SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee believes Sooners can be a playoff contender
The Oklahoma Sooners take on the SMU Mustangs Saturday evening in Norman, Oklahoma. SMU brings a high-powered offense and a head coach, Rhett Lashlee, who would love nothing more than to pull off the upset.
The Sooners are fresh off a 73-0 win in their opening game. That has many across the country wondering if last year was a fluke or if this Sooners team is ready to contend.
After watching the tape, one person who isn’t skeptical about the Sooners is Lashlee.
“They look like Oklahoma. They look like a team that can compete to win the Big 12 and compete to get in the College Football Playoff,” Lashlee told reporters this week. “They were aggressive on the recruiting trail, aggressive in the portal.”
Sooner fans probably don’t want to hear that praise so soon. The coaching staff probably agrees and would rather fly under the radar this whole season. But the Sooners have a chance to show that this weekend against an underrated football team.
Lashlee also believes Brent Venables is the right man for the job.
“Brent Venables has been there a long time, was at Clemson forever, we’ve gone against each other, got a lot of respect for him,” Lashlee said. “He’s a good friend, does a great job, does it the right way in terms of how he coaches and leads. You can tell, like us, they were aggressive on the recruiting trail, aggressive in the portal. On offense they play extremely fast, there’s a lot of similarities to style of play. They play fast, their offensive line is huge.”
The game kicks off at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
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