San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Oklahoma leading three-team race
Texas, Iowa St. expected to be the Sooners’ top challengers
No one was asking the right questions at Iowa State when Matt Campbell was hired in November 2015.
Some curious folks wanted to know about uniform colors and variants. They were curious about what the former Toledo coach would choose for the team’s entrance song. Everyone seemed to obsess over meaningless minutia.
“People cared about stuff that really doesn’t matter,” Campbell said last month at Big 12 media days.
That’s all changed after a pair of eight-win seasons that included a third-place conference finish in 2018.
“Now we’re talking about a football team, we’re asking football questions and we’re concerned about what’s really important,” Campbell said.
Most expect conference-king Oklahoma and Tom Herman’s rising Longhorns to meet again in the revived Big 12 championship game, but if any program can play spoiler, it’s the Cyclones.
No program had more defensive players represented on the All-Big 12 preseason than Iowa State. Senior defensive linemen JaQuon Bailey and Ray Lima, senior linebacker Marcel Spears Jr. and junior defensive back Greg Eisworth should help the Cyclones in their effort to stop, or at least slow, the conference’s high-powered offenses.
But the Big 12 still runs through Norman, Okla., even after the Sooners lost eight players to the NFL draft, including Heismanwinning quarterback Kyler Murray, leading receiver Marquise Brown and AllAmerican offensive tackle Cody Ford.
Coach Lincoln Riley won’t have too many issues restocking, though. Oklahoma added Alabama transfer quarterback Jalen Hurts to replace Murray. And sophomore tailback Kennedy Brooks, junior wideout CeeDee Lamb, tight end Grant Calcaterra and offensive lineman Creed Humphrey were preseason All-Big 12 selections.
“He brings game experience that Baker (Mayfield) and Kyler did not have when they got here,” Riley said of Hurts, “but also doesn’t have as much experience in the system. It has been quicker, but it’s been fun. He’s been eager.”
Sam Ehlinger-led Texas is the other top contender. With the junior quarterback leading the way, an assortment of offensive weapons and an immensely talented, if somewhat unproven, defense, the Longhorns loom as Oklahoma’s greatest threat.
“I think this year’s game with OU and Texas picked one and two in the league probably has more anticipation to it than what we may have had before and of course that is multiplied by the fact that they played in the championship game last year,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said at Big 12 media days in July. “
There’s no shortage of other story angles around the 10-team league.
Texas Tech (Matt Wells), West Virginia (Neal Brown), Kansas (Les Miles) and Kansas State (Chris Klieman) are all entering uncharted territory with new coaches. Baylor junior quarterback Charlie Brewer seems determined to leave Ehlinger’s shadow. Oklahoma State is seeking to bounce back from a 7-6 season, it’s worst finish since 2014.
But Oklahoma, even with a suspect defense led by new coordinator Alex Grinch, is still story. After 12 conference titles, including four straight, the rest of the league is eager to see the Sooners overthrown.
“They’ve been very successful, and somebody’s got to take it from them,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “That question came up a few years ago about Alabama and the SEC and my response was, and somebody from another league needs to beat ’em and take it from them, and I think it’s the same in dealing with Oklahoma.”