The 2025 Spring football season will have a much different look than in years past. In fact, the word different might be an understatement.
Oklahoma will debut a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback, a whole new set of wide receivers and an old/new defensive coordinator, along with a new group of leaders on the defensive side of the football.
But the changes are not relegated to the sidelines. In a surprising turn of events, the Sooners announced there will be no spring game this year. This decision marks a significant departure from tradition. The absence of the spring game will undoubtedly add an element of mystery and anticipation as the Sooners prepare for the upcoming season under these unprecedented changes.
The Sooners are not alone in making the decision not to play a spring game; it is a trend across college football. Oklahoma joins Texas, Ohio State, USC and Nebraska, among others.
The Sooners will still have a fan event called the Crimson Combine to help feed that football hunger, but the Spring Game is likely never coming back.
“I’m a hundred percent sympathetic,” Joe Castiglione, Sooner athletic director, said during an appearance on The Ref. “This is not a great thing. I’m not at all trying to excuse it, justify it or try to put any lipstick on it.
“It’s a rotten spot to be in. And I feel for the fans… There are a lot of schools that have cancelled spring games and [are] not doing anything at all. We’ve just said, forget that — we’re going to try to create an entirely different way for our fans to engage with our team.”
The Sooners still have 15 practices to get ready for the 2025 season. Even without the spring game, questions and storylines remain.
FIXING THE SOONER OFFENSE
When Venables hired Ben Arbuckle as the new Sooner offensive coordinator, he labeled him as “one of the best offensive minds in the last several decades in college football.”
Based on the early track record, it is a fitting label for the man charged with returning the Sooner offense to the top.
The task is no small feat. Known for his innovative offensive strategies, Arbuckle brings a fresh and energetic perspective to the team. His philosophy centers on a dynamic passing game, quick decision-making and creating mismatches on the field.
At Washington State, his air-raid-influenced system featured rapid passing concepts and vertical threats, allowing quarterbacks to distribute the ball efficiently. While his background suggests a pass-heavy scheme, he has also adapted to incorporate the running game when necessary.
The Sooners were 121st in total offense, averaging 322.5 yards per game, and they managed just 4.78 yards per play (126th nationally). Oklahoma was also 133rd out of 134 FBS teams in plays of 20-plus yards, with 32 of them.
Arbuckle is set to change that. The Cougars were 12th in scoring (36.8 points per game), 22nd in total offense (440.4 yards per game), 14th in yards per play (6.65) and tied for 10th in plays of 20-plus yards (70th).
“This is a conference of the line of scrimmage,” Arbuckle said. “The first thing I always want to do is make sure we establish the line of scrimmage, in all forms. Who better than Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh and (Joe Jon) Finley to set that vision in motion? The best in the country, they’re here, and I can’t wait to work side by side with them to do that.”
The Sooners were 94th nationally and second to last in the SEC in scoring at 24.3 points per game. The offense managed just 11 touchdowns in eight SEC games, scoring no more than two touchdowns in any of those conference matchups.
“Everybody likes points, right? I like points; everyone here should like points,” Arbuckle said. “Full-team football, I think, is pivotal in the success not only of an offense but a program as a whole. Explosive plays win. That’s what you’re going to see, and we’re going to get rolling on that as soon as possible.”
IS THE NEW SOONER QB READY FOR THE SEC?
With confidence and a swagger that has drawn early Baker Mayfield comparisons, Mateer has made an instant impact on the Sooner fanbase and his teammates.
“First day of strength and conditioning workouts, my teammates put me in the front of the line,” Mateer said. “I really appreciated that. That gave me some confidence.”
As Mateer arrives from Washington State, he joins a team that finished the 2024 season with an offense ranked outside the top 100, averaging only 4.8 yards per play. Despite the offensive struggles, expectations are high that the transfer quarterback will energize the offense, much like a previous transfer quarterback did.
“I talked to Dillon Gabriel, he just told me to embrace the guys and really build relationships because that’s the most important thing,” Mateer said in his first media appearance at OU.
During the 2024 season, Mateer backed up the hype at Washington State. He threw for more than 3,000 yards last season—completing 65% of his passes—while running for just under 1,000. Mateer led the Cougars to eight wins, their most since 2018.
Mateer decided to join the University of Oklahoma in part because of the opportunity to energize the offensive attack and to play at the highest level of college football. Under the guidance of Arbuckle, who was his offensive coordinator at Washington State, expectations are high that the Oklahoma offense can be as potent and explosive as it has been in years past.
“Pressure is a privilege. It’s a little cliche, but it’s true,” Mateer said. “Seeing my teammates willing to come throw with me and work out … gives me a lot of confidence in what we can do this year.”
In Arbuckle’s two years at Washington State, he achieved a combined ranking of 10th in the nation for passing yards and passing touchdowns per game. His offensive system has proven to be effective, but now it has to be implemented into a new program. Mateer is willing and ready to be a part of that process.
“His offense is very dynamic,” Mateer said. “We only have a couple installs in right now, but you can see that people are getting it. They’re feeling more comfortable in it every day, and it’s exciting to see.”
A REBUILT WIDE RECEIVER ROOM
In every preview for the 2024 season surrounding Oklahoma Sooner Football, wide receiver depth was a huge strength, but injuries decimated the receiver room.
For almost the entirety of the season, OU’s top four pass catchers from the year before — Nic Anderson, Jayden Gibson, Andrel Anthony and Jalil Farooq — were injured. That group played in a combined four games for a mere four receptions for 62 yards, including Farooq’s 47-yard grab on the second play of the season, during which he was injured.
All four decided to transfer and were joined by J.J. Hester, Brenen Thompson and Jaquaize Pettaway in the portal. Add in Bauer Sharp’s exit to LSU and Jake Roberts’s graduation, and just about every receiver who caught a pass in 2024 has moved on to play elsewhere—except one… Deion Burks.
The explosive Purdue transfer looked to be as impressive as advertised in the early part of the season, but he battled injuries as well and finished with 31 receptions for just 245 yards and three touchdowns — all of his scores coming in the season opener.
Despite the frustration of his first season at Oklahoma, Burks decided to return and help rebuild the Sooners’ offensive attack.
“It definitely has been tough mentally, dealing with a lot of off-the-field things, injuries of course,” Burks said. “I feel like a lot of things made me stronger.”
With Burks back, the Sooners began to rebuild the group through the portal, adding Isaiah Sategna (Arkansas), Keontez Lewis (Southern Illinois), Josiah Martin (California) and Javonnie Gibson (Arkansas Pine-Bluff). All are projected to be important contributors. They also added four-star prospect Elijah Thomas and three-star Emmanuel Choice via the freshman class.
“Last year was last year, but we have a lot of new players,” redshirt sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Sategna said. “The first thing is gelling with the team and bonding with the guys because that’s the biggest thing when you’re going to war and the going gets tough.”
To help build chemistry, Mateer organized twice-weekly throwing sessions with the Sooners’ skill players during the winter months, eager to lay the foundation for a strong rapport with his new teammates.
“We’ve only been here for two months, the new guys,” Sategna said. “But I feel like I’ve been here a lot longer. I love all the people here.”
The wild card for the Sooners is Jayden Gibson. The 6-5 playmaker missed the entire season with an injury, and despite suffering a minor setback heading into spring ball, his emergence could help strengthen the receiver group as a whole.
“Jayden Gibson and Deion Burks, they’ve been here for longer than most guys in the receiver room, they’re older guys too. They’ve been helping us out a lot,” Sategna said. “If we ever need anything, those are two guys we can lean on.”
Newcomer To Watch – Javonnie Gibson, Wide Receiver
Honestly, you could probably put about any of the Oklahoma transfer receivers under this category, but there is something about Gibson and his playmaking ability.
Gibson transferred to OU from Arkansas Pine-Bluff but was completely unknown before his breakout at UAPB. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver out of Louisiana was not rated by any recruiting platforms out of high school. He spent his first two seasons of college at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, which competes at the NCAA Division II level.
He ended his lone season in Pine Bluff with 70 receptions for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns. Both his reception and yard totals are second all-time in UAPB’s single-season record books.
REPLACING DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman and Ethan Downs starred at the NFL Combine. The trio put up some of the best numbers for their positions and will hear their names called during the NFL Draft weekend starting April 24.
But as the trio moves on to the next level, the Sooners are left trying to find ways to replace the production and leadership. At linebacker, Kobie McKinzie has been preparing for this moment.
“He left us in great shape,” McKinzie said of Stutsman. “It’s like getting a car with one owner. Obviously, there have been some speed bumps, but it’s been great.”
Along with Kip Lewis and Sammy Omosigho, the inside linebacker spot is loaded with talent and experience, but Stutsman’s leadership will be a challenge to replace.
For Sooner legend and KREF afternoon host Teddy Lehman, replacing Billy Bowman Jr. is his biggest storyline of the 2025 Spring season.
“The playmaking ability, the experience, the attitude … all of the things that Billy Bowman brought to that secondary. They are incredibly costly,” Lehman said. “His experience that he brought to the secondary is going to be very difficult to replace.”
The Sooners will have a duo of experienced voices helping to fill the void. Robert Spears Jennings and Peyton Bowen return after finishing second and third on the team in defensive snaps played in the secondary last year.
Player To Watch – Jaren Kanak, Tight End
After three seasons of battling to find a spot in the linebacker rotation, Jaren Kanak switched to the offensive side of the football and is playing a position where the Sooners desperately need a playmaker.
The move puts Kanak back on the side of the football where he had his most success in high school. As a senior wildcatting quarterback, he averaged 10.2 yards per carry (23 rushing touchdowns) and threw for 910 yards and 12 TDs, helping Hays High School in Kansas to program records of 5,608 total yards, 3,603 rushing yards, and 428 points in 2021. He finished third all-time in school history in rushing yards (2,072) and scoring (216 points).
A NEW / OLD VOICE CALLING THE DEFENSE
Don’t try to tell Venables that this year is any bigger than the year before. The fourth-year Sooner coach understands the pressure heading into this season, but every season has been packed with pressure.
“Every year is big for me,” he said. “Every game’s that way. Every day I show up, something’s on the line. My job’s on the line. So, nothing’s changing for me. Do we need to be better? You’re damn right. Does your mindset change? Nope.”
When the Sooners lost defensive coordinator Zac Alley to West Virginia, it was a surprise. The Sooners found themselves in the mix for Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles who eventually decided to take the job at Penn State. In the end, the best option was sitting right here in Norman.
“Why am I going to call the defense? Because I’m good at it,” Venables said. “I know what that looks like… managing gameday and in-season, out of season, the meeting room, practice field, all those things, I know what that looks like.”
In 2000, Venables helped lead the Oklahoma Sooners to a national title, thanks to strong defensive efforts. He then helped the Sooners return to the national title game two more times before leaving to join Dabo Swinney at Clemson. With the Tigers, Venables won two more national titles.
During his run as the Clemson defensive coordinator, the Tigers finished in the top five in scoring defense five times. At Oklahoma, the Sooners finished in the top five in scoring defense four times and also finished No. 6 in 2000.– BSM
By Chris Plank
