ColumnThe wait is over. College football is here, the 2026 season has begun, and, once more, hope springs eternal for Oklahoma fans.Is this the year?Will 2026 be the year the Sooners finally break through and win the program’s eighth national championship?Think about this: an entire generation of Sooner Nation was born, finished school, got married and started families of their own since the last time OU won it all. Painful as that may be to reconcile, there seems to be a new optimism around the program — one we haven’t seen to this degree in a long time.Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts? Hey, those were fun teams to watch. Might have even brought home No. 8 in 2017 if the head coach had just called ball plays and not tried to outthink himself after the sun set in the San Gabriel Mountains.But those Sooners, despite three straight trips to the College Football Playoff, never truly threatened to win the big trophy because Lincoln Riley never took defense seriously, and as every football fan for the last hundred years knows — say it with me — defense wins championships.The Jason White-Adrian Peterson Sooners in 2004 had all the pieces to win the national title. Unfortunately for them, USC had more. Same for Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy and the ’08 Sooners: the talent was there to break the skid, but Florida had just a touch more.Outside of those three seasons, and maybe two or three others (2001, 2003, 2011), this generation hasn’t had reason to be this optimistic.And that’s because Brent Venables understands and embraces the old axiom about elite defenses deciding who wins the trophy.Oklahoma coach Brent Venables smiles as he looks on from the sideline at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. | Carson Field, Sooners On SIAs OU puts on the finishing touches for Friday’s season opener against UTEP, Venables looks over his latest defensive creation and seems to almost bubble over with optimism.The Week 1 depth chart was revealed Monday, and shows this OU defense has 18 players who are listed as juniors or seniors in the two-deep — who also began their college football careers at Oklahoma. Fourteen of those are on the line or at linebacker.Venables on Monday said “invested” is the word he would use to describe that impressive combination of loyalty and production.“I think there's humility with the things that you're talking about,” Venables said. “I think guys know that they're valued, that they're cared about, they're developed. You know, the brotherhood means something to them. I think it speaks to their competitive character. And I think they know that they have an opportunity. Like, who doesn't want to be a part of something that's bigger than themselves and have an opportunity to be in an environment that brings out the best in them every single day? “And also maybe helps them be a good player within the system. You know, if you're out there with a bunch of chumps, it's hard to do well. But when you're out there with a bunch of other savages that love to work, that love to compete, that love to be coached, that are going to do their job, you know, there's real genuine connection to that. You guys have gone through a lot of things together, man. It's hard to walk away from that.”The offense certainly needs to show significant improvement from last year. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer are in their fourth year together, third as a starting QB, and second in Norman. They should be much better simply by osmosis.The offensive line, which struggled early in 2025, eventually figured a few things out late and returns that group nearly intact. The tight ends look like real SEC tight ends. There’s more than one wide receiver who can excel at this level.Assuming the special teams under Doug Deakin continues its upward trajectory, yes, many indicators point toward the potential for a special season in Norman. Even a demanding early schedule isn’t the red flag that it once was because now there are 12 playoff spots and regular-season losses aren’t the scarlet letter they used to be. Get hot and healthy at just the right time, and a two-loss team (or maybe even a three-loss team) can bring home a national championship.For Oklahoma, bringing home No. 8 always has — and likely always will — depended on how good the defense is.And while this defense hasn’t played a game yet in 2026, on paper, it looks good enough to carry the Sooners to the promised land.Yet, there’s another component in what Venables has done going on his fifth season as a head coach: he’s created a culture that players don’t want to leave. The brotherhood he mentioned isn’t just lip service. Players leave all the time to get more snaps at other schools. But he and his staff make it hard for them to go. Many of the ones who choose to leave do so in their final year of eligibility.Combine culture with opportunity and loyalty — and elite defense — and Sooner Nation could be in for a memorable season.“I’m very proud that they value playing at a place like Oklahoma and putting the Crimson and Cream on, what it means for them both in the immediate moment and certainly what that'll mean for them to be connected here for the rest of their lives," Venables said. "So it's a big deal. It's a really big deal.” Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow