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from Muskogee Phoenix 2022 Pigskin Preview

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30 Muskogee Phoenix Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022

Pigskin Preview Venables’ time

Springing from Fiesta

With new head coach, Sooners possess different vibe Win over Notre Dame launches OSU to higher hopes

Associated Press

NORMAN — There is a different vibe around the Oklahoma program this year.

The Sooners’ run of conference championships ended at six last season with a loss to Oklahoma State that cost them a spot in the Big 12 title game. Coach Lincoln Riley then quickly left for Southern California and quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler transferred elsewhere.

Oklahoma hired Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables to steady the ship, but with all the movement, the Sooners aren’t even favored to win the conference this

year — the coaches picked Baylor to repeat. That doesn’t matter to Venables, who has been focused on the process heading into the ninth-ranked Sooners’ opener Sept. 3 against UTEP. He has a big-picture approach and expects to eventually have the kind of success the Sooners had when he was an assistant with the program from 1999 to 2011, which included a national title in 2000. “Here we are, fall camp 2022, first Venables season,” he said. “Our coaches and players and our staff have worked incredibly hard, relentlessly, trying to build for this season and beyond. And so I couldn’t be more excited about what’s in front of us.” The Sooners have a new quar-

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STILLWATER —Oklahoma State came within inches of winning the Big 12 title and likely claiming a spot in the College Football Playoff last season.

The 12th-ranked Cowboys believe they can go further this season after a heartbreaking 21-16 loss to Baylor in the conference title game last December. They finished last season with a 12-2 record and No. 7 final ranking and take high hopes into this season.

“I feel like we have so much talent in so many areas,” quarterback Spencer Sanders said. “Hopefully, we can come together and get to that Big 12

championship game like we did last year and take it all the way.” Sanders is back for his fourth season. He’s already among the school’s all-time statistical leaders in several categories, and he’s coming off a monster game in the Fiesta Bowl. He passed for 371 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 125 yards in a 3735 win over Notre Dame. Last season, one of the nation’s best defenses carried much of the load for the Cowboys. This season, Sanders Sanders believes the team will be more balanced. He’s one of 10 offensive starters returning. “It’s time to show people what this offense can do,” he said. “We have to take care of the little things so that when the big things come, the lit-

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