Ep. 424 - The Weird 2025 OU Defense Stat You Probably Forgot About

Lee and Grant open the show by digging into OU’s strange takeaway numbers from last year and talk about why 2025 was a major outlier in Brent Venables' career. The guys also discuss Parker Thune’s observation about Oklahoma’s projected defensive starters being almost entirely recruited and developed by OU, and what that says about the defensive staff under Venables. Later, the guys make predictions for half of the SEC, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Vanderbilt and OU. Chapters/Timecodes 00:00 — Opening Take -- Oklahoma’s bizarre 2025 takeaway numbers 05:04 — Revisiting the takeaway discussion from Through the Keyhole 14:23 — What would be a satisfying takeaway total for Oklahoma in 2026? 17:32 — Parker Thune’s tweet about OU’s projected defensive starters 21:26 — Why OU’s defensive trajectory under Venables still has room to grow 27:16 — Running back development concerns and offensive staff questions 30:17 — Brent Venables vs. Lincoln Riley: defensive head coach vs. offensive head coach 32:05 — What OU needs to show against UTEP in the season opener 38:26 — SEC Media Days setup and preseason prediction format 42:37 — Kentucky season prediction 51:57 — Tennessee season prediction 54:02 — Lee’s concern about Tennessee and a possible late-season collapse 58:18 — Missouri season prediction 01:03:27 — Auburn season prediction 01:07:34 — South Carolina season prediction 01:10:16 — Grant predicts trouble for South Carolina 01:11:20 — Georgia season prediction 01:14:37 — Vanderbilt season prediction is a crossfire 01:17:48 — Oklahoma season prediction (we reserve the right to change this) 01:26:34 — Big 12 media days and conference realignment discussion 01:29:33 — SEC vs. Big Ten, ESPN/FPI criticism and media narratives 01:34:08 — How to compare SEC and Big Ten depth Follow West of Everest Subscribe to the West of Everest YouTube channel for full episodes, clips and Shorts. Follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and please leave a five-star rating and review if you enjoy the podcast. Follow West of Everest on X, Instagram and Facebook. #sooners #oklahomafootball #oufootball #sec #secfootball #collegefootball #cfb #georgiafootball #kentuckyfootball #vanderbiltfootball