Oklahoma takes first SEC Media Days head-on

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Under the guidance of former Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer, the Sooner football team was the definition of a power running operation in the 1970s and 80s, using the wishbone offense to blast through some of the best defenses in the country.

Approximately 40 years later, current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has the same playbook in mind when it comes to the Sooners in their debutant season in the Southeastern Conference.

Tuesday, Venables represented Oklahoma for the first time at SEC Media Days, hoping they will attack their new conference home like Marcus Dupree in the Fiesta Bowl.

“As competitors, as a football program, Oklahoma isn’t intimidated as a football program,” he said on the Media Days main stage. “We’re running towards the SEC. I think that goes without saying.”

However, defense is Venables’ calling card and the Sooners were represented as such, with senior linebacker Danny Stutsman and senior defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. making the trip to Dallas to field questions for the Sooners.

Bowman is the nation’s returning leader in interceptions from the 2022 and 2023 seasons, while Stutsman has recorded 28 tackles for loss in his three-year career at Oklahoma.

As a Florida native, Stutsman grew up watching the SEC and dreamed of playing at some of the iconic venues throughout the region. However, one of the only SEC teams that recruited him out of high school was Texas A&M and then linebacker’s coach Tyler Santucci. Though now head coach Mike Elko was the defensive coordinator for the Aggies at the time, Stutsman said he didn’t have much interaction with Elko.

The All-American linebacker was as four-star recruit out of high school and the 47th ranked linebacker in the class of 2021, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.

“That program, the tradition there is elite,” Stutsman said of A&M. “The 12th man, what they have going for them, it’s exciting. I wish we had the opportunity to go there and play them. Unfortunately, we don’t, but it’s great to be in the same conference as them.”

The Sooners will undergo their first two seasons in the SEC without facing their old Big 12 regional rivals in Texas A&M, which, historically, is in the Aggies’ best interest. In a series that dates back to 1944, the Sooners hold an 18-9 record over the Aggies, including a 51-7 thumping dished out in 1997. However, the Aggies hold the last victory in the series, a 41-13 win over the Sooners in the 2012 Cotton Bowl, led by then Aggie quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Oklahoma will continue the Red River Rivalry with Texas in the Cotton Bowl every season, as the Longhorns join the Sooners in the SEC this season and will be a permanent opponent for the next two years.

For first-year starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, the annual rivalry game against the Longhorns is a blueprint for handling the grind of their SEC reality ahead.

“Every single game we play, we’ve got to treat it the same,” he said. “We can’t just treat one game like it’s Texas. We’ve got to treat every rivalry game like it’s Texas and go out to the best of our ability.”