The 2023 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 129th season for the Oklahoma Sooners. They were led by second-year head coach Brent Venables. They played their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They were a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. The season marked the team's last season as members of the Big 12 Conference before joining the SEC on July 1, 2024. The Oklahoma Sooners football team drew an average home attendance of 83,741 in 2023.
Offseason Departures Entered NFL draft
Players listed below left Oklahoma to enter the draft with eligibility remaining, excluding seniors who were allowed a 5th year by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marvin Mims WR
Outgoing transfers + Theo Wease Jr. WR 6'3 205 Redshirt junior Missouri Joshua Eaton DB 6'1 183 Junior Texas State Brian Darby WR 6'0 202 Junior Kendall Dennis DB 5'11 187 Redshirt sophomore South Florida Jordan Mukes DB 6'1 207 Sophomore Abilene Christian Trevon West WR 5'11 180 Junior Tarleton Nick Evers QB 6'3 185 Freshman Wisconsin Bryson Washington DB 6'2 190 Redshirt sophomore New Mexico Davion Woolen WR 6'2 188 Freshman Cedric Roberts DL 6'3 275 Freshman Texas State Alton Tarber DL 6'2 322 Freshman Clayton Smith DL 6'4 245 Redshirt freshman Arizona State Kevonte Henry DL 6'4 214 Freshman Cerritos Josh Ellison DL 6'3 300 Senior Memphis David Ugwoegbu LB 6'4 250 Senior Houston Marcus Alexander OL 6'4 325 Redshirt junior Texas State Brey Walker OL 6'7 355 Redshirt senior Texas State Micah Bowens II QB 5'11 190 Redshirt sophomore Charlotte Reed Lindsey DL 6'4 268 Redshirt junior Central Oklahoma Damon Smith WR 6'1 198 Redshirt junior South Florida Kori Roberson Jr. DL 6'3 285 Redshirt junior SMU Jaden Davis DB 5'10 183 Senior Miami (FL) Damond Harmon DB 6'0 180 Sophomore North Carolina A&T Jamarrien Burt DB 6'0 185 Freshman South Alabama Cullen Montgomery OL 6'4 330 Redshirt freshman Memphis Derrick LeBlanc DL 6'5 265 Freshmen UCF
Former 5-star recruit Theo Wease Jr. transferred to Missouri after three seasons with the Sooners. Wease Jr. recorded 64 receptions for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns during his tenure. Senior David Ugowegbu transferred to Houston after ranking second on the team with 101 tackles last season.
Additions Incoming transfers + Emeka Megwa RB 6'0 205 Redshirt sophomore Washington Jacob Lacey DL 6'1 272 Redshirt senior Notre Dame Luke Elzinga P 6'4 210 Redshirt senior Central Michigan Blake Smith TE 6'4 255 Redshirt junior Texas A&M Austin Stogner TE 6'6 255 Senior South Carolina Dasan McCullough LB 6'5 222 Sophomore Indiana Trace Ford DL 6'2 251 Redshirt senior Oklahoma State Reggie Pearson Jr. DB 5'10 199 Redshirt senior Texas Tech Walter Rouse OL 6'6 315 Redshirt senior Stanford Davon Sears DL 6'2 282 Redshirt senior Texas State Caleb Shaffer OL 6'5 337 Redshirt senior Miami (OH) Rondell Bothroyd DL 6'3 275 Redshirt senior Wake Forest Andrel Anthony WR 6'1 186 Junior Michigan Brenen Thompson WR 5'11 162 Sophomore Texas Konnor Near LB 6'2 220 Sophomore Ferris State Troy Everett OL 6'3 285 Redshirt freshman Appalachian State Da'Jon Terry DL 6'4 320 Redshirt senior Tennessee Philip Paea DL 6'4 296 Redshirt senior Utah State Hampton Fay TE 6'5 241 Redshirt sophomore Michigan State The Sooners added fourteen new transfers for head coach Brent Venables's second season. Former Sooner Austin Stogner re-committed to Oklahoma after playing a sole season with South Carolina. Indiana transfer Dasan McCullough committed to the Sooners alongside his brother, Daeh, a 2023 4-star recruit. As a freshman, McCullough recorded 48 tackles and four sacks in 11 games for the Hoosiers. Andrel Anthony committed to the Sooners from Michigan after catching 19 passes for 328 years and four touchdowns in his two seasons with the Wolverines. Trace Ford and Brenen Thompson committed to the Sooners after transferring from longtime rivals Oklahoma State and Texas respectively.
Recruiting Class rankings + ESPN 4 2 3 11 12 On3 7 2 3 12 11 Rivals 6 2 3 14 9 247Sports 4 2 3 14 9
Preseason
Award watch lists + Lott Trophy Danny Stutsman LB Jr.Dodd TrophyBrent Venables HC– Maxwell Award Dillon Gabriel QB Sr. Ray Guy Award Luke Elzinga P Sr. Wuerffel Trophy Ethan Downs DL Jr. John Mackey Award Austin Stogner TE Sr.Davey O'Brien Award Dillon Gabriel QBSr.Doak Walker Award Jovantae BarnesRBSo.Butkus Award Danny StutsmanLBJr.Chuck Bednarik Award Ethan Downs DLJr.Manning Award Dillon GabrielQBSr.Lombardi AwardEthan Downs DLJr.Polynesian College FootballJonah LauluDL Sr.Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Dillon GabrielQBSr.
Preseason All Big-12 teams Position Player Class Defense DL Ethan Downs Jr.
Big 12 media poll + 1 Texas (41) 886 2 Kansas State (14) 858 3 Oklahoma (4) 758 4 Texas Tech (4) 729 5 TCU (3) 727 6 Baylor 572 7 Oklahoma State (1) 470 8 UCF 463 9 Kansas 461 10 Iowa State 334 11 BYU 318 12 Houston 215 13 Cincinnati 202 14 West Virginia 129
Schedule Oklahoma and the Big 12 announced the 2023 conference schedule on January 31, 2023. The 2023 schedule consists of 4 home games, 4 away games and 1 neutral-site game in the regular season. The Sooners will host 2 non-conference games against Arkansas State and SMU and will travel to Tulsa. Oklahoma will host Iowa State, UCF, West Virginia, and TCU, and travel to BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma will play Texas in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in the Red River Showdown, the 119th game played in the series.
Roster 2023 Oklahoma Sooners FootballQuarterback 8 Dillon Gabriel – senior (5'11, 204) 10 Jackson Arnold – freshman (6'1, 214) 11 Davis Beville – senior (6'6, 224) 14 General Booty – sophomore (6'2, 190) 20 Jacob Switzer – sophomore (6'2, 192)
Running back 0 Kalib Hicks – freshman (5'11, 206) 2 Jovantae Barnes – sophomore (6'0, 204) 7 Daylan Smothers – freshman (5'11, 190) 21 Braylon Colgrove – freshmen (5'8, 169) 22 Chapman McKown – freshman (5'5, 175) 23 Emeka Megwa – sophomore (6'0, 207) 24 Marcus Major – senior (6'0, 227) 27 Gavin Sawchuk – freshman (5'11, 198) 29 Tawee Walker – junior (5'9, 215)
Wide receiver 1 Jayden Gibson – sophomore (6'5, 193) 3 Jalil Farooq – junior (6'1, 204) 4 Nic Anderson – freshman (6'4, 209) 5 Andrel Anthony – junior (6'1, 192) 6 Lv Bunkley-Shelton – junior (5'11, 195) 9 D.J. Graham II – senior (6'0, 195) 12 Drake Stoops – graduate (5'10, 189) 13 J.J. Hester – junior (6'4, 196) 15 Brenen Thompson – sophomore (5'9, 155) 17 Jaquaize Pettaway – freshmen (5'10, 185) 82 Gavin Freeman – sophomore (5'8, 181) 83 Major Melson – junior (5'10, 183) 84 Brandon Harper – freshmen (5'7, 163) 85 Trey Brown – freshmen (5'9,177) 86 Patrick Cromer – freshmen (5'6, 144) 89 Eli Merck – freshmen (6'0, 192)Tight end16 Blake Smith – junior (6'4, 252) 18 Kaden Helms – freshman (6'5, 235) 19 Kade McIntyre – freshmen (6'3, 223) 45 Hampton Fay – sophomore (6'5, 241) 80 Josh Fanuiel – sophomore (6'3, 250) 81 Austin Stogner – senior (6'6, 255) 87 Jason Llewellyn – sophomore (6'5, 250)Long snapper 50 Ben Anderson – freshman (6'5, 238) 58 Ethan Lane – junior (5'11, 233)
|width="25"| |valign="top"|Offensive line52 Troy Everett – OL – sophomore (6'3, 297) 53 Caleb Shaffer – OL – senior (6'5, 342) 55 Aaryn Parks – OL – junior (6'4, 309) 57 Gunnar Allen – OL – freshman (6'0, 297) 59 Savion Byrd – OT – sophomore (6'5, 288) 60 Tyler Guyton – OL – junior (6'7, 327) 61 Kenneth Wermy – OL – freshmen (6'5, 322) 62 Drew Batt – OL – freshmen (6'3, 312) 64 Joshua Bates – OL – freshman (6'3, 312) 65 Ty Kubicek – OL – freshmen (6'2, 295) 66 C.J. Compton – OL – freshmen (6'3, 301) 69 Nate Anderson – OL – junior (6'4, 305) 70 Cayden Green – OL – freshman (6'5, 311) 71 Logan Howland – OL – freshmen (6'6, 288) 72 McKade Mettauer – OL – senior (6'4, 311) 73 Andrew Raym – OG – senior (6'4, 309) 75 Walter Rouse – OL – senior (6'6, 322) 76 Jacob Sexton – OL – sophomore (6'6, 325) 77 Heath Ozaeta – OL – freshmen (6'5, 304) 79 Jake Taylor – OL – freshman (6'6, 312)Defensive line 8 Jonah Laulu – DE – graduate (6'5, 292) 14 Reggie Grimes II – DE – senior (6'4, 274) 30 Trace Ford – DL – senior (6'2, 257) 32 R Mason Thomas – DL – sophomore (6'2, 239) 33 Marcus Stripling – DE – senior (6'3, 250) 34 Adepoju Adebawore – DL – freshman (6'4, 241) 40 Ethan Downs – DL – junior (6'4, 263) 44 Kelvin Gilliam – DL – sophomore (6'3, 299) 54 Jacob Lacey – DL – senior (6'1, 280) 55 Ashton Sanders – DL – freshman (6'1, 284) 56 Gracen Halton – DL – sophomore (6'2, 287) 80 Rondell Bothroyd – DL – senior (6'3, 275) 88 Jordan Kelley – DT – graduate (6'4, 302) 90 Taylor Wein – DL – freshmen (6'4, 242) 91 Drew Heining – DL –freshmen (6'5, 264) 93 Phil Paea – DL – senior (6'3, 305) 94 Isaiah Coe – DL – senior (6'2, 314) 95 Da'Jon Terry – DL – senior (6'3, 321) 96 Davon Sears – DL – senior (6'2, 287) 98 Hayden Bray – DL – sophomore (6'4, 275) 99 Markus Strong – DL – freshmen (6'3, 283)
|width="25"| |valign="top"|Linebacker1 Dasan McCullough – sophomore (6'5, 227) 7 Jaren Kanak – sophomore (6'2, 232) 10 Kip Lewis – freshmen (6'1, 208) 11 Kobie McKinzie – freshman (6'2, 241) 13 Shane Whitter – junior (6'0, 231) 17 Taylor Heim – freshmen (6'6, 202) 20 Lewis Carter – freshman (6'0, 213) 24 Samuel Omosigho – freshmen (6'2, 219) 28 Danny Stutsman – junior (6'4, 241) 38 Owen Heinecke – sophomore (6'2, 218) 42 Konnor Near – senior (6'1, 232) 50 Phil Picciotti – freshman (6'3, 242) 53 Reed DeQuasie – freshmen (6'1, 191) 97 Kyle Carlson – freshmen (6'3, 195)Defensive back 2 Billy Bowman Jr. – DB – junior (5'10, 194) 3 Robert Spears-Jennings – S – sophomore (6'1, 218) 4 Justin Harrington – DB – graduate (6'3, 212) 5 Woodi Washington – CB – senior (5'11, 202) 6 Makari Vickers – DB – freshmen (6'1, 200) 9 Gentry Williams – DB – sophomore (6'0, 182) 12 Key Lawrence – DB – senior (6'1, 203) 15 Kendal Dolby – DB – junior (5'11, 184) 18 Erik McCarty – DB – freshmen (6'1, 191) 19 Jacobe Johnson – DB – freshmen (6'2, 192) 21 Reggie Pearson – DB – senior (5'10, 198) 22 Peyton Bowen – DB – freshman (6'0, 199) 23 Josiah Wagoner – DB – freshmen (5'11, 177) 25 Daeh McCullough – DB – freshmen (6'1, 178) 26 Kani Walker – CB – sophomore (6'2, 202) 27 Jayden Rowe – DB – freshman (6'2, 224) 29 Casen Calmus – DB – freshmen (5'10, 187) 31 Cale Fugate – DB – freshmen (5'10, 188) 35 Jakeb Snyder – DB – freshmen (5'8, 177) 39 Peter Schuh – DB – freshman (5'8, 182) 41 Emmett Jones III – DB – freshmen (6'0, 175) 46 Gabriel McDaniel – CB – junior (5'10, 169) 49 Pierce Hudgens – DB – junior (6'1, 204)Placekicker34 Zach Schmit – junior (5'10, 194) 36 Josh Plaster – senior (6'0, 200) 43 Redi Mustafaraj – sophomore (6'2, 210) 46 Gavin Marshall – freshman (6'1, 193)Punter''' 31 Ashton Logan – freshmen (6'2, 210)48 Luke Elziga – senior (6'4, 213)''
Coaching staff + Brent Venables Head coach 2nd Jeff Lebby Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks 2nd Ted Roof Defensive coordinator/Linebackers 2nd Todd Bates Associate head coach/Co-defensive coordinator/Run defense/Defensive tackles 2nd Bill Bedenbaugh Offensive line 11th Miguel Chavis Defensive ends 2nd Joe Jon Finley Tight ends 3rd Emmett Jones Passing game coordinator/Wide receivers 1st Brandon Hall Safeties 2nd DeMarco Murray Running backs 4th Jay Valai Co-defensive coordinator/Pass defense/ Cornerbacks & nickelbacks 2nd Jerry Schmidt Director of sports enhancement & strength and conditioning 2nd Source: 2023 Oklahoma Sooners Roster
After serving as the interim wide receivers coach last season, L'Damian Washington joined Western Kentucky as the full-time wide receivers coach following Emmett Jones's hiring to the same position.
Spring game
Game summaries Arkansas State
Statistics ASU OKLA First downs 10 36 Total yards 208 642 Rushes/yards 23/4849/220 Passing yards 160 422 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–27 30–33 Time of possession 23:04 36:56