SoonerScoop Game Predictions: OU vs. Navy (Armed Forces Bowl)

OU bowl season is here and just about done even before it started. Let’s see how head coach Brent Venables and Team 130 cap things off.

OU (6-6) vs. Navy (9-3)
When: 11 a.m. Friday
Where: Amon G. Carter Stadium, TCU (Fort Worth)
TV: ESPN
Betting: Oklahoma (-3), Total: 43

Josh McCuistion: Get your Stopwatches Ready

Whether you are ready for 2024 to be over or if you’re trying to soak up every moment of this season, you need to get all you can on Friday morning as this one is going to fly by. Navy, as ever, is one of the most run-heavy offenses in the sport (though they have a bit more flash than we’re all accustomed to) and the Sooners have about two and a half receivers ready to play.

As such? This is going to be a good old fashioned rock fight that, along with Georgia-Notre Dame, could help to set the sport back roughly 40 years.

The bottom line though is that Oklahoma, if they take care of the ball, should win this game. The Sooners are much bigger and more talented up front than Navy is. They also have the massive advantage of weeks to prepare for Navy’s attack. Just facing their scheme in the middle of November can be tough, doing so after a month of prep? That can be a tougher hill to climb, particularly against a Sooners defense that is long on talent – even without its two stars.

I’m hesitant to pick this Oklahoma team really ever but it just kind of feels like a group who maybe for the first time since the first half against Tennessee where they went out with little to lose. I think a fast and loose group of Sooners – to forget bigger – comes out with a season-ending win.

Oklahoma 21, Navy 13.

Bob Przybylo: A glimpse of 2025? Is that really possible?

Think that’s what you have to be watching, right? Players that maybe weren’t necessarily ready when the 2024 season began. But now? This could be their time. Definitely a chance to make an impression to the coaching staff.

Maybe we’ll see more of defensive tackle David Stone. Or tight end Davon Mitchell. But it’s hard to find a lot to be excited about because this team is nothing like what we saw in the regular season. And it won’t really resemble what we should see in 2025.

It’s going to be about pride for the guys who are still in the fold. Pride is something that, no doubt, quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is all about. It’ll be his next chance to show OU fans and the staff what he can do at quarterback.

Still, though, this should be a running back affair. Both sides. Run, run and run some more. With guys like Xavier Robinson and Taylor Tatum healthy? Just keep feeding them.

The defense will be about the discipline that it requires to take on Navy. But it’ll be a tough game, no matter how you slice it.

Nobody is excited about a second 6-7 season under Venables in three seasons, but it could be on its way. It’ll be tight, however you slice it.

OU 16, Navy 14.

Eddie Radosevich: Finding hope in an unacceptable season

Like most of you I’m ready for this whole experience to be over. It’s like after the first 30 minutes of being at Frontier City during the summer. There was an extreme excitement that came with the new season and it wore off quickly. We’ve known this. 

Friday morning’s affair offers nothing else other than hope. You hope the offense doesn’t embarrass itself. You hope some of the young talent flashes. You hope everyone exits into a massive off-season in full health. 

It’s about building for 2025 while also putting something of a bow on the 2024 season. There’s so much that went wrong this year that it’s hard to imagine how it could get any worse. Oklahoma will close its season in a former conference foe’s home stadium at 11 a.m. on a dreary (probably) Friday morning in the DFW. If you can laugh through the pain you’re a Champion of life. Just surviving this season earns you a badge of honor (or something). 

Michael Hawkins Jr. finds some success. Oklahoma forces a couple turnovers. Well would you lookie here. Oklahoma finishes above .500 as a Xavier Robinson touchdown puts the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter. 

Now the building begins. Brent Venables tenure at Oklahoma will depend on it.

Oklahoma 27, Navy 17.

George Stoia: I am ready for 2025

Let’s just fast-forward this thing. While I think it’s important for OU to play well in this game, I think it’s more important for the Sooners to land a quality tight end in the portal. For real.

But in terms of the game, this is one Oklahoma *should* win. While they will be without several key players, the Sooners are more talented on the football field than our country’s Naval Academy. I want to see Michael Hawkins play well and Deion Burks to finish the game healthy. I want to see some of the young freshmen on defense get some snaps. And for the love of God, please let Davon Mitchell play.

This won’t be an easy game. Navy’s offense will present some challenges. But it would be really disappointing if OU were to lose this game. I guess that’s par for the course this season.

But I’m rolling with the Sooners on Friday, giving Sooner Nation some hope heading into 2025.

Oklahoma 24, Navy 13.