THE GRAHAM SLAM

People don’t know what it means to be champions. Oklahoma invented it.

– Barry Switzer

In the second half of the 20th century, Oklahoma football was a powerhouse. In the 21st century, the team is still strong. But at this point, a more apt word for modern Sooners football might be “tease.”

Since 2000, no college football team has so consistently teased its fanbase by coming within inches of a national championship, only to fall short again and again. 2004. 2005. 2008. Three appearances in the BCS national championship game; three defeats.

Then, after a half-decade of relative struggle, the Sooners were back at it. 2015. 2017. 2018. 2019. Four College Football Playoff appearances; four losses.

I’m not complaining. There are about 120 FBS teams who would trade places with the Sooners in a heartbeat. Despite the late-season disappointments, the past 20 years have also brought the Sooners a dozen outright Big 12 championships, four Heisman trophy winners, and the distinction of having back-to-back No. 1 NFL Draft picks.

But, unfair though it may be, at Oklahoma the expectations are simply higher than that. Conference championships are great. Heismans are a bonus. But the Sooners are about national championships.

Is this year’s squad ready to break through? There are plenty of national pundits who think the answer is yes. Phil Steele, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard are just three of the names who think this is OU’s year. On the podcast “Unnecessary Roughness,” three of the four hosts picked OU as their national champion. There are more examples, I’m sure.

On paper, it makes a lot of sense. Of the top four teams in the preseason AP Top 25 – Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson and Ohio State – OU is the only one returning its starting quarterback.

Spencer Rattler had a great 2020 season, but he didn’t have a Heisman-caliber campaign. He was the first OU quarterback in five years not to be a Heisman finalist. But no matter; he’s the 2021 preseason favorite to win the trophy, with +650 odds at BetMGM. (Clemson’s and Alabama’s freshmen quarterbacks have the second-best odds, both at +1100.) Obviously, national observers believe in Lincoln Riley and his quarterback factory.

Then there’s the defense. The national media has finally realized that, after years of playing like a wet paper bag, Oklahoma finally has a defense worthy of its offense. Maybe even – dare I say it? – better than its offense. Linebacker Nik Bonitto, for one, is widely respected as one of the best pass-rushers in college football. The defensive line is feared, and the secondary respected.

So does Oklahoma have a shot? Yeah, absolutely.

But there’s always something to worry about, and Sooners fans can probably think of a few somethings. Perhaps the most pressing issue is a lack of depth in the running back room. Recently, we learned that Marcus Major will be ineligible this season because of academic problems. A few days later, LSU transfer Tre Bradford reentered the transfer portal, where he’s expected to end up right back at LSU.

Yikes.

That leaves Oklahoma with only two scholarship running backs, Kennedy Brooks and Tennessee transfer Eric Gray. Neither played for OU last season. That’s just not where a championship contender wants to be.

There are more questions to answer. Can OU effectively replace a talented center like Creed Humphrey? Which receivers will step up? Will they miss departed defenders Ronnie Perkins and Tre Brown?

Sooners fans better hope OU can answer all those questions, because this might be the team’s best championship shot in a decade. And who knows when it will come again?

Think about it: The other perennial powers, like Alabama, have new QBs and remade rosters. Alex Grinch has finally elevated the OU defense into something approaching championshipcaliber. This roster, up and down, is as talented as it’s ever been.

Oklahoma will continue to put good teams on the field for the foreseeable future. But its days of gliding to a Big 12 championship are soon coming to an end, as the program will move to the SEC by 2025. I hope Alex Grinch sticks around for a while, but he will get offered great jobs this offseason. I hope Lincoln Riley stays in Norman forever, but he can already coach wherever he wants to, including in the NFL.

I don’t mean to be gloomy. Heck, we should all be excited! The time for a title is now.

But if not now, when?