It took a few years, but the tradition of winning has returned for Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Tulsa’s football teams.
After last year’s disappointing seasons, each team is looking to build off of their most recent successes.
OU’s season last year had them finishing at 8–5, with an unprecedented three losses in Norman but a somewhat traditional no-show in their bowl game.
They came into this season with thier new “Air Raid” offensive system and a new quarterback and have yet to lose a game.
OSU ended their disastrous season last year on a high note, beating Oklahoma and then going on to win their bowl game. But before those last two games, they had lost five straight and only finished 7–6 on the season.
They also haven’t lost yet this year but haven’t really had any big challenges yet. They have capitalized on their much improved defense while their offense has struggled.
The Golden Hurricane looks completely different from last year, when they finished 2–10. They’ve already matched that win total after only three weeks and had a really strong effort against Oklahoma in Norman. They have a revitalized offense under Coach Montgomery and quarterback Dane Evans has looked like a totally new player throwing for over 300 yards in every game this season.
All three have had scares early on the season, but they have come out on the winning side of those close games.
OU pulled out a close game late against Tennessee, OSU had some trouble in Texas this week, and TU needed overtime to win their season opener against Florida Atlantic University.
It’s still early, but this could be the best year for the three schools since 2008, when all three won at least nine games. Those three teams were led by record breaking quarterbacks Sam Bradford, Zac Robinson and David Johnson.
Dane Evans and Baker Mayfield look to follow in those footsteps, while OSU is having some quarterback issues.
The bigger games are still to come, with Tulsa facing Houston at Chapman Stadium this week and OU hosting West Virginia, but early indications seem to show that all three teams this year look to be significantly improved.
It’s certainly been awhile since college football in Oklahoma has been this exciting.
