gordon you know Rashad Owens like that's a really good football team that I think is going to give the Big 12 fits any other final takeaways as we kind of wrap up our discussion of the coaches poll before we move on to our second segment where we talk running backs yeah I mean that's a good point that you mentioned about Oklahoma State they should but the biggest the biggest thing that we know about Oklahoma state is that they always don't right that's like it's it's tradition as old as the game itself they get themselves all the way to the top and the next thing you know the victory gum is snatched away from them and then boom they're out of the BCS they're out of a playoff opportunity they always knock themselves out because no matter what they will give it to in regular season but then they fall on their face at the end so kind of understand Kansas State like I said this isn't locked on Big 12 you know it's fun to talk about it but lastly that Clemson at number 14 man I wonder what they're going to look like cuz the last couple years without venables has little been a little bit shaky even with the same defensive players kind of curious what that's gonna look like moving forward I don't know if you caught this but dbos Sweeny said he'd be the best transfer portal coach if he wasn't at Clemson I thought that was fascinating what what I think it's a real quote I just caught a glimpse of it scrolling I'm search for that one but it definitely made me do a double take you had to chuckle on that one it's I really did uh Texas A&M is the only other SEC team ranked they come in at number 20 Oklahoma won't play in this year but Aggies are are an intriguing Bunch over there with Mike Elco now Conor Wagman stays healthy that could be a really fascinating team to follow this year the Oklahoma running back position is looking really strong looking really solid heading into 2024 what's the hierarchy look like who could be a big-time contributor we'll discuss coming up next here on lockon Sooners y'all know me I love my sports as we just talked about the coaches poll I'm looking at Oklahoma's win total at over seven and a half still here on FanDuel and I'm going to be honest man it's an intriguing one it's one of those you may need to take advantage of because was there lose Oklahoma has set themselves up to be successful and so I mean like I said as much as I love my sports man I don't want them to stop luckily the Olympics are happening right now so you have a little bit of something but with everybody's focus on that and the playoffs have winded down we're getting fewer games and they're not sporting like the way we want but FanDuel is going to keep me in the sports going wherever I want all I have to do is open up the app dream up whatever bet I want and boom make the magic happen and so this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with the booster bonus daily that is right there's something for everyone every day all summer long as summer is starting to come up so head over to fanduel.com and uh start making the most out of the last parts of this summer because football is on the way get those bets in before football season happens so FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball and thank you for making lockdown Sooners your first listen of the day for your second listen enjoy the locked on college football podcast Spencer mcgoffin gets you ready for an exciting season on the grid iron with discussion on the upcoming season and the Ever Changing landscape of College athletics including conference realignment the transfer portal nil new college football expanded playoffs and more locked on college football is available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day again thank you for subscribing to the show wherever you get your podcasts and Jay the running back situation for the Oklahoma Sooners is looking really really good we've got a program we've got a team that I mean you look at where it starts with Gavin Sauk and then maybe javante Barnes Taylor Tatum Sam Franklin who looked really good in Spring you got Xavier Robinson and then you've got Andy bass who's injured is going to be recovering he'll be he'll medical red shirt this year where does running back start for you what is the thought that you have when you start thinking about the running back position I think the biggest thing for me is it's not even you know even ask the question about rb1 being solidified it it goes into rb2 like who's going to be the second guy on the field who's going to be potential third down back who's also going to be potential power back right we have multiple options this year because it looks like we're healthy right Javonte Barnes was out there today at the practice and you saw him moving around some of the Insiders and uh the local media got to go watch a little bit they put out some videos and you got to see him move I'm like oh wow he's kind of looking like Javonte Barnes of Florida State the one we were hyping up before you know his his entire freshman season like okay this going to be the dude that's probably going to be next in line and so all right hopefully he gets healthy so for me it's that second position who's going to be there next to Gavin souchuck cuz we know sou Chuck's got it lined up he's healthy right now knock on wood and he gave us those five straight games of 100 yards plus so even with quote unquote makeshift uh offensive lines he made the magic happen and so we asked this question of what is Sawchuk going to uh is saluk going to continue to hold on to that position is it going to be Barnes at number two is Caleb Hicks GNA take it Sam Franklin he transferred in for a reason right who's all going to play and then of course you goes to the Freshman which we can talk about them in just a minute but I ask you who do you think is going to be that number two dude that we will'll see going into I'd say Tennessee because I think the first three games is when we'll figure it out yeah I thank you for mentioning Caleb Hicks that was an oversight on my part because that's a guy that's been running with the second team and I think right now probably you're seeing Gavin Sawchuk Javonte Barnes getting a lot of the first team reps just because they're the veteran players they've been around you know uh Barnes just two years ago had over 500 yards rushing emerged as the rb2 behind Eric gray and looked really really good uh again he had three 100 yard games I want to say had five games with more than 50 yards had a bunch of games with more than 10 carries I think it was four games was more than 10 carries on the season in 2022 so a really really productive Runner it's just that 2023 year I mean he just really got hindered by the injury bug so I think you know it's Gavin Sawchuk Pro I'm gonna say it's javante Barnes and then I think you're looking at Caleb Hicks and Taylor Tatum as as the next guys up for okoklahoma venables spoke highly of Taylor Tatum and they said he's going to be a guy that helps us and they got to figure out ways to get him on the field I thought this quote on Taylor Tatum was really really interesting from Jackson Arnold when he met with the media on Tuesday Jackson says I thought he's been really good and I think Taylor adds a unique passing element to our game whether you line him up and empty or do whatever put him in the passing game he's very versatile he's definitely going to be a good option for us this year sort of along those lines so I think Taylor Tatum's going to have a role even though he just arrived in the summer everybody's been very complimentary of what the work has been looking like with Taylor Tatum obviously he was the number one running back in the 2024 cycle for a reason he's real good so I I think you'll see him a lot yeah and and mentioning that coming out the back field I know that in some Seth L offensive sets we he's thrown out there two running backs right so how intriguing would it be to have a Taylor Tatum in the back Back Field next to a Gavin souchu or Javonte Barnes and then you go ahead and motion him out there to be the wide receiver and that linebacker's following him he a g know what to do Tatum's a 4440 guy right so he's fast so he's going to get out there be able to outrun the linebacker as they cross everybody around them and then boom could potentially be gone for the touchdown and so leveraging that versatility of the young guy it's going to be awesome cuz he can't catch right I remember us watching him in high school in one game he threw a touchdown caught a touchdown and he ran for a touchdown it's like dude like what what are you what are you what are we doing here right that's the best part about getting the number one running back in the country that's seen as a big- Time athlete is that he's doing so many versatile things and so I like the fact that we're looking at leveraging him like that that's going to that's going to really be impactful for the different sets that a Seth LR is going to be able to show because ain't nobody seen Seth lr's offenses in a bit so it's going to be it's going to be difficult for some of these SEC schools to figure out what we're going to do well I think it's beneficial because you've got a guy like Sauk who's going to get your 15 carries a game and DeMarco Murray's gonna want to play multiple guys I mean Murray knows as much as anybody any running back coach in the country what it looks like when you get overused that the Dallas Cowboys did it to him back in the 2014 season he was never the same again they gave him 390 something carries I me had a big big year was offensive player of the year that year but it that workload really took a toll on him physically for the remainder of his career so you're going to see two three running backs getting opportunities throughout the season and so I think it's GNA be satuk I think we're going to see a lot of Barnes and then I think depending on how these first three non-conference games go Caleb Hicks Taylor Tatum or a mix between the two of those guys throughout the season I don't think they're going to concern themselves with you know preserving a red shirt for Taylor Tatum if he can help them win football games he's going to be out there on the field helping and win football games they're not going to worry about that now a guy like Xavier Robinson he might red shirt just because of the depth that you have at running back you don't you don't have to burn all of the red shirts and he kind of does a little bit of what gavonte Barnes does from a physical standpoint another interesting quote uh this one uh from uh javante Barnes about Seth Latrell and his offense he says he loves to run the ball and he mentioned that since day one as soon as he got the OC job he's going to run the ball and ever since fall camp and Spring ball started it's been no doubt that we've been running the ball and before you jump off and be like okay we're going back to the Barry Switzer Wishbone days no we're not doing that Jackson Arnold's too good the wide receiver room is too stinking good to not throw the ball a bunch as well but I think what this says is you're gonna have an opportunity to see a pretty even split and they're going to look for significant balance in their rushing and passing attack I wouldn't mind a flexx bone or wish bone coming back right it' be fun right it's funny because I was listening to Michael Hawkins you could do it I mean hey you could do it with Jackson Arnold like don't get it twisted dke can move right he can he can run an option on that triple option and get you right and know I was listening to uh I was looking at Dominique Foxworth from ESPN and he was talking about playing against his son on uh college football 25 right you know as you get older and you play your kids they start to cook you a little bit because you you're way more Rusty than they are so he decided to go pick to go up against his son who's playing with Maryland and he's just triple option him to death cuz video games can't figure it out just like most schools can't actually figure it out whenever you got dudes that are actually of size and strength I mean we know the service academies have to have smaller guys just because of requirements for you know being in the military but we get dudes that actually have that size hey man there's a good chance you start start disrupting things but no it's going to be awesome to see and that we're going to run the ball because there was a lot of situations last season that just about any sooner fan will say they got tired of us not running the ball and burning some clock right in some situations just let the clock run don't even try to hurry it up run it down their throat pound pound Pound and just let it ride because in those situations you could close out games Kansas you could have ended up winning the game you're supposed to win on said road yeah I I think think having a little bit more complimentary football just a little bit more understanding of when it's time to take the foot off the gas at different points you know our defense was just on the field for eight nine plays and five six minutes okay we're gonna slow the thing down we're g to take the tempo down a little bit just to give our defense a bit of a breather but they've got the dudes to have a really really good rushing team from the running back perspective and I think the offensive Line's going to come together that's going to help them have that as well so I think this is going to be a a good running team we'll see how good they're going to be in the 2024 season the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Houston Cougars in non-conference play we've had a little bit of a history with those cougars and one Willie Fritz we'll discuss coming up next here on lock on Sooners passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins so keep it ride or die alive at eBay motors eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers week two of the 2024 college football season the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Houston Cougars this was a game that kind of replaces your Georgia game that was going to be on the non-conference schedule and no longer but I think it's an intriguing matchup against a Willie Fritz team that is going to be well coached and a program that you will have good discipline about it let's not REM let's not forget 2020 was it 20 2020 when tane came to town or I guess it was 2019 when T Lan came no 2021 2021 21 yeah 20211 and22 two lane cames comes to town with Willie Fritz the Oklahoma sers actually built a big pretty big lead in that game even after Spencer Rattler throws the interception on the opening drive of the game uh but Sooners have to kind of hold on in that one as the Green Wave really gave him a scare to start the season so we know Willie Fritz is gonna be he's gonna have his team prepared for an Oklahoma Sooners team that has an offensive line that's turning over and a quarterback that is getting his feet wet for the first time as a starter so Jay as you look ahead at this game what are you thinking what do you think are going to be some of the big storylines that week I think the big thing is it'll be coming off of Jackson Arnold's first game game right playing against Temple and so we'll have an idea of what he's going to be because I mean if you go look at the Arkansas state game last season right he got in there he went 1141 got to get some balls out there but Dylan Gabriel looked really good in that game in a game that he was supposed to look dominant in and so if Jackson Arnold walks out there and is as dominant in that game as you would expect a guy to be in a game that you're supposed to be dominant in the talk is going to be going to this one but okay when things possibly turn up what is it going to look like because the good thing for Houston is they have a lot of Veteran presence right we went through and looked they've got a lot of transfers in the red shirt Junior red shirt senior or super senior range and so Will's got a lot of experience he's going to be working with the question is is can he dumb down his system enough for them to be ready to play in in this game right that's where the challenge is going to come in for them and so I anticipate you know one of the bigger storylines is is who's going to do better Donovan Smith or Jackson Arnold we we know who it is but Donovan's got a chance to redeem himself again we'll see kind of looks like because I mean hey he ain't had the last good couple of Seasons since he's been left Texas Tech we'll see if he can redeem himself at this point but I think Willie's going to be going this is rebuild year for them so for them is all about just competing as long as they're competitive to themselves they'll be prepared to go into next season round right and let's not forget this is a Houston team now not the same exact team but this is a Houston team that nearly upset Texas last year like that they they had Texas kind of right where they wanted on the road yeah they were Nelson everything it was it was not going well Oklahoma fans were waiting with baited breath as that game was finishing up and Texas was able to pull one out but Donovan Smith man I I still go back to Donovan Smith and I've kind of been a fan of his for a long time I know he's not the best quarterback I know he's not the most accurate passer but there's just something in his mental makeup that I think makes him an intriguing quarterback and when he went to Houston I thought oh man that's that's a big time pickup for them it just didn't really materialize for them last year but I think you know another year to get comfortable with the Cougars I think he can cause you to have some trouble because he's a dual threat quarterback he's a big guy he's physical and so as we've seen at different times over the last few years Oklahoma can have some trouble with athletic and and mobile quarterbacks I don't think they'll have a ton of trouble with Donovan Smith but again this kind of sets the stage a little bit though for playing a guy like Lenor sers you know coming out of the Texas game when You Face South Carolina at home this will kind of give you your read on what you need to be better at against the read option against some of the quarterback run design stuff I think it it is important on that front to see how this defense plays play against a guy like Donovan Smith because you'll play L Lenor cers You'll Play Jaylen milro later in the season Jackson dart's a pretty good athlete as well so you're GNA have some guys that are going to make you pay in the Run game quarterback run game if you're not paying attention to them just a couple more notes Here on Houston before uh we wrap up here on lockon Sooners uh come in in the SP plus rankings over at ESPN 79th overall in Sp plus ratings that's after the transfer portal window so all the talent all of the the things factored in the analytical approach not considered one of the better teams in the country um and then as far as returning production goes also again not a lot of returning production for the Houston Cougars coming in number 72 uh 72nd on offense and 50th on defense but again a lot of this is going to be an very experienced team as Jay mentioned but I think this is going to be one of those games that Oklahoma again handles pretty easily yeah I agree with you there the big thing that help Oklahoma in this scenario is that as much as we think Houston's going to be super competitive in this they've got a lot of things that they've got to figure out right like I said new coach right the thing that helps even when your team is bad if you've got continuity from your coach players still going to play hard enough right in this situation we ain't got that and Willie does a really good job of getting his players to turn up and play hard I mean he's going to Take This Job yeah right right he's going to take this job and he's going to lead this into another bigger program at some point but it's going to take him a year or two to really establish it kind of like we were talking about like LSU going against USC you know the beginning of the Season big thing for them is that whole new defensive staff it's going to take them some time to figure out how they're going to use the dudes properly act in actual game scenarios right practice is cool but until you get to an actual scenario you're going to have a lot of questions and that's what Houston's going to be dealing with just for this season I think next season though Will's going to have that team turned around and they're going to be competitive in in the Big 12 right now uh Phil still has them as dead last I think that's kind of accurate for now but next season could be painful for everybody in that conference yeah Willie Fritz is a pretty solid recruiter he's gonna get some guys in there that are going to be able to play Above their star ranking as well one final note on the roster uh former Oklahoma Sooner turn USC Trojan Latrell McCutchen is projected to start at cornerback for OU so it wouldn't be too terribly surprising to see uh some guys want to go make some make some plays against that guy Jalil faroo I think probably the only dude on offense still here from that time period uh when all the drama went down and he's like though anyway so I was wondering who left at that point I couldn't even remember who was left on the team from 2021 the only guys that are really here are Farooq DS stutzman Bowman offensively you don't really have any other anybody else that were but you're gonna have guys that like Josh Bates I I I bet remembers all the drama that surrounded that whole thing because he was the one guy that was committed he was the first commit in the 2024 cycle to Oklahoma that stayed committed sorry 2023 cycle that stayed committed um throughout that whole process when guys like Malachi nson and M lemon and all those started flipping and all that Luke and everybody just kind of turned on the Sooners Josh bat stay so good chance that he remembers all of the social media drama that went on surrounding LR McCutchen but who knows if that'll be on anybody's mind when that game goes on it'll be on sooner fans mind at least looking forward to see Jaden Gibson go up against one Mr McCutchen but that's going to do it for today's episode of Locked on Sooners thanks so much for tuning in being a part of the show subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts we're free and available on all podcast platforms and on YouTube also go check out the locked on Sooners Insider program by texting SEC 2024 to 405 81767 one1 that's SEC 2024 to 405 81767 one1 you'll get 25% off your first month that's where we're going to go in we're going to break down some prospects we're going to answer your questions do q&as for you the lock on Sooners Insider again that's 405 81767 one1 follow Jay on Twitter unfair Sports myself john9 Williams the show is at lockon Sooners on all the social media platforms again subscribe wherever you get your podcast but until next time where're we're going to start talking wide receivers who's going to be the breakout how many 800 yard receivers will Oklahoma have in 2024 my guess is a lot we'll discuss that on our next episode of Locked on sooner so make sure you're tuned in with us every single day but for Jay Smith I'm John Williams we'll catch you next time Boomer Sooner