Joel Klatt considers whether Oklahoma is a CFP contender

After a rough first season under Brent Venables, Oklahoma looks like it’s improved through four games this year. The Sooners take a 4-0 record into this week’s game against Iowa State and find themselves ranked No. 14 in the AP Top 25.

That ranking begs the question: Could Oklahoma be a College Football Playoff contender? According to FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt, the Sooners are “just below the line.”

Klatt was on the call for Oklahoma’s game against Cincinnati last week, which saw the Sooners’ defense clamp down in a 20-6 victory. It’s clear they’ve made strides on that side of the ball since last year. However, their level of competition makes it hard to judge just how far they’ve come.

“OU, I saw them last week. I was impressed with a lot of things,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “They were kind of the next team in consideration. The defense has been really good so far this year, and that was the question coming in. Remember, this is a team that gave up over 30 points a game and over 450 yards a game last year. Not good. And so, they have to improve.

“And while the statistics suggest that their defense is much better, we still have to wait and see. I still don’t feel like they’ve played a great offense. And there were times during that game against Cincinnati when I felt like, ‘Boy, the Bearcats are a couple of mistakes away from having the lead in this game.’”

Klatt also said the offense has some room to improve. While he doesn’t know how high Dillon Gabriel’s ceiling is, necessarily, the big thing he noticed through four games is he has to make the most of the weapons he has.

If he can take those strides, Klatt said that would help Oklahoma’s case for the CFP.

“Offensively, I like what Oklahoma does,” Klatt said. “I think that their wide receivers are their best players. I believe that their offensive line has to get better running the football. They need to find a running back that will emerge as their guy in the backfield to allow for the timing and the rhythm of the run game to really reach its potential.

“And then, I think that their quarterback, I don’t think he’s got the highest ceiling in the world. I like Dillon Gabriel. He gets the ball out quickly. But when it comes to utilizing the weapons on the outside, those big wide receivers, he needs to show me that he can attack downfield with more efficiency than what he has over the last couple of years. So that’s why OU fell just below the line for me.”

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