Oklahoma’s defense already looked like a finished product in 2025, but the Sooners may still have another gear to find in 2026.
That’s a scary thought for the rest of the SEC. OU finished last season with the league’s best marks in total defense at 272.5 yards allowed per game, scoring defense at 15.2 points allowed per game and sacks with 45. Those numbers helped power a 10-3 season and a trip to the College Football Playoff.
The challenge now is replacing some real production. R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton and Kendal Daniels are gone after the 2025 season.
Even so, Oklahoma brings back plenty of blue-chip defenders, including David Stone, Jayden Jackson, Courtland Guillory, Eli Bowen and Peyton Bowen. That’s why the Sooners still belong in the conversation as one of the nation’s top defenses heading into 2026.
Still, there are a few things that could determine just how high this group can climb.
One of the biggest is turnovers. For all of Oklahoma’s dominance, the Sooners finished with a negative turnover margin.
They gave it away 16 times and forced only 13 takeaways, which left them at minus-three on the year. That total of 13 turnovers forced tied them for 96th nationally, a far cry from the teams setting the pace - Texas Tech with 32, Arizona with 31 and Indiana with 29.
The slow start in that category stood out, too. Oklahoma opened 4-0 and still didn’t force its first turnover until Week 5, in the 44-0 win over Kent State.
The Sooners did pick it up late, creating multiple takeaways in three of their final four regular-season games. With a brutal 2026 schedule ahead, though, getting those early-game takeaways will matter.
Another major swing factor is who steps up on the edge opposite Taylor Wein.
Wein was the breakout star there in 2025, and his season was loaded with impact plays: 39 total tackles, 22 solo tackles, 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. That performance earned him All-SEC Second Team honors after the regular season. With R Mason Thomas now in the NFL, Oklahoma needs someone else to emerge and make offenses pay on the other side.
The two names that jump out are Danny Okoye and Adepoju Adebawore. Okoye enters the fall as a redshirt sophomore and had two tackles for loss in 2025, both sacks.
Adebawore is heading into his senior year after posting his best college season yet, finishing with 17 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Both have flashed in reserve roles.
Now one of them has to turn that promise into week-to-week production as a starter.
And then there’s Michael Boganowski, who looks ready for a much bigger role at safety.
The junior backed up Robert Spears-Jennings for two seasons and is expected to be an every-game starter for the first time in 2026. In 2025, Boganowski served as a key rotational piece and finished with 31 total tackles, 20 solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Coaches and players have repeatedly called him the team’s hardest hitter, and his 83.2 Pro Football Focus tackling grade backs that up.
Oklahoma’s secondary already has a strong foundation with Guillory and the Bowen brothers. If Boganowski can come close to matching what Spears-Jennings gave the Sooners, that back end could end up among the best in the country next fall.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Fans Just Got An Annoying Opener Change Before Michigan
Oklahomas 2026 season opener is getting an earlier start than planned, with the UTEP game now set for Friday night, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The matchup was shifted from Saturday, and it will be carried on SEC Network+ instead of a major network, a change that makes the first game of the season a little less marquee on the broadcast side even as it keeps the Sooners at home under the lights.
Athletic director Roger Denny pointed to the heat that can hang over early-season games in Oklahoma as the reason for the move, saying the change should create a more comfortable environment for fans and staff. There is also a practical football angle tucked into the adjustment, since the Friday kickoff gives Oklahoma a little more time before a huge Week 2 trip to Michigan, even if the opener itself now comes with a slightly different feel than the one fans were expecting. [Read more 🡒]
New NCAA Change Could Quietly Reshape Oklahoma's Future Depth
A new NCAA eligibility tweak could wind up mattering far more in Norman than it first appears. The Division I Cabinet approved a rule that gives student-athletes five years of eligibility if they enroll no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday, a change that effectively eliminates redshirts and gives rising seniors another season if they have not already used one. For Oklahoma, the ripple effect could be felt across the roster, with several young Sooners suddenly looking at a longer runway than they expected.
Adepoju Adebawore, Jacobe Johnson, Xavier Robinson, Michael Boganowski and Elijah Thomas are among the players who could benefit if the rule holds up and their paths stay on track. For a program trying to build and sustain depth at the same time, that matters just as much as immediate production, because an extra year can change how a staff manages development, playing time and long-term planning, even if the full impact will not be clear right away. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Earns Walter Camp Respect With Two Sooners On Preseason List
Oklahomas special teams and defensive front both got a little more national attention this week, with Walter Camp placing kicker Tate Sandell on its Preseason All-America first team and defensive tackle David Stone on the second team. For a program trying to keep building on its momentum, those kinds of honors matter because they point to proven production in two areas that can swing tight games all season long.
Sandell already showed last fall that he can be more than steady, and Stone backed up his value by emerging as one of the Sooners most productive linemen. Now both enter 2026 as key pieces for a team that expects to be in the thick of the College Football Playoff chase again, even if the bigger question is how much more each of them can still give this group. [Read more 🡒]