When Oklahoma opens the season next Friday night against UTEP at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the Sooners will do it with a defense that already looks loaded. Eight starters are back from a group that led the SEC in total defense a year ago, and the buzz around this unit has only grown since then.
That’s not hard to understand. Oklahoma’s 2025 defense was its best in nearly 20 years, and the numbers back up the reputation.
The Sooners gave up just 15.5 points per game, which ranked seventh nationally. They finished second in FBS in tackles for loss with 122, averaging 9.4 a game, and were third in the country against the run at 77.3 yards allowed per game.
In total defense, Oklahoma stood sixth nationally at 272.5 yards allowed per game.
Even with that production, no Sooner landed on the 2026 Preseason All-SEC first team. Five Oklahoma defenders did make the league coaches’ second team: defensive linemen David Stone and Tyler Wein, linebacker Kip Lewis and defensive backs Peyton and Eli Bowen.
Brent Venables has been here before. At Clemson, he coached two defenses that finished No. 1 in the nation, and he’s pushing Oklahoma toward that same kind of standard.
The difference from where he started is dramatic. When Venables arrived after Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma was 122nd in total defense at 461 yards allowed per game and 99th in scoring defense at 30 points per game.
Now the Sooners have depth, experience and talent across the board, and plenty of people around the program think the front seven might be the best in the SEC, maybe even the country. Venables, though, isn’t handing out gold stars yet.
"We have the opportunity to be a really good defense because we have guys who are bought in, have been developed and have shown enough body of work to give you reason to believe," Venables said a week into fall camp. "Respectively, (though), it's not a great defense yet."
A few players stand out as obvious candidates to take another step and help get Oklahoma there.
Courtland Guillory is one of them. The sophomore cornerback arrived in Oklahoma’s 2025 class with plenty of attention out of Houston, Texas, and picked the Sooners over Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, TCU and Missouri. He wasted no time making an impact, starting 11 games and becoming the first Oklahoma true freshman to open a season at cornerback.
His first year produced 41 tackles, one tackle for loss and seven pass breakups, and those numbers could climb with a full season of SEC experience under his belt. Guillory will line up opposite junior Eli Bowen, another freshman All-American from last season.
On3 college football analyst J.D. Pickell recently said this about Guillory, only a sophomore: "He might be the best DB in the SEC, period."
Now, he has to go out and play that way, he said.
Michael Boganowski is next in line for a bigger role. The junior is expected to start at free safety after spending the last two seasons as a special teams contributor and rotational backup to Robert Spears-Jennings, who is now in the NFL. Boganowski has appeared in every Oklahoma game over the past two years and has 39 total tackles to his name, but this season gives him a chance to show more of what he can do.
At 6-foot-2 and 214 pounds, the Junction City, Kansas native has the kind of physical profile that jumps out, and he’s long been viewed as a major piece of the secondary. He was a four-star recruit and the top overall prospect in Kansas in the 2024 class. Training camp has only sharpened the urgency.
"Honestly, I can't wait," he told reporters during training camp. He said he spent the offseason working hard on the mental side of his game and on reading what offenses are trying to do.
"This year, I'll be able to do what I came to Oklahoma to do," Boganowski said.
Then there’s Adepoju "PJ" Adebawore, the edge rusher who still feels like he’s waiting for the breakout people expected when he arrived as part of Oklahoma’s 2023 class. 247Sports ranked him the No. 4 overall prospect in the country, and he came in with five-star billing. So far, the production hasn’t matched the hype: 10 total tackles in his first 23 games.
There were signs of life last season, though. Adebawore finished with 17 tackles, 5.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks before a nagging foot injury slowed him down and eventually led to surgery this offseason.
He’s now healthy and competing with junior Danny Okoye for the starting edge spot opposite Taylor Wein. Venables has called him the best athlete on the roster, and with his size and length, Adebawore has the tools to become a real force off the edge this fall.
In Other News...
Four Former Sooners Are Suddenly Fighting For Their NFL Futures
With NFL teams facing a Sunday deadline to trim rosters, several former Oklahoma players are in the thick of the final cutdown scramble. Deion Burks, Trace Ford, Sterling Shepard and Robert Spears-Jennings are all trying to turn promising preseason moments into something more permanent, even as the numbers game across the league makes every spot harder to secure.
For Sooners fans, it is a reminder that August can be just as consequential as the regular season for players trying to stick in the pros. Each of these former OU standouts has put something on tape, but the next few days will decide whether that work earns an active-roster place or leaves them waiting on the other side of the cut. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Revealed Who Will Set The Tone This Season
Oklahoma has settled on the voices it wants setting the standard this fall, naming nine team captains ahead of the opener. The group spans the roster, from offensive linemen Jake Maikkula, Eddy Pierre-Louis and sophomore Michael Fasusi to quarterback John Mateer and defensive standouts David Stone, Taylor Wein, Kip Lewis, Owen Heinecke and Peyton Bowen, giving the Sooners a leadership mix that touches every phase of the team.
Fasusis inclusion stands out most, since he is the first sophomore captain since 2024 and the first sophomore offensive lineman to earn the honor since 2019. Several of the captains addressed what leadership means during media availability, a sign Oklahoma is trying to define its identity early as it prepares to open the season against UTEP on Sept. 4. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Added A Transfer Brent Venables Could Use All Over The Field
Oklahoma kept busy in the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in 16 newcomers and adding another layer to a defense that already has some experience at linebacker. Among the additions is Cole Sullivan, who arrives from Michigan with the kind of profile Brent Venables tends to value: versatility, leadership and the ability to help on special teams while learning multiple roles.
Venables has made it clear Sullivan can be used all over the field, which matters for a defense that likes flexibility and depth. Sullivans path to Norman opened after Michigan changed head coaches, and his arrival gives Oklahoma another piece to work with as it sorts out how to deploy an already strong linebacker room. [Read more 🡒]