Oklahoma Sooners: Time To Step Up in 2010

There are countless articles previewing the 2010 Oklahoma Sooners season. This article explores the next few years and the significance of Sooner football in 2010.

A Look Ahead to the 2011 Season

Considering the youth on the 2010 Oklahoma Sooner team, OU could be very good in both 2010 and 2011.

• Three of the best players will likely return in 2011; Travis Lewis and Ryan Broyles are juniors, while Landry Jones is a sophomor.
• Four of the five offensive line starters should be here in 2011.
• There is a lot of youth (and potential depth) in the WR core (4.36-forty Kenny Stills & Justin McCay are 5-star freshmen).
  
• The QB depth in 2011 should be outstanding (Could one of the younger guys surpass Jones?).
  
• RB Brennan Clay is one of five 5-star players in the 2010 class who could make an impact in 2010.
  

Barring a breakout season, it doesn't appear anyone will be leaving early for the NFL this year (Broyles said he will be here in 2011). Travis Lewis could enter the draft early, but currently his draft stock is low.

Starters Leaving After 2010

On offense : Only RT and RB are seniors (DeMarco Murray will be extremely tough to replace, but Brennan Clay could step up as early as this fall). Currently the listed starter at TE, Eric Mensik , is a 290 lb senior who has only caught two passes. In reality, junior Trent Ratterree will start until freshman Austin Haywood, an ESPN-150 recruit, takes over.

On defense : DE, DT, CB, and FS are seniors.

Of these, Jeremy Beal, Adrian Taylor, and Quinton Carter are projected to go in the first or second round of the NFL Draft. Jonathan Nelson, the CB, is very good and will be in an NFL training camp next fall.

The returning seven defensive starters will have to step up in 2011 to replace these guys, but that shouldn't be any worse than replacing McCoy, Clayton, Franks, and Reynolds going into 2010.

OU is loaded at DE and DT. There are some promising safeties behind Carter, and OU is "pretty good" at CB.

OU's Biggest Rivalry

Considering the elite talent UT has brought in the last couple years (for 2011, UT has SEVEN 5-star recruits! OU currently has zero ! ), OU needs a great year to establish dominance and get the players used to playing at an elite level.

This will help tip the recruiting scale north of the Red River. There is little doubt that UT will be stacked and experienced in 2011. If OU can't get get a Red River Rivalry win this year, it could be another half-decade of UT -rouble (cheesy, I know).

Beyond the 2011 Season

Considering the quantity of starters OU is guaranteed to lose after 2011 (current juniors who should start in 2011), it doesn't look good. OU will lose 10 to 11 starters (to graduation) after 2011, including four from the offensive line. Of course, younger guys could win starting roles in the next couple of years.

Nevertheless, UT's 2011 class should be sprouting just as OU loses half of its starters. Add to that the seemingly-imminent departure of Bob Stoops (based on his comments) and the removal of the Big 12 title game (which has been a HUGE boost for the OU football program despite Red River Rivalry losses: OU is 6-1 in the conference title game and still made the National Title game after the one loss in 2003) and from afar, it appears 2012 could be another "transition year" (2005-esque) for OU.

This depends on how good the younger o-line recruits are (and a few of them could be very good).

My Main Point Is...

2010 and 2011 are critical years for OU football. OU needs to reestablish dominance and make realistic runs for the national title in order to narrow the recruiting gap with UT. OU needs to play football with the swagger it had in 2000...you know, the year it went 13-0 and won the national title.

The key components are there. Now is the time for OU to step up and play dominating Sooner football.