Oklahoma's Alternate Uniforms Didn't Beat KU, But Players Drew Energy, Unity From Them

The return of Dillon Gabriel was different from last week, and so were the "UNITY" jerseys and color scheme, but ultimately the Sooners just played better across the board.

NORMAN — Fans may be divided on Oklahoma’s alternate uniforms.

The players, it seems, are not.

“I love ‘em,” said offensive tackle Anton Harrison. “It was great. If we could wear ‘em every week, I would.”

“I’ll give it an A,” said linebacker David Ugwoegbu. “Solid A, A-plus. A-plus.”

The anthracite gray, the crimson stripes, the white-trimmed numbers, the state of Oklahoma outline on the sleeve, the Prentice Gaunt-inspired “UNITY” on the back nameplate — players liked just about everything about the new kits on Saturday against Kansas, even if the game announcers and other media tracking the game had a hard time keeping up with numbers and player names.

Dillon Gabriel’s return at quarterback wasn’t the only thing that juiced up the players in OU’s 52-42 bounceback victory.

“I think just Dillon coming back, you know, a little swag with the uniforms,” said running back Eric Gray, who rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns. “You know, external factors don't win games, but it definitely is a morale booster. But I think it was a combination of both.”

But whether it was Gabriel’s return (that’s obvious) or new uniforms (that’s superficial at best), Oklahoma looked like a different team on Saturday.

“Energy,” said cornerback C.J. Coldon. “Everybody on the sideline was turnt. That’s the big difference. Even if you’re not playing, you still need to bring energy on the sideline, just bringing that juice every week. Because energy, everybody feeds off of that. I just felt like the energy was the best today and it was early, that was a good thing. It’s a good feeling.”

“Dillon’s a part of it,” said wideout Marvin Mims, “but just the energy on the sidelines, how we approach the game, just more energetic.”

Coach Brent Venables described more efficiency and better execution, but seemed to believe that, other than Gabriel, there wasn’t that much different about Saturday’s win compared to 49-0 in Dallas and 55-21 in Fort Worth.

“Just a tiny bit more disciplined,” Venables said. “Doesn’t take much to be in the wrong side.”

Fact is, breaking out the new uniforms — and getting Gabriel back — couldn’t have come at a better time. This team was hurting. Three straight losses, two blowouts, one to their rival, had taken a toll. The players needed something to feel good about.

“Things haven’t been going our way for the past three weeks,” Mims said, “so just to be able to go back out there and start playing football again, start having fun … guys really harped on that this week. I feel like just from an energy standpoint, just the want-to, to go out there and play for each other, that’s the biggest thing.”

The win couldn’t have come at a better time, either. OU now has something positive to build on heading into the open date. They’ll have a few light days of practice, then get three days off, then get back to work for Iowa State — and the final five games — next week.

“I think it was pretty important,” linebacker DaShaun White said. “It's one of those things like we've been really committed to just kind of getting out of the mud. And we always felt like as soon as we got it back on track like we would be able to kind of continually build from that. And so I think that everyone's on the same page. Everyone's really excited about the win today. But I think everyone's kind of on the same page of this is just step one. “

The bottom line is the jersey were popular among the players, but they didn’t make anyone play better. Rather, the things they represent, like unity, strength, dignity, overcoming challenges — consider Gautt’s personal trials as he broke OU’s color barrier in the 1950s — helped bring the Sooners together to seize a critical victory.

“Unity was big this week,” Harrison said. “It’s big every week. We want to be Team 128. We were together. We’re brothers. We got each others’ back no matter what. So unity is always big with us.”

“At the end of the day,” said Ugwoegbu, “whoever has the cooler jersey isn't going to play better. The idea of it is great, but I don't think we can put that much power into the jerseys.

“Putting these jerseys together, putting the word 'unity' on the back, it's just huge for us because it just emphasizes everything Coach Venables and this program is all about.”

Having said all that, would Ugwoegbu want to wear them again in two weeks at Iowa State? Or at least for the rest of the home games?

“If it was up to me, yeah,” he said. “Let's do it every week.”