Fireworks and the Fourth of July go hand in hand.

For Oklahoma in 2026, the Sooners hope to see plenty of fireworks once the season gets rolling. With the schedule they have, they’ll need plenty.

But for today, while grills are firing up and music is blasting away, there are only four fireworks Sooner fans should concern themselves with. These four fireworks could be the difference between 6-6 and 11-1.

Maybe even 12-0. But, no need to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Firework No. 4: Find a 1K Rusher

The hope is that Brent Venables’ public declarations of the Sooners’ “pathetic” running game over the last few seasons have helped instill a new attitude for the offense.

That coupled with the offensive line having a precious year of experience under their belt should lead to a better ground attack in 2026. How much better remains to be seen. But 2025 cannot be repeated.

Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock will be healthy for the beginning of fall camp. Should they make it to the UTEP game unscathed, one of them should begin the campaign to 1,000 yards.

Is it realistic that any of them — or the other backs who impressed during spring ball — can make it to the century mark? Perhaps not, but shoot for the moon, right? Anything north of 500 yards for a single back appears to be the bare minimum for a solid running game, which makes the offense better.

Firework No. 3: Beat Michigan

Assuming the UTEP game goes according to plan; you can’t win them all unless you win the next one. The next one is Oklahoma’s first ever visit to the Big House in Ann Arbor.

The Sooners may have caught a break in getting the Wolverines in Kyle Wittingham’s second game as UM’s new head coach. But both programs will see this game as a catapult into the College Football Playoff discussion. Rightfully so.

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OU’s date with Michigan is important because it appears to be — on paper — the easiest of the three juggernaut games to navigate over the first six weeks of the season. Lose to the Wolverines, and you’re staring down the barrel heading to Athens and the Cotton Bowl over the next few weeks.

Beat Michigan, and Oklahoma increases their margin of error. You get two mulligans for the most part.

Firework No. 2: Someone Takes Home a Defensive Trophy

Despite the attention on offense this offseason, this is still a Venables-led program. It’s going to be led by the defense. Even with some questions about depth, this defense is primed to be elite once again.

Individual awards do not guarantee that team success follows. However, should OU win enough games for a playoff berth, someone on defense will have had a massive impact on that trajectory. This season could be one of those years where team success and individual accolades are a package deal.

Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke are both Butkus Award candidates — Heinecke is thanks to Jim Nagy and Venables’ testimony under oath. Lewis has the better career and a higher ceiling, but Heinecke has the story thanks to his offseason injunction.

David Stone and Taylor Wein will garner plenty of attention and have opportunities to rack up numbers. Don’t forget about Peyton Bowen, who showcased some trophy-winning play at the end of 2025.

Firework No. 1: John Mateer Goes to NYC

This is simply a louder, more spectacular finale than the previous firework.

So-so teams have had Lombardi Award winners and fringe-playoff teams have taken home the Butkus. But very rarely does a Hesiman Trophy contender play for a forgetable team.

The 2026 Sooners, although led by their defense, appear primed to be a team that goes as far as their quarterback takes them. An injury kept the world from seeing what Oklahoma was capable of with a healthy Mateer leading the offense. They’re banking on a healthier and a better-seasoned Mateer in 2026.

If Mateer makes it to New York simply as a finalist, he more than likely conquered two of the three juggernaut games in September-October (if not all three). The Sooners are firmly in the College Football Playoff once again.

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Recruiting Utah’s high school talent got tougher over the last six months.

Not only do the local college coaches have to protect I-15, but they must battle recruiters off I-35 that goes through Texas and Oklahoma as well as I-94 out of Detroit to Ann Arbor.

This summer, Kyle Whittingham, Jay Hill and other members of their former Utah-connected staff moved to Michigan and kept their Utah recruit contacts. But now Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has decided he wants a part of the Utah-California pipeline and just committed the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked high school recruits in the state.

Venables also just hired a former BYU defensive lineman away from a two-month stint at Fresno State to be part of his recruiting staff in Norman. This came just days — if not hours — after Brown got Corner Canyon offensive lineman Manase Brown, the No. 5-ranked player in the state’s Class of 2027.

BYU held off Oklahoma late Wednesday night for the No. 2-ranked player in the state, edge rusher Uhila Wolfgramm from Spanish Fork. It was a major get for head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive line coach Sione Pou’ha, who were in the Tongan islands during Wolfgramm’s decision as Oklahoma’s staff was pressing until the final hours.

“Coach Venables did a great job recruiting Uhila and built a relationship with him. He is very personable and is a Christian and cares about his players. He is known for building relationships.”

Meanwhile, Whittingham’s staff has committed the No. 6- and No. 8-ranked players in the state, Kamden Lopati, a quarterback from West High, and Christian Hanshaw, a tight end from American Fork.

It used to be that Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State, SUU and Utah Tech had to worry about Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington. They still do.

But Michigan and Oklahoma have entered the harvesting act in a big way. Touting their Big Ten and SEC barks, they are getting results.

Oklahoma picked off Utah’s No. 1-ranked (247Sports) player, Bode Sparrow, just over a week ago. He decided to play in the SEC and was following the No. 3-ranked player, Orem’s Krew Jones, to Norman.

According to family members and Maple Mountain coach Harry Schwenke, both Sparrow and Jones were working Wolfgramm over to join them. While they were not especially close, they had met during some football camps and the Oklahoma topic began to take root.

Wolfgramm said his decision came right down to the wire, a pick to go to BYU taking place at 1 a.m. the day of his public announcement over the Internet.

Oklahoma, a 6-2 sixth-place finisher in the SEC last season, had a 10-3 overall record and lost to Alabama in the first round of the CFP after the Tide rallied from down 17-0 to score 34 of the next 41 points and win 34-24.

You could say the Sooners are looking for defensive help from the likes of Jones and Sparrow after that one.

The hiring of Brown from Fresno State is interesting.

Obviously, the Sooners got a Polynesian connection in Brown, who was at Northeastern State as a defensive line coach in Tahlequah, Oklahoma after spending the previous season at Garden City Community College in Kansas.

Brown announced it himself on X Thursday, posting photos in Oklahoma gear with the caption emphasizing the grind, competing for championships, building relationships, and “Boomer Sooner.”

His new bio highlights his role in the recruiting department as Scouting Coordinator, with Polynesian flags and hashtags like #OUDNA #HardToKill.

For the Cougars, Utes and other Beehive state staffs, they’ve always held out hope that these locals that leave the state to test their beaks with other brands will return in the future.

This happened with Brown when he signed to play with Nebraska in 2001 out of Granger High School. He transferred to BYU, where he played three years and was an All-Mountain West Conference tackle.

On the BYU side, this is what happened with projected Big 12 all-conference linebacker Cade Uluave, who just transferred from Cal after leaving the state out of high school at South Jordan. Same for Oregon transfer tight end Roger Saleapaga, who prepped at Orem High.

Sometimes guys do come home, like Cougar basketball’s Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler.

Meanwhile, the battle is on.

These recruiting wars are going to get interesting.

More choices for the local kids.

More work for the local college recruiters to protect turf.