Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Chip Rouse
Facing Oklahoma after Red River Rivalry is usually bad news for opponents
Oklahoma's season took on a whole different light and meaning following its huge victory over No. 1 Texas last weekend in the 122nd renewal of the classic Red River Rivalry in Dallas. The fact that the Sooners (3-2, 1-1) came out on top in that game and are carrying over that momentum into their SEC home opener on Saturday with visiting Kentucky represents a difficult enough challenge for the 15th-ranked Wildcats (5-1, 3-1).
Remembering the 1951 Sugar Bowl: An epic confrontation between OU and Kentucky with coaching legends
In 1950, its fourth season under head coach Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma ran the table, mowing down 10 regular-season opponents to finish the regular season 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press college football poll. As the champions of the Big Seven Conference, the Sooners were extended an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day in 1951, where their opponent was to be the Kentucky Wildcats, champions of the SEC.
Remembering the 1951 Sugar Bowl: An epic confrontation between OU and Kentucky with coaching legends
In 1950, its fourth season under head coach Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma ran the table, mowing down 10 regular-season opponents to finish the regular season 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press college football poll. As the champions of the Big Seven Conference, the Sooners were extended an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day in 1951, where their opponent was to be the Kentucky Wildcats, champions of the SEC.
Facing Oklahoma after Red River Rivalry is usually bad news for opponents
Oklahoma's season took on a whole different light and meaning following its huge victory over No. 1 Texas last weekend in the 122nd renewal of the classic Red River Rivalry in Dallas. The fact that the Sooners (3-2, 1-1) came out on top in that game and are carrying over that momentum into their SEC home opener on Saturday with visiting Kentucky represents a difficult enough challenge for the 15th-ranked Wildcats (5-1, 3-1).
Oklahoma's big guys up front are the foundation for everything that works within the offense
Oklahoma's offensive production approaching the midpoint of the 2026 season is at a nearly 30-year low point. Although there are multiple factors that have contributed to that historic downfall, the core of the problem rests with the offensive line. Every offensive play begins and ends with the job being performed up front by the guys at the point of attack.
SEC Power Rankings: Oklahoma's upset over No. 1 Texas leads major Week 7 movement
Oklahoma's thrilling walk-off Red River Rivalry win over the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns got the dominoes tumbling in both directions, and the fallout from the weekend action resulted in major changes up and down the board in the Week 7 SEC Power Rankings. Fourteen of the 16 SEC teams changed positions this week, not only as a result of the Sooners' stunning upset at the top of the chain, but also several other surprising outcomes in conference games over the weekend.
The Good, bad, and ugly from an Oklahoma defensive gem and Red River Rivalry upset of No. 1 Texas
Saturday's annual October reunion between Oklahoma and Texas at the half burnt orange, half crimson-draped Cotton Bowl in Dallas wasn't supposed to go this way. Everyone knew how loaded with offensive and defensive talent top-ranked Texas was this season, and with a couple of impressive wins over ranked teams to show for it, including a takedown of previously No. 1-ranked Ohio State in Week 2, the Longhorns came into Red River Rivalry week with a perfect 4-0 record.
Blowouts are a rare commodity in the Red River Rivalry series
One of the many reasons that make the Oklahoma-Texas Red River Rivalry one of the featured games of the college football season every fall is that most of the games themselves are so emotionally charged and highly competitive in nature. Blowouts are rare in this longtime college gridiron rivalry. Only 16 times in the 121-year history of the Red River Rivalry has one team won by 30 or more points. The number of one-score games is nearly triple that amount (50).
Oklahoma has an uphill battle on its hands vs. No. 1 Texas in Red River Rivalry
It's OU-Texas week. That means the only thing that matters along the 370-mile stretch of Interstate 35 that runs between Norman, Oklahoma, and Austin, Texas, and is separated geographically by the Red River, which divides the bordering states, is the outcome of the annual gridiron battle that takes place between the two schools on Saturday afternoon in Dallas, halfway between.
Picking the winner of Red River Rivalry can be risky business, despite what might appear irrefutable
In the long history of the storied Oklahoma-Texas football rivalry, it has been rare for one team to come into the game as an overwhelming favorite to take home the Golden Hat -- the gold-plated, 10-gallon cowboy hat awarded to the winner of the classic game played in Dallas the second weekend in October every year.
It's been 27 years since Texas pulled off a Red River Rivalry trifecta against Oklahoma
The quickest way for a head football coach at either Oklahoma or Texas to lose his job is to lose too many times to the other school. The Four Horsemen of Oklahoma football head coaches (some might call them the "Killer B's") -- Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, and Bob Stoops -- all have .500 or better records against the Sooners' chief rival. Stoops was the best of the four in games against Texas, fashioning an 11-5 record in his 18 seasons as the Oklahoma head coach.
The good, bad, and ugly numbers from the Sooners' disappointing first quarter of the season
Some would describe Oklahoma's 2-2 start to the 2026 season as up and down. The truth is, the "up" part of that reference is applicable just to the season opener against UTEP. The Sooners have been on a downhill tumble ever since. The interesting part of this is that the game the Sooners lost at Michigan in Week 2, they probably should and could have won. Similarly, OU probably should have lost the game it won vs. New Mexico.
Brent Venables and Oklahoma have an unsettling even-numbered-year problem
Oklahoma has experienced just two losing football seasons in the last 27 years. Both have come in the last four seasons during the time that Brent Venables has been head coach. Twice on Venables watch, the Sooners have followed up a sub-.500 6-7 season with a 10-win campaign, and last season that landed them a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in six seasons.
SEC Power Rankings: Oklahoma finally climbs thanks to bye week chaos
The Week 5 SEC schedule featured a couple of games between top-25 teams. Neither, surprisingly, proved to be as competitive as the pregame point spread would indicate. Both games ended up as one-sided blowouts. Florida, coming off a huge 52-28 win over previously unbeaten Ole Miss, began Week 5 as one of the hottest teams in the SEC. Missouri, on the other hand, was returning home with its Tiger tail between its legs after a heartbreaking Week 4 road loss at Mississippi State.
Brent Venables and Oklahoma have an unsettling even-numbered-year problem
Oklahoma has experienced just two losing football seasons in the last 27 years. Both have come in the last four seasons during the time that Brent Venables has been head coach. Twice on Venables watch, the Sooners have followed up a sub-.500 6-7 season with a 10-win campaign, and last season that landed them a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in six seasons.
Bob Stoops was proof that defensive-minded head coaches can have championship-level offenses at OU
The fact that Brent Venables' coaching reputation is built solely on the success he has had in producing championship-level college defenses doesn't mean that, as a head coach, he can't have a team with a strong, or at the very least, competitive presence both on offense and defense. The same can be said, of course, for a head coach who comes in with a background geared toward offense. Very rare is the head coach who brings specific expertise in all three phases of the game.
Spoiler alert: Oklahoma is no longer Quarterback U
Since 2000, Oklahoma has produced 10 Heisman Trophy finalists. Eight of the 10 were quarterbacks, and four Sooners went on to capture college football's ultimate individual prize. No other school can match that over that period of time. In the three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019, two Oklahoma quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018) won the Heisman and a third (Jalen Hurts in 2019) finished as runner-up.
Bob Stoops was proof that defensive-minded head coaches can have championship-level offenses at OU
The fact that Brent Venables' coaching reputation is built solely on the success he has had in producing championship-level college defenses doesn't mean that, as a head coach, he can't have a team with a strong, or at the very least, competitive presence both on offense and defense. The same can be said, of course, for a head coach who comes in with a background geared toward offense. Very rare is the head coach who brings specific expertise in all three phases of the game.
Sooners new and old hit the practice court in preparation for Oklahoma's 2026-27 hoops season
There's hope around the corner, Sooner fans. It's just not for the listing ship that appears to represent the fate of Oklahoma football this season. The college football season is barely a month old, but basketball is hot on the horizon. For Oklahoma men's basketball, official practice sessions in preparation for the 2026-27 season began this past week. Football will always be king at Oklahoma, but in the early going this season, the metaphor seems more applicable to that of the court jester.
Sooners new and old hit the practice court in preparation for Oklahoma's 2026-27 hoops season
There's hope around the corner, Sooner fans. It's just not for the listing ship that appears to represent the fate of Oklahoma football this season. The college football season is barely a month old, but basketball is hot on the horizon. For Oklahoma men's basketball, official practice sessions in preparation for the 2026-27 season began this past week. Football will always be king at Oklahoma, but in the early going this season, the metaphor seems more applicable to that of the court jester.
SEC Power Rankings: Oklahoma keeps slipping closer to the basement of the conference
Florida and Mississippi State were the big movers, while Ole Miss and Texas A&M suffered the opposite effect entering Week 5 of the SEC Power Rankings. Just another week at the office in SEC football. Three more SEC teams (Ole Miss, Tennessee and Missouri) left the unbeaten ranks in Week 4 -- the first full week of head-to-head SEC competition -- but five league members remain with perfect 4-0 records.
The good, the bad and the ugly from a Georgia Dawg pounding
It wasn't a rainy night in Georgia, as the lyrics from the popular song suggest, but it might as well have been from an Oklahoma point of view. For sure, the Sooners' first-ever game at Georgia was difficult to take in, and even more so from which to take away any resemblance of a silver lining. Georgia ranks No. 2 in the country after the first four weeks of the 2026 season, but some analysts believe the Bulldogs are the most complete team right now in college football.
Oklahoma has a problem with having its great units at different times
Remember those years when Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were launching passes downfield to speedy, open Sooner receivers in full stride for huge gains, even touchdowns, and Oklahoma running backs were gaining six yards a pop and producing 1,000-yard seasons? Those Oklahoma offenses were among the very best in college football. Flash forward nearly a decade, and we have a complete role reversal between the Sooner offensive and defensive units.
Oklahoma vs. Georgia doesn't have the same shine it once had
All offseason and even into the opening week of the 2026 season, the Week 4 matchup between Oklahoma and Georgia was billed as must-see television and one of the marquee games of the entire season. But stuff happens and things do change, and in the case of the once 11th-ranked Sooners, things have not gone as most OU fans, and even quite a few in the media, expected.
It's not totally unrealistic for Oklahoma to pull off a huge upset vs. Georgia
Had Oklahoma's game at Georgia this weekend been played three weeks earlier, it would have been the No. 11 Sooners vs. No. 3 Georgia, a matchup of two highly ranked teams. It probably also would have been a natural destination point for ESPN College GameDay. It's still an important enough game for national television, but the competitive nature of the matchup has taken a divergent turn as a result of Oklahoma's unexpected and troublesome offensive struggles the past two weeks.
SEC Power Rankings: Sooners' narrow Week 3 win proves to be costly just ahead of conference play
All 16 SEC teams were undefeated after Week 1 of the 2026 college football season. That number has slowly dwindled to nine after three games. Four teams suffered their initial loss of the season this past weekend as a result of four head-to-head SEC matchups. There was no movement at the very top or at the bottom in this week's SEC Power Rankings, but 11 spots in between changed places, including Oklahoma, despite a 14-6 non-conference win over New Mexico.
The Good, the bad and the ugly of a game that bodes impending disaster for the Sooners' season
The first words out of Brent Venables' mouth as he settled in to face reporters in his postgame press conference Saturday night conveyed a blinding flash of the obvious. "That was...That was ugly," the Sooner head coach said in describing his team's 14-6 win over New Mexico. For a second straight week, the Oklahoma offense delivered a wretched performance that, frankly, is getting painfully difficult to watch.
Week 3 is a serious test case for QB John Mateer and the Oklahoma offense
The Saturday night football game at the Palace on the Prairie against New Mexico has taken on increased importance from the time that non-conference opponent was first signed as the Week 3 game on the 2026 Oklahoma schedule. Winning is always of importance for an Oklahoma team in any year and at any point in the schedule, but the stakes for the Sooners in Saturday's game run much deeper than winning. With huge games against Nos.
Oklahoma has a debilitating and disturbing identity crisis on offense
Over the past four seasons, the Oklahoma football team has undergone a full, 180-degree identity transformation. Unfortunately, not much has changed in the Sooners' quest to achieve their ultimate goal of an eighth national championship. Oklahoma has gone from a perennial offensive juggernaut, to becoming one of college football's most elite defenses, but it has come with an unintended and costly trade-off.
Sooners must avoid looking past New Mexico to next week's SEC showdown at Georgia
It's been a trying week for Oklahoma football Team 132. Still smarting from the disappointing Week 2 loss to Michigan, the Sooners enter a danger zone this week, facing a New Mexico team that is better than most people think, while trying to avoid getting caught looking too far ahead to a long-circled Week 4 showdown at Georgia.
SEC Power Rankings: Oklahoma falls while Texas assumes the throne
Oklahoma and Texas are the big movers in the Week 3 SEC Power Rankings, but for diametrically different reasons. Texas takes over the top spot this week in the SEC Power Rankings, replacing Georgia as the No. 1 team following the Longhorns' remarkable fourth-quarter 24-23 comeback win over the country's top-ranked team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a direct result of the win, Texas also leaped over the Buckeyes into the No. 1 spot nationally.
The Good, the bad and the ugly from Oklahoma's disturbing performance vs. Michigan
Saturday's highly anticipated showdown between Oklahoma and Michigan at the place appropriately named The Big House sadly amounted to little more than a big disappointment for Sooner fans. Everyone knew the chances were very high that the Michigan team the Sooners faced on Saturday would be much different than the team that, by all rights, should have lost to Western Michigan just seven days before.
USA Today All-2000s team gives proof Bob Stoops era had the most talent for Oklahoma
Bud Wilkinson's great Oklahoma Sooner teams of the 1950s will always be remembered as the glory years of Oklahoma football and for the long history of success that was to follow. Wilkinson's great Oklahoma teams produced three national championships, an NCAA record 47 consecutive wins and 15 consensus All-Americans. But as dominant as those 1950s Oklahoma teams were, a good number of the players believed to be the greatest of all-time to wear the Sooner uniform played in the 2000s.
USA Today All-2000s team gives proof Bob Stoops era had the most talent for Oklahoma
Former Binghamton Soccer Captain and Newlywed Kayla Saager Dead at 30, Months After Wedding Former Binghamton University soccer captain Kayla Saager has died, just months after her wedding, the Bearcats announced. She was 30. “We are saddened …
SEC vs. Big Ten superiority will be tested in a trio of Week 2 matchups
Since the ascendance of the SEC and the Big Ten over the past decade to so-called superconference status and a power level above the other two Power Four conferences, there has been an ongoing debate over which of the two super conferences reigns supreme in the sport of college football. That question will be on the table again this weekend with three SEC vs. Big Ten matchups, including Oklahoma at Michigan in a battle of two of college football's winningest and most widely followed programs.
Oklahoma can keep perfect bragging rights over fellow blue-blood Michigan on Saturday
Oklahoma gets a major out-of-conference test early in its 2026 season as the 11th-ranked Sooners make their first-ever visit to the Big House, home of the Michigan Wolverines, college football's all-time winningest program, for a marquee showdown on Saturday. Saturday will be the third meeting all-time between the two storied college football programs. Oklahoma has won the two previous games, including a 24-13 triumph in Week 2 last season in Norman.
Let the musical chairs begin entering Week 2 of the SEC Power Rankings
SEC teams, including Oklahoma, were a perfect 16-0 in Week 1 of the 2026 college football season, which wasn't a huge surprise given the overall weakness of the opening week schedule. There were several Week 1 matchups involving SEC teams, however, of a more competitive nature that helped answer some preseason questions and concerns. For example, Ole Miss-Louisville was a battle between two top-25 teams. And Auburn-Baylor and LSU-Clemson were contests pairing Power Four teams.
The good, the bad and the ugly from Oklahoma's season-opening blowout vs. UTEP
When you score 51 points and hold an opponent scoreless, it's almost a sure bet that plenty of things went right, which they certainly did in Oklahoma's 51-0 season-opening demolition of UTEP on Friday night before a sold-out Palace on the Prairie.
The good, the bad and the ugly from Oklahoma's season-opening blowout vs. UTEP
When you score 51 points and hold an opponent scoreless, it's almost a sure bet that plenty of things went right, which they certainly did in Oklahoma's 51-0 season-opening demolition of UTEP on Friday night before a sold-out Palace on the Prairie.
Oklahoma fans should actually be grateful for Michigan's miracle Week 1 win
Hail to the Victors! The Oklahoma Sooners and their fans shouldn't have wanted it any other way after Week 1 of the 2026 college football season.
The looming 2026 Red River Rivalry already feels like it has more fuel than most matchups
The Oklahoma-Texas football rivalry will probably never head a nationwide list of the best active college football rivalries, but that's only because the people who put together those lists have probably never attended a Red River Rivalry game in person. The one thing that makes the Oklahoma-Texas football rivalry stand out from all others is the unique setting in which the annual game is played.
Oklahoma fans should actually be grateful for Michigan's miracle Week 1 win
Hail to the Victors! The Oklahoma Sooners and their fans shouldn't have wanted it any other way after Week 1 of the 2026 college football season.
Oklahoma fans should actually be grateful for Michigan's miracle Week 1 win
1:00 1 day ago Michigan fans go berserk, storm field after WMU Hail Mary win Detroit Free Press • 1d Michigan fans stormed the field at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor after Bryce Underwood and JJ Buchanan's Hail Mary to beat Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.
Sooners' 2026 season opener should be viewed as nothing more than a dress rehearsal
There are bigger challenges ahead. Oklahoma takes the field before a first-round College Football Playoff game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Alabama Crimson Tide. at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. Alabama won 34-24.
Oklahoma lifts the curtain on the 2026 season in rare Friday home opener against UTEP
On Friday night, at a sold-out Palace on the Prairie, all the preseason talk changes over to actual game action as No. 10 Oklahoma hosts UTEP to kick off the new season. Friday night home games are extremely rare for Oklahoma. The opener against UTEP marks just the second time in Sooner football history that Oklahoma has played a regular-season game at home under the lights on a Friday. The other time was two seasons ago, when the Sooners defeated Temple 51-3 in the season opener.
Ranking Oklahoma's 2026 schedule by importance and the Red River Rivalry isn't No. 1
Oklahoma will open the 2026 college football season on Friday as the No. 10 team in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings. Yet, the Sooners are projected to finish seventh in their own conference. Something's got to give here. We are going to find out fairly quickly if the Sooners are truly deserving of a top-10 national ranking to begin the season. The first five games in Oklahoma's 2026 schedule are against teams ranked in the top 25, including two in the top five (No. 3 Georgia and No. 5 Texas).
Bill Bedenbaugh is taking OU back to its roots in building offensive line robustness and relevance
Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh is widely thought of and respected as one of the best in the business at his profession, which is recruiting and developing top college offensive linemen. And he has a resume that clearly supports that claim, having produced 13 NFL Draft picks in his 12 seasons as an OU assistant, including nine offensive tackles. In 2018, the Oklahoma offensive line was awarded the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football.
4 things we need to see from the Sooners, even in a blowout vs. UTEP
After months of media stories and talk-show discussion and infinitum about personnel additions and improvements to what at best was an erratic and lackluster offensive performance last season, we finally get to witness it for ourselves when the 2026 Oklahoma football season officially kicks off on Friday night against the UTEP Miners.
Bill Bedenbaugh is taking OU back to its roots in building offensive line robustness and relevance
Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh is widely thought of and respected as one of the best in the business at his profession, which is recruiting and developing top college offensive linemen. And he has a resume that clearly supports that claim, having produced 13 NFL Draft picks in his 12 seasons as an OU assistant, including nine offensive tackles. In 2018, the Oklahoma offensive line was awarded the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football.
Predicting MVP and 4 other superlatives that push Oklahoma to a successful 2026 football season
After eight long, agonizing months of all talk and no action, the new college football season is finally here. This weekend is designated as Week 0, with a smattering of teams set to kick off the 2026 season. That will serve as a teaser and prelude to the more official opening that will will take place a week from now, including the season kickoff for Oklahoma against UTEP on Friday.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Chip
Contact Chip, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack