How has this OU football season so far shaped expectations for what Sooners can achieve?

With four games under their belts, it’s becoming a bit easier to form opinions on how this OU football team is shaping up and to look at what might be possible for the Sooners looking forward.

This week, the Sooners host Iowa State before moving on to Texas.

In this week’s newsletter, OU beat writers Ryan Aber and Justin Martinez look at what we’ve learned about the Sooners through the first four games of the season:

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In what way has your expectation for this OU football team changed since the start of the season?

Aber: I’m definitely more bullish on the Sooners now, and it stems from the defense.

I expected the defense to be better, but didn’t quite expect this.

And it’s not just how the front-line guys are playing, but how they’re able to work in players down the depth chart, without much in the way of drop off.

That speaks positively to the Sooners chances to hold leads late in games that they wouldn’t have been able to last year, and they ability to keep improving as the season goes on.

Now, even with that continued improvement, I wouldn’t expect the numbers to stay at the level they’ve been at, but they’ll be better than they were.

Danny Stutsman and Key Lawrence, to me, are the shining examples of the defense’s better grasp of Brent Venables’ defensive system in Year 2.

Now, even with this improvement. I think I lean toward picking Texas next week, but it’s at least something that requires a bit of pondering before arriving to that conclusion, then you look at the rest of the schedule and there’s a lot of games the Sooners should be expected to win. That Kansas game on Oct. 28 might be the biggest roadblock to keeping the Sooners out of the Big 12 Championship Game — imagine saying that a couple years ago.

It’s not that there aren’t games OU could drop — BYU and TCU, in particular, remain dangerous, as does UCF, but what was an already light schedule doesn’t exactly look tougher now than it did before the season.

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Martinez: My expectations for OU’s offense have changed for the better and worse.

I’ve become more confident in Dillon Gabriel, who’s off to a strong start. The redshirt senior quarterback has thrown for 1,227 yards, 12 touchdowns and just one interception. He has also completed 78% of his passes.

My expectations for the wide receivers have changed as well.

I expected Jalil Farooq to be Gabriel’s go-to target, but Andrel Anthony has been that guy instead. The Michigan transfer boasts team-highs of 21 catches and 371 yards to go along with one touchdown, and his ability to stretch the field has been a game changer.

But my expectations for the running backs have changed for the worse.

I expected sophomore Jovantae Barnes to be OU’s lead running back, but the team has split carries between four players instead. The rotation is constantly changing, and I do question how sustainable that is.

Still, OU’s offense ranks first in the Big 12 in points per game (46.8), and I expect it to continue to be a lethal unit moving forward.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football expectations increasing after strong start for Sooners