2009 Record: 8-5 (5-3)
Head Coach: Bob Stoops (12th season, 117-29)
Offensive Coordinator: Kevin Wilson (9th season)
Defensive Coordinator: Brent Venables (12th season)
2009 Bowl Game: Sun Bowl, defeated Stanford 31-27
Offense: The 23rd ranked offense from last season returns largely intact at the skill positions. Landry Jones was force fed to the wolves at QB last season as a freshman when Sam Bradford went down, and he played exceptionally well, including in the bowl game when he passed for 418 yards. He is going to be a huge player in the Big 12 this season. DeMarco Ryans has rushed for just under 2500 yards in his career at OU, and even though he was not spectacular last season, he is always just a play away from busting loose. There is insane depth at the RB position behind Ryans. Ryan Broyles missed two games in 2009 at WR, but still broke a school record with 89 grabs. He makes Jones that much better at QB just by being on the field. DeJuan Miller and Jaz Reynolds are lining up at the other spots, but look out for freshman Kenny Stills, as he was a star back in the spring (he enrolled early). Trent Ratterree will start at TE, but James Hanna will see lots of time there as well. Three starters return on the line, but there is depth here as well.
Defense: Six starters return from what was the 6th best defense in the country a year ago. DE Jeremy Beal had 11 sacks last season at DE, and Frank Alexander will man the other end. Travis Lewis is the lone returning starter at LB. The rest of the LB corps is young and untested, but very athletic. Both CB spots will have new starters. Demontre Hurst looks to have locked one spot down, but the other spot is still wide open. Jonathon Nelson and Quinton Carter both return at safety.
Special Teams: Tress Way ranked 3rd nationally as a freshman at Punter in 2009. He averaged over 45 yards per punt. Patrick O'Hara and Jimmy Stevens will once again battle eachother to be the starting PK. Broyles handles all kick return duties, and excels rather well there, too.
2010 Schedule
Wins: 9/4 Utah State, 9/11 Florida State, 9/18 Air Force, 10/16 Iowa State, 10/23 @ Missouri, 10/30 Colorado, 11/6 @ Texas A&M, 11/13 Texas Tech, 11/20 @ Baylor, 11/27 @ Oklahoma State
Toss Up Games: 9/25 @ Cincinnati, 10/2 Texas (@ Dallas)
Losses: None
The Texas game will say it all, but the game at Cincy is a bit of a trap. Oklahoma should handle the rest of this schedule, maybe not with extreme ease every week, but with definition. The non-conference slate is not exactly daunting outside of Cincy.
Outlook: This is a typical Sooners team, minus some questions on defense. If everything comes together, and I have every reason to believe that it will, than OU is in the hunt for the national prize. Landry Jones will be the best sophomore QB in the country, and will be one of the best in any class overall when it's all done. The Texas game will decide who goes to the final Big 12 title game from the South.
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