Legendary coach Bob Stoops came out of retirement for one game and led the Oklahoma Sooners to an impressive 47-32 win over Oregon in the Alamo Bowl December 29 in San Antonio, Texas.

“I’ve been out of it, came back,” Stoops said. “It was fun. More than anything, I appreciate the young people, the guys in the program, embraced me, were all in, and worked hard.”

Stoops got career win No. 191 and increased his bowl record to 10-9.

Brent Venables, hired to replace the departed Lincoln Riley, will now take over the Sooner football program after spending 10 seasons as the defensive coordinator for Clemson.

OU quarterback Caleb Williams, who entered the player portal and may transfer, passed for three touchdowns against Oregon. He was anxious to win his first bowl game.

“I was focused on finishing the semester off strong, being with my guys, making sure that all my guys that won’t be here next year … they go off on the right note and we go off 11-2,” Williams said.

Williams likes Venables.

“Oklahoma chose the right guy to come in here,” Williams said of Venables.

OU running back Kennedy Brooks ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns. Brooks was named the game’s offensive most outstanding player. He tied a career-best with three touchdowns.

“(The offensive line) dominated this whole game,” Brooks said. “It’s that simple. We can’t do it without them. They put in this work this week and we knew for a fact we had to come in and win this game and we had to be the most physical team..”

The bad news is that Brooks and eight other Sooners will forego their college eligibility and go pro. Offensive guards Marquis Hayes and Tyrese Robinson will enter into the NFL draft. Fullback Jeremiah Hall, kicker Gabe Brkic, Brian Asamoah, Nik Bonitto, Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey opted out of the bowl game to concentrate on their professional careers.

All players were given an extra year of eligibility following last year’s pandemic season. Three other players are transferring.  Quarterback Spencer Rattler and tight end Austin Stogner are headed to South Carolina, while wide receiver Jadon Haselwood will play at Arkansas next year.

Pat Fields was named the Alamo Bowl’s most outstanding defensive player. He is retiring for academic reasons and will enroll at Stanford on a full academic scholarship.

Venables is completing his new staff of assistant coaches and there are a lot of OU connections.

Jerry Schmidt returns to Norman as director of sports enhancement and strength and conditioning, former defensive assistant Brandon Hall is the Sooners’ new safeties coach and former Clemson defensive assistant Miguel Chavis (is OU’s new defensive ends coach.

Schmidt, Oklahoma’s strength and conditioning efforts from 1999-17, is coming back after a four-year stay as director of athletic performance at Texas A&M.

Hall, an OU alumnus and staff assistant, led Troy’s defense for the last three seasons after spending a year as the program’s outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

Chavis spent the past five years at Clemson with Venables, serving in a defensive player development role.