Oklahoma Sooners Preview

No team has had quite the up and down ride through the polls as has the Oklahoma Sooners this year. After a fairly disappointing 8-4 season in 2005, Oklahoma was expected to be back and better than ever in 2006. With the return of their starting QB and All-World star running back Adrian Peterson, the top candidate for the Heisman this year, Oklahoma was expected to be nearly unbeatable in a weak Big XII conference. However, all that has changed thanks to the departure of Rhett Bomar.

As it was, the offense already was returning only four starters from last years squad, and experience is a big issue. With the departure of Rhett Bomar, Oklahoma loses their best QB and also much of their offensive experience. The damage that this causes the team is only too obvious given their youth, despite the talent, on offense.

The damage was noted by the media and others around the sports world, who quickly dropped Oklahoma in all the polls. After debuting extremely high in the preseason polls, even #1 in some and a likely pick for the BCS National Championship game, Oklahoma has quickly dropped to the bottom of the pack and is now even an outside contender just to compete for their own conference. All of a sudden the entire load falls onto Adrian Peterson, a player who’s Heisman stock has also dropped thanks to the departure of the QB and the fact that the offensive line still needs much improvement.

If Oklahoma does win this year, it will be by riding on two key elements of the team. One, the offensive line must pick it up over last year and must open up some holes for Adrian Peterson. Peterson must have a huge year on the ground and power the offense without an experienced QB. And two, the defense must be strong. Oklahoma returns 7 starters on defense from last year and has plenty talent ready to step in to fill the voids in the open positions, meaning if the defense can click they can truly wreak some havoc on opposing teams this fall, and this would be their only chance of being in contention for a possible conference and even national championship.