How will Brent Venables, OU football fare in 2023 season? Here are our predictions

We're less than two weeks until the OU football season begins at home Sept. 2 against Arkansas State.

Preseason camp has turned into preparations for the opener with school starting Monday for OU. That means it time to make predictions for how the Sooners will fare in Year 2 of the Brent Venables era.

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Aber: OU football will thrive in 2023 under Brent Venables

Aber: I’m going with 10-2.

The Sooners’ schedule is a light one.

The non-conference schedule is an unusually weak one OU, with no Power 5 opponents for the first time since 2000 (minus the COVID-shortened 2020 season).

The conference schedule is also an unusual one, with the Sooners not having to face Baylor, Kansas State or Texas Tech.

Those three have accounted for six of the Sooners’ 11 Big 12 losses over the last four seasons (three of those at the hands of Kansas State.

The schedule includes several teams in transition — Cincinnati’s roster was overhauled under new coach Scott Satterfield, Iowa State has been dealing with the fallout of a gambling scandal, and UCF and BYU (in addition to Cincinnati) are likely to deal with an adjustment period as they make the move up to the Big 12.

So even if the Sooners on-field product is the same as it was last season, when OU went 6-7, the record should take a fairly significant step forward.

But they should be better on the field this season.

The offensive line looks to be better this season with Tyler Guyton and Walter Rouse at tackle and — it appears — Savion Byrd breaking into the starting lineup.

The defense should be better at all three levels after struggling mightily in Brent Venables’ first season.

Even if they’re middle-of-the-road, that’ll be a big step up from where they were last season.

So while it’s unlikely the Sooners will be a top-flight defense, even minor improvements figure to make a big impact on the regular-season record.

Finally, there’s the number of close games the Sooners lost last season.

Five of OU’s seven defeats came by a touchdown or less.

While success in tight, late-game situations has been a focus of the offseason and preseason camp, and there are things that can be done to help turn those results around, the law of averages figures to help the Sooners turn some of those close losses into victories.

The prediction here would seem to indicate a major improvement but that will remain to be seen until either the Big 12 Championship Game — should the Sooners make it — and/or the bowl game.

But a variety of factors point toward a dramatically better record — in the regular season at least — for OU this season.

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Martinez: Expect an OU football bounceback in 2023

Martinez: I think 10-2 is fair. There's even an argument that OU could go 11-1 with its light schedule.

But I'm predicting the Sooners to go 9-3 this season.

I’m picking OU to stumble in Week 6 against Texas and its high-powered offense. The Longhorns return quarterback Quinn Ewers and go-to wide receiver Xavier Worthy along with all five starting offensive linemen.

I also think OU will fall short in its season finale against TCU. Quarterback Chandler Morris has breakout potential, and the Horned Frogs’ defense should still be formidable.

OU’s third loss could come during a few toss-up games. A Week 8 home game against a sneaky-good UCF team. A Week 10 road game against a motivated OSU team.

Again, these are all games the Sooners can win. They'll even be favored in most of them.

But I can't give the benefit of the doubt to a team that went 6-7 last season. I still have concerns about OU's linebacker depth and the defensive line's ability to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

I also need to see who'll step up in the absence of Marvin Mims and Eric Gray, who accounted for 28.3% percent of the Sooners' receiving yards and 44.3% percent of their rushing yards last season, respectively.

It wouldn't surprise me if OU pulled off an epic turnaround this season and returned to the Big 12 Championship Game. But 9-3 seems like a safe bet.

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Which OU football player has caught your eye the most during fall camp?

Aber: I’m going to go with Andrel Anthony, the wide receiver transfer from Michigan.

I have to admit to being skeptical about Anthony’s ability to have a major impact for the Sooners this season, after he had just seven catches for 80 yards and one touchdown last season for the Wolverines.

But Anthony has performed well during the open portions of practice and generated some buzz with the way he’s played outside of those parts of practice — primarily in scrimmages — has continued to impress.

“Based on what we’ve seen so far, Andrel will be a major part of the offensive system,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said recently.

Several receivers could also be the answer here, as Gavin Freeman always seems to be the first receiver mentioned when the position group is brought up to coaches and players, and redshirt freshman Nic Anderson has also raised eyebrows after having limited opportunities last season.

That’s a positive sign for a group that has little in the way of proven production outside of Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops.

Martinez: I'll go with someone on defense, and that's Dasan McCullough.

The sophomore linebacker appeared to be a home run transfer addition when OU added him on Dec. 12. McCullough recorded 49 tackles (6.5 for loss) and four sacks at Indiana last season.

McCullough has looked as good as advertised during spring and fall camp. He’s a 6-foot-5, 227-pound linebacker with great size and good speed, and he seems to have gotten comfortable in OU’s system.

The Sooners desperately need guys to step up at linebacker this season, and McCullough appears to be a breakout candidate.

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What is OU men’s basketball’s most intriguing nonconference matchup?

Martinez: OU’s most intriguing matchup is a game against North Carolina on Dec. 20.

The game is part of the Jumpman Invitational, and it’ll take place at the Charlotte Hornets’ Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Basically, it’s a home game for UNC.

The Tar Heels have a strong roster this season. They’re led by Armando Bacot, a three-time All-ACC center who’ll test OU down low.

UNC also added two impactful forward transfers. Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan and Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram averaged 12.3 points and 10.5 points per game last season, respectively.

And then there’s freshman Elliot Cadeau. The five-star point guard is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2023.

Facing UNC will be quite the test for OU, making it a very intriguing matchup.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football predictions for 2023 season, Year 2 of Brent Venables era