Stock Report: Sooners trending positively after win over Texas
The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a great start to the 2023 season: 6-0 heading into the bye week and coming off a win against the team that was the toughest test on their schedule.
Now the Sooners will have to avoid any letdowns over their final six games of the season.
But before we begin to look ahead toward the rest of the season, let’s continue to look back at the Sooners’ dramatic 34-30 win over the Texas Longhorns with this week’s stock report.
Stock Up: Ethan Downs, DE
Last year, very few things went well for the Oklahoma Sooners on the defensive side of the ball. During the final few games of the regular season, the team started to put it together. Ethan Downs was one of the few bright spots in November with 18 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in the final four games.
Like a lot of the guys on the defensive side of the ball, Downs is having a huge impact in his second year in Brent Venables defense.
Through six games, Downs has 17 total tackles, five tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He leads the Oklahoma Sooners in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Against Texas, he came up huge, collecting three total tackles and two sacks. He played with an intensity that reminds of Brent Venables and defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis.
Downs is playing great football for the Sooners.
Stock Up: Billy Bowman, DB
Billy Bowman had a huge game. He separated Ja’Tavion Sanders from the ball at the goal line, popping it in the air for Kendel Dolby to come down with the interception. He was also key on the goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to combine with Dasan McCullough to stop Xavier Worthy on fourth-and-goal.
Bowman is playing great football for the Sooners. His physicality was needed on Saturday.
Stock Up: Dasan McCullough, Cheetah
After ceding the starting cheetah job to Justin Harrington coming out of fall camp, Dasan McCullough was thrust into the starting lineup due to Harrington’s season-ending injury.
And it was at a time when McCullough was working his way back from an injury of his own.
He’s done nothing but elevate his play since. On the goal-line stand, the Texas Longhorns attempted to run his direction on multiple occasions. And each time he stifled or simply beat the blocking to make the play and keep Texas out of the end zone.
We’re beginning to see what had everyone so excited about the addition of Dasan McCullough in the transfer portal.
Stock Down: "49-0"
For more than a year, Oklahoma and its fan base had to endure “49-0” ad nauseam. The 34-30 win for the Sooners wasn’t nearly as decisive, but it was a huge statement for a program that underwent massive upheaval prior to the 2022 season.
That’s why Longhorns supporters are so distraught by the four-point loss. 49-0 gave Texas and their fans this idea that they were somehow light years ahead of the Sooners. That the loss in the Red River Rivalry a year ago was somehow reflective of who Oklahoma is.
That’s why Texas fans are taking the loss so poorly.
Just take your loss and move on.
Texas is a good football team. They very well could have won that game. But they didn’t. Oklahoma did.
There’s no shame in losing to your biggest rival, and it doesn’t take away anything that Texas has done in 2023. It also doesn’t end its season.
There’s a good chance the two meet again in December. Both teams still have six games to go to get to the Big 12 title game. Through the first half of the season, they look like the two best teams in the conference and two of the best in the country.
These two teams are contenders. Unless they slip up somewhere along the way, the future SEC squads will be playing for the Big 12 title and contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
But for now, the Sooners put 49-0 to bed.
Stock Up: Austin Stogner, TE
Through five games, Austin Stogner’s return to Oklahoma hadn’t gone as planned. He hadn’t been all that effective in the passing game and his blocking was a bit hit or miss.
But in this one, Austin Stogner provided several big catches. He had three receptions for 24 yards. Two of those receptions went for first downs and they came on the Sooners opening drive of the second half.
We’ll see if he can build on that effort and become a significant part of the passing game. Oklahoma will need him to continue improving throughout the season.
Stock Up: Dillon Gabriel, QB
Dillon Gabriel has played good football during his time with the Oklahoma Sooners. He’s even elevated his game in 2023. But prior to his performance in the Red River Rivalry, some were still critical of his play.
After orchestrating the last-minute, game-winning touchdown drive, Dillon Gabriel has solidified quite the legacy for himself. That was the stuff of legend.
There’s certainly much more to accomplish in 2023. If the Sooners are able to play meaningful football in December, Gabriel will be a big reason.
Stock Up: Jalil Farooq, WR
Several Sooners had big games in the win over Texas. Jalil Farooq had a career-high 130 yards receiving. He was effective as a runner and in the return game as well.
With the injury to Andrel Anthony, the Sooners will need more of that from Farooq and it was great to see him rise to the occasion in Oklahoma’s big win over Texas.
Stock Up: Brent Venables
When Brent Venables said this team was good enough to “hang a banner” in the summer, many scoffed. Well, it’s looking more and more possible with each passing week.
If there was any question about the future of Oklahoma football, those questions should be moot.
Prior to the 2023 season, Brent Venables and his coaching staff had proven they could recruit with the best in the country. Venables had shown an ability to build a staff. He’d shown the ability to rally the fan base. The only thing he hadn’t done was win.
Well, with the Sooners off to a 6-0 start (matching their win total from a year ago) and coming off of a huge win over Texas, Venables is showing why he’d been a highly coveted name in coaching circles for years.
The Oklahoma Sooners are in great hands with Venables at the helm. Like with Gabriel, there’s a lot more to accomplish this season. And the Sooners still have areas that they have to improve, but they’re heading in the right direction.
Stock Down: Lincoln Riley
There was a lot of talk from Oklahoma’s former coach about what he could or couldn’t do at the University of Oklahoma when he left for USC. Namely recruiting. I’ll grant that it’s still early in Lincoln Riley’s tenure with the Trojans. However, all of the problems that plagued Oklahoma when he was with the Sooners followed him to USC.
Riley can’t field a defense and is getting bailed out by Superman-like quarterback play from Caleb Williams. But what’s he going to do when Caleb is playing in Minnesota or Denver or New England?
Will he have the patience to let Malachi Nelson grow and develop in the system? Will he go portal shopping for a stop-gap quarterback?
Everyone celebrated USC and Lincoln Riley when they joined forces back in 2021. Now the shine has worn off, and the criticism is coming strong.
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