College football analyst thinks Oklahoma Sooners will be much improved in 2025

USA Today

2 days ago

With SEC Media Days wrapping up on Thursday, the countdown to the 2025 college football season is officially on. In a few short weeks, the waiting will be over, and it'll finally be football time in Oklahoma again.
Josh Pate, who covers college football for CBS Sports and is the host of "Josh Pate's College Football Show," was on hand in Atlanta this week to cover SEC media days and had plenty of thoughts about the Oklahoma Sooners heading into the season.
Pate believes OU will be a vastly improved team this year, though he did admit that he seems to be a bit higher on Oklahoma than most other people in attendance were. The college football analyst believes that the Sooners will be a significantly improved team in 2025, despite facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
"So like if you think Oklahoma's going to be subpar this year, they'll get swallowed by that schedule," Pate said. "If you think they're going to be good, and I happen to think they'll be a top 10 caliber team this year just in terms of quality, then they'll find a way through that. Not find a way through it unscathed, but they'll find a way through it."
It's no secret that the Sooners had a multitude of flaws last year, most of them on offense. However, those flaws are issues that Pate believes can be addressed and aren't fatal to the program's future success.
"So my theory on them is they were not a terminally flawed team last year," Pate said. "My theory on them is that offensive line combined with Seth Littrell and, just not being the guy for Jackson Arnold or Jackson Arnold not being the guy for that system, that was the terminal flaw. I don't think lack of talent, lack of (recruiting) classes stacked on top of each other, has been the terminal flaw. Defense is not the terminal flaw for them. So organizationally, that's always been a rock-solid place.
Obviously, the pairing of starting quarterback and offensive coordinator(s) last year was not a good thing for the Sooners. QB Jackson Arnold and the OC trio of Seth Littrell, Joe Jon Finley, and Kevin Johns didn't get the job done, as Oklahoma struggled to move the ball and score points. OU hopes they've remedied that problem with the pairing of QB John Mateer and OC Ben Arbuckle, which Pate thinks can make for more success in 2025.
"I think they've got plenty good enough players this year," Pate said. "I think offensive line play will be significantly improved. But I also think that quarterback play, play-calling synergy offensively, complimentary style of play, all that'll be there the way it should be for them, and if it is, you know, 9-3, they're one of the teams where 9-3, I would feel comfortable saying that will be good enough to get them into the Playoff."
As the Sooners exit media days and get ready for fall camp, we're about to find out if everyone who thinks OU will be better is right this year.
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