The 2018 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 124th season for the Oklahoma Sooners. The team is led by Lincoln Riley, who is in his second year as head coach. They play their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They are a charter member of the Big 12 Conference.

Conference play began with a 37–27 win against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa and ended with a 59–56 win against West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia. Oklahoma finished conference play with the best record in the conference with an 8–1 record. They went on to play Texas in the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game, which they won 39–27 to win their twelfth, and fourth consecutive, Big 12 championship.

In the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season, Oklahoma was ranked fourth, earning them a spot in the 2018 Orange Bowl, in a national semi-final game against first-seeded Alabama. This was Oklahoma's second consecutive and third overall CFP bid. The Sooners lost to the Crimson Tide, 34–45, marking the sixth consecutive loss for the school in CFP semi-finals or BCS national championship games.

Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray, following in the wake of Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, earned several national honors himself, including winning the school's second consecutive and seventh overall Heisman Trophy. This was the first time that quarterbacks from the same school won the award in back to back seasons.

Recruiting

Recruits

The Sooners signed a total of 22 recruits.

Preseason

Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Lott TrophyCaleb KellyLBJRRimington TrophyJonathan AlvarezCSRMaxwell AwardRodney AndersonRBJRKyler MurrayQBJRDoak Walker AwardRodney AndersonRBJRFred Biletnikoff AwardMarquise BrownWRJRCeeDee LambWRSOJohn Mackey AwardGrant CalcaterraTESOButkus AwardCaleb KellyLBJROutland TrophyBobby EvansOLJRBen PowersOLSRDru SamiaOLSRLou Groza AwardAustin SeibertK/PSRRay Guy AwardAustin SeibertK/PSRWuerffel TrophyCaleb KellyLBJRWalter Camp AwardRodney AndersonRBJREarl Campbell Tyler Rose AwardRodney AndersonRBJRCeeDee LambWRSO

Big 12 media poll The Big 12 media poll was released on July 12, 2018 with the Sooners predicted to win the Big 12. The Sooners received 46 of 52 first place votes.

Schedule Oklahoma announced its 2018 football schedule on October 26, 2017. The 2018 schedule consists of 7 home games, 4 away games and 1 neutral-site game in the regular season. The Sooners will host three non-conference games against FAU, UCLA and Army. Oklahoma will host Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and travel to Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia in regular conference play. Oklahoma will play Texas in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl Stadium on October 6 in the Red River Showdown, the 113th game played in the series.

Personnel

Roster 2018 Oklahoma Sooners FootballQuarterback  1 Kyler Murray – junior (5'10, 195)  3 Connor McGinnis – junior (6'4, 202)  9 Tanner Schafer – sophomore (6'3, 193) 10 Austin Kendall – sophomore (6'1, 210) 14 Reece Clark – junior (6'4, 199) 15 Tanner Mordecai – freshman (6'2, 206)

Running backs  4 Trey Sermon – sophomore (6'0, 224) 21 Marcelias Sutton – senior (5'9, 192) 22 TJ Pledger – freshman (5'9, 200) 24 Rodney Anderson – junior (6'0, 211) 26 Kennedy Brooks – freshman (5'11, 205) 27 Jeremiah Hall – freshman (6'2, 252) (FB+) 29 Joe Castiglione Jr. – junior (5'11, 184) (FB+) 36 Isaiah Harris – freshman (5'9, 199) 39 Michael Anderson – freshman (5'8, 170) 41 Coby Tillman – Freshman (5'11, 233) (FB+) 45 Carson Meier – senior (6'5, 254) (FB+)

Wide receiver  2 CeeDee Lamb – sophomore (6'2, 189)  3 Mykel Jones – junior (5'11, 188)  5 Marquise Brown – junior (5'10, 168) 12 A.D. Miller – junior (6'3, 189) 14 Charleston Rambo – freshman (6'1, 175) 17 Jaquayln Crawford – freshman (5'10, 176) 25 Drake Stoops – freshman (5'9, 169) 28 Reggie Turner – senior (5'8, 155) 37 Spencer Jones – junior (6'1, 193) 38 Devin Staton – freshman (6'2, 195) 82 Andrew Magee – freshman (6'3, 197) 83 Nick Basquine – senior (5'11, 192) 84 Lee Morris – junior (6'2, 207) 85 Sam Iheke – junior (6'4, 201) 86 Karsten Mathis – freshman (6'4, 195) 87 Myles Tease – senior (5'9, 171) 88 Chase Nevel – senior (6'0, 184) 89 Jaylon Robinson – freshman (5'9, 163)

Tight ends 49 Dane Saltarelli – freshman (6'3, 231) 80 Grant Calcaterra – sophomore (6'4, 221) 81 Brayden Willis – freshman (6'3, 221)

Long snappers 51 Kasey Kelleher – freshman (5'10, 224) 53 Jax Wilson – freshman (6'4, 231) 57 Zach Edwards – freshman (5'10, 185) 

Offensive lineman 52 Tyrese Robinson – OL – freshman (6'3, 332) 54 Marquis Hayes – OG – freshman (6'5, 351) 56 Creed Humphrey – C – freshman (6'5, 325) 59 Adrian Ealy – OT – freshman (6'6, 328) 61 Ian McIver – OL – freshman (6'3, 324) 62 David Swaby – OT – sophomore (6'9, 320) 63 Alex Dalton – C – senior (6'3, 290) 66 Logan Roberson – OL – sophomore (6'3, 341) 69 Clayton Woods – C – junior (6'2, 287) 70 Brey Walker – OT – freshman (6'6, 338) 71 Bobby Evans – OL – junior (6'4, 299) 72 Ben Powers – OL – senior (6'4, 320) 73 Quinn Mittermeier – OL – senior (6'5, 265) 74 Cody Ford – OL – junior (6'3, 317) 75 Dru Samia – OT – senior (6'4, 274) 76 Dalton Bishop – C – sophomore (6'5, 289) 77 Erik Swenson – OT – sophomore (6'5, 311) 79 Darrell Simpson – OT – freshman (6'5, 301)

Defensive lineman  7 Ronnie Perkins – DE – freshman (6'3, 234) 31 Jalen Redmond – DE – sophomore (6'2, 253) (LB+) 41 K'Jakyre Daley – DE – freshman (6'2, 254) (LB+) 42 Mark Jackson Jr. – DE – junior (6'3, 265) (LB+) 50 Arthur McGinnis – DT – junior (6'1, 265) 55 Kenneth Mann – DE – junior (6'3, 255) 72 Amani Bledsoe – DE – junior (6'5, 270) 88 Jordan Kelley – DT – freshman (6'3, 297) 90 Neville Gallimore – DL – junior (6'3, 320) 91 Dillion Faamatau – DT – junior (6'3, 219) 92 Michael Thompson – DT – freshman (6'5, 336) 93 Tyreece Lott – DE – sophomore (6'2, 301) 94 Troy James – DT – freshman (6'1, 304) 95 Isaiah Thomas – DE – freshman (6'5, 254) 96 Caden Blanchard – DT – freshman (6'2, 299) 97 Marquise Overton – DT – senior (6'1, 315) 98 Zacchaeus McKinney – DT – freshman (6'3, 306) 99 Ron Tatum – DL – freshman (6'5, 270) Linebacker  9 Kenneth Murray – sophomore (6'2, 238) 18 Curtis Bolton – senior (6'0, 232) 19 Caleb Kelly – junior (6'3, 221) 23 DaShaun White – freshman (6'0, 221) 24 Brian Asamoah II – freshman (6'1, 219) 30 Levi Draper – freshman (6'1, 226) 33 Ryan Jones – freshman (6'2, 236) 35 Nik Bonitto – freshman (6'3, 225) 36 Josh Schenck – sophomore (5'11, 209) 38 Bryan Mead – sophomore (6'2, 230) 40 Jon-Michael Terry – sophomore (6'3, 241) 48 Deuce Nisbet – freshman (6'1, 214) 49 Travis DeGrate – freshman (6'2, 232)

Defensive backs  1 Jordan Parker – S – sophomore (6'1, 190)  6 Tre Brown – CB – sophomore (5'10, 182)  8 Kahlil Haughton – S – senior (6'1, 197) 10 Patrick Fields – S – freshman (5'11, 193) 11 Parnell Motley – CB – junior (6'0, 177) 12 Starrland Baldwin – CB – freshman (5'11, 161) 13 Tre Norwood – CB – sophomore (6'0, 179) 16 Miguel Edwards – CB – freshman (5'11, 173) 20 Robert Barnes – S – sophomore (6'2, 207) 25 Justin Broiles – DB – freshman (5'10, 181) 26 Caleb Murphy – DB – freshman (5'11, 207) 28 Chanse Sylvie – S – junior (5'11, 187) 29 Prentice McKinney – S – senior (6'1, 187) 32 Delarrin Turner-Yell – S – freshman (5'10, 175) 34 Tanner Baum – CB – sophomore (5'11, 196) 35 Robert Charlton II – DB – junior (5'10, 181) 44 Brendan Radley-Hiles – DB – freshman (5'9, 186)

Placekickers 30 Calum Sutherland – freshman (5'9, 191) 43 Austin Seibert – senior (5'10, 214) (+P) 47 Gabe Brkic – freshman (6'2, 189) (+P) 48 Stephen Johnson – freshman (6'1, 185)

Punter 46 Reeves Mundschau – freshman (5'11, 179)

Coaching staff + Lincoln RileyHead Coach / QuarterbacksTexas Tech (2006) 2015/2017Ruffin McNeillAssistant Head Coach / Interim Defensive Coordinator East Carolina (1980)2017Shane BeamerAssistant Head Coach / Tight Ends and H-BacksVirginia Tech (1999)2018 Cale Gundy Co-Offensive Coordinator/ Inside Receivers / Recruiting CoordinatorOklahoma (1994)1999Bill BedenbaughCo-Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line Iowa Wesleyan (1995)2013Kerry CooksAssistant Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Backs Iowa (1997) 2015Jay BoulwareSpecial Teams Coordinator / Running Backs Texas (1996)2013 Tim Kish Inside Linebackers Otterbein (1976)2012Bob Diaco Outside Linebackers Iowa (1995) 2018Dennis SimmonsOutside Receivers BYU (1997)2015Calvin ThibodeauxDefensive Line Oklahoma (2006)2016Bennie WylieDirector of Sports PerformanceSam Houston State (1999)2018Clarke StroudDirector of Football Operations Oklahoma (1990)2018Jamarkus McFarland Graduate assistant Oklahoma (2013) 2016

Depth chart

Game summaries

Florida Atlantic

UCLA

At Iowa State

Army

Baylor

vs Texas

At TCU

Kansas State

Kansas State has a week off between the previous win against Oklahoma State and their next game against Oklahoma. Oklahoma's new defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill was able to simplify the defensive plan which helped turn out good results against Texas Christian in the previous week with a Sooner victory 52-27. K-State's Coach Snyder commented: "They're very much the same football team that they were on the defensive side of the ball, on both sides actually, but certainly on the defensive side. I saw some tweaks, a few things, that you might consider to be changes -- don't know if they're changes or are just there and hadn't surfaced previously. But by and large, it's the same defense."

When the game rolled around, both the offense and the defense for Oklahoma performed to control the game from start to finish, with a final score of 51-14 and an Oklahoma win.

At Texas Tech

Oklahoma State

Trey Sermon 124 rushing yards

Kansas

At West Virginia

vs Texas

Statistics TEX OU First downs 23 29 Plays–yards 437 508 Rushes–yards 32–88 40–129 Passing yards 349 379 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 23–37–1 25–34–0 Time of possession 28:00 32:00

Team Category Player StatisticsTexas Passing Sam Ehlinger 25/36, 349 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Sam Ehlinger 14 carries, 42 yards, TD Receiving Collin Johnson 8 receptions, 177 yards, TDOklahoma Passing Kyler Murray 25/34, 379 yards, 3 TD Rushing Trey Sermon 18 carries, 65 yards, TD Receiving CeeDee Lamb 6 receptions, 167 yards, TD

vs. #1 Alabama (CFP Semifinal)

Sources:

Statistics

Statistics

Scoring Scores against non-conference opponents

Scores against the Big 12

Scores against all opponents

2019 NFL draft

Oklahoma had eight players selected in the 2019 NFL draft.

11 Kyler MurrayQuarterbackArizona Cardinals125Marquise BrownWide receiverBaltimore Ravens238Cody FordOffensive tackleBuffalo Bills397Bobby EvansOffensive lineLos Angeles Rams4114Dru SamiaGuardMinnesota Vikings4123Ben PowersGuardBaltimore Ravens5170Austin SeibertKickerCleveland Browns6211Rodney AndersonRunning backCincinnati Bengals

Rankings

References