Game Primer: OU vs. Ole Miss

Saturday, October 26

Oxford, Miss

11 a.m.

University of Oklahoma

Ole Miss

AUBURN, AL - September 28, 2024 - Oklahoma Punter Luke Elzinga (#48), Oklahoma Wide receiver Brenen Thompson (#15), Oklahoma Defensive back Kani Walker (#26), Oklahoma Linebacker Kip Lewis (#10), Oklahoma Defensive back Peyton Bowen (#22) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL. Photo By Morgan Givens

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

October 24, 2024 | Football

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Oklahoma

#18/18 Ole Miss

Saturday, Oct. 26 / 11 a.m. CT / Oxford, Miss.

ESPN / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• In the first-ever on-campus meeting between the programs, and just the second matchup overall, Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) plays No. 18/18 Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2) on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. The game will be televised by ESPN with Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick and Kris Budden announcing.

• Saturday's contest will mark the first in Oklahoma history played in the state of Mississippi.

• Oklahoma is 47-30-1 (.603) all-time in true road games against current members of the SEC. It is 5-0 all-time on the road against SEC members at the time of competition (1-0 each vs. Alabama [20-13 in 2003], Auburn [27-21 in 2024], Kentucky [29-8 in 1982], Tennessee 31-24 in 2OT in 2015] and Vanderbilt [24-3 in 1976]).

• No. 18 Ole Miss is one of six (out of eight) SEC opponents on OU's 2024 schedule that is currently ranked in the AP poll. The Sooners, who have already faced then-No. 6 Tennessee and then-No. 1 Texas, also play at No. 21 Missouri, vs. No. 15 Alabama and at No. 8 LSU. They also host Maine on Nov. 2.

• Oklahoma owns a 3-7-1 all-time record against the AP's No. 18- ranked team (1-4 in true road games). It has lost its last five outings against No. 18 teams and is winless in its last seven (tied Texas 24-24 in 1995). The Sooners' last victory against an AP No. 18 team was in 1975 when sixth-ranked OU prevailed 28-27 at Missouri under third-year head coach Barry Switzer. That team finished 11-1 and won the national title.

• Since the start of the 1999 campaign (Bob Stoops' first as head coach) OU is a nation's-best 70-27 (.722) in the regular season against teams ranked in the AP poll. That includes a 22-11 (.667) mark against ranked opponents in true road games.

• The 2024 season marks the 130th in OU football history. The Sooners lead the nation with their 50 all-time conference championships, 27 11-plus-win seasons (tied), 33 AP top-five finishes and five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks (tied). They rank second with their seven Heisman Trophy winners (tied), third with seven AP national championships, their 101 weeks as the AP's No. 1 team and 431 total weeks in the AP Top 5, and fourth with their 57 bowl appearances, 31 bowl wins (tied) and 417 NFL Draft picks.

• Since the end of World War II (1946 season to present), OU leads all programs with 704 wins (30 more than Alabama, the program with the next most). Ole Miss ranks 24th with 517 wins during the span.

AUBURN, AL - September 28, 2024 - Oklahoma Defensive lineman R Mason Thomas (#32), Oklahoma Defensive Lineman Adepoju Adebawore (#34), Oklahoma Defensive lineman Gracen Halton (#56) and Oklahoma Linebacker Danny Stutsman (#28) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL. Photo By Morgan Givens

KEY STORYLINES

• The lone Oklahoma-Ole Miss meeting was a 27-25 Rebels win in the 1999 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. The game, played on New Year's Eve, came in Bob Stoops' first season as OU head coach and was the last college football game of the 20th century. The contest ended with an Ole Miss walk-off 39-yard field goal by Les Binkley. See page 3 for more game details.

• The 1999 Independence Bowl between Oklahoma and Ole Miss snapped a four-year bowl drought for the Sooners. OU has played in a bowl every season since, and, at 25 years, has the nation's second-longest bowl streak (Georgia's streak is 27 years). The following season, the Sooners went 13-0 and won their seventh AP national championship, which at the time was the second most nationally behind Notre Dame's eight. OU's seven AP titles rank third now behind Alabama (12) and the Fighting Irish (still eight).

• OU co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, who was named offensive play-caller on Sunday, coached the 2020 season at Ole Miss as a member of Lane Kiffin's first Rebels staff. Finley served as passing game coordinator and tight ends coach, helping Ole Miss to one of the best offensive seasons in program history. It ranked No. 3 nationally in total offense (school-record 555.5 ypg), No. 5 in pass efficiency rating (178.7), No. 7 in passing offense (344.9 ypg), No. 10 in yards per play (7.0), No. 14 in scoring offense (39.2 ppg) and No. 26 in rushing offense (210.6 ypg). Following that season, Finley joined the Sooners staff.

• In the Sooners' four wins this season they have outscored opponents 56-6 off turnovers. In their three losses they have been outscored 41-0 off turnovers.

• Since the start of the 2023 season, OU is 12-0 when it wins the turnover battle (4-0 this year) and 2-5 when it loses it (0-3 this year).

• During the Venables era (since the start of the 2022 season), Oklahoma's defense ranks second in the nation with its 43 interceptions (UNLV has 45). The Sooners have registered at least one interception in 11 of their last 13 games and in 27 of their last 33.

• OU has featured a different starting offensive line in six of its seven contests this season, and 10 Sooners have started at least one contest.

OU ROAD SHOW

• Oklahoma has won 34 of its last 43 true road games (.791) going back to 2014, with seven of the nine losses one-score outcomes.

• OU's 2019 defeat at Kansas State snapped the Sooners' 22-game true road winning streak (it hadn't lost since Oct. 4, 2014, at TCU), which was the second longest such streak nationally since at least the end of World War II. During the 22-game streak, OU outscored foes 1,076-626 (49-28 average) and outgained them by 3,621 yards (583-419 average).

• The Sooners have outgained their opponent in 32 of their last 43 true road games.

• OU has scored at least 30 points in 41 of its last 48 true road games (school-record 35-game streak was stopped in 2021 at Baylor). The next highest team total over its last 47 true road contests is 35 (Ohio State).

SEC SOONERS

• Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the Southeastern Conference on July 1 after 28 years in the Big 12 Conference. OU won half of the Big 12's football titles (14 of 28) since the league began in 1996 (six of the last nine) and posted a 187-61 (.754) record against conference competition (includes an 11-1 record in Big 12 Championship games).

• OU is no stranger to many of its new SEC brethren as Oklahoma has a 162-114-13 (.583) record against the league's current member schools, including fellow new entrant Texas. Not including the Longhorns, OU owns a 111-50-8 (.680) all-time record against current SEC programs.

• OU has never faced two SEC programs: South Carolina and Mississippi State. The Sooners host the Gamecocks this week but do not face the Bulldogs. Entering this season, OU had never played a campus game against seven current SEC programs (Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina).

• The SEC is the Sooners' seventh football conference. They were also a member of the Southwest Conference (two championships), Missouri Valley (one championship), Big Six (five championships), Big Seven (12 championships), Big Eight (16 championships) and Big 12 (14 championships).

• Oklahoma's 14 Big 12 titles were 10 more than the program with the next most (Texas won four). From 2010 through 2023, OU won eight Big 12 titles and was followed by Baylor (three), Kansas State (two) and Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas (one each).

NORMAN, OK - September 21, 2024 - Oklahoma Defensive back Jeremiah Newcombe (#21) during the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

1999 INDEPENDENCE BOWL RECAP

• After trailing 21-3 at halftime, Oklahoma rallied to take a 25-24 lead with 2:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, but lost 27-25 when Ole Miss kicked a 39-yard field goal with no time left in the 1999 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., in front of 49,873 spectators. It stands as the programs' only meeting and was the last college football game of the 20th century. The Sooners, in their first year under head coach Bob Stoops, finished 7-5, while the Rebels, under the direction of first-year coach David Cutcliffe, finished 8-4.

• In his first year at Oklahoma, junior quarterback Josh Heupel set Independence Bowl records with his 39 completions, 53 pass attempts and 390 passing yards. After OU trailed by 18 at halftime, he led the Sooners to a pair of touchdown drives in the third quarter to pull the Sooners within three points, 21-18. OU outgained Ole Miss 148-15 in the quarter.

• In the first half, OU missed a 35-yard field goal, lost two fumbles, threw an interception and lost 17 yards on a fake field goal on the last play of the half after driving to the Ole Miss 10.

• On the first play after the interception, Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister set an Independence Bowl record with an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Rebels up 21-3. He finished the game with 121 rushing yards on 17 carries, caught three passes for 55 yards, scored two TDs (one each way), and had a momentum-changing 42-yard kickoff return after OU took its 25-24 lead.

• With Oklahoma up one late and Ole Miss facing a third-and-2 at the Sooners' 32-yard line, OU was called for too many men on the field. Three plays later and with three seconds on the clock, Rebels kicker Les Binkley made a 39-yard field goal on third down for the win.

• OU outgained Ole Miss by 120 yards on the night (481-361). Freshman running back Quentin Griffin rushed 12 times for 86 yards and caught eight passes for 65 yards, including a 17-yarder for a TD and late lead.

• Senior wide receiver Brandon Daniels had six receptions for 109 yards (41-yard TD) for OU and senior wide receiver Jarrail Jackson had 10 catches for 76 yards (3-yard TD).

• OU's defeat was its last for 666 days. The Sooners went 13-0 in 2000 and won the national championship, and were victors in their first seven games of 2001 before falling 20-10 at No. 3 Nebraska on Oct. 27.

NOTING THE DEFENSE

• Oklahoma's defense made big strides in year two under Brent Venables in 2023, and many analysts predicted the improvement to continue this season. That includes Phil Steele, who this summer ranked OU's linebacker and defensive back units each as second best nationally and No. 1 in the SEC.

• The Sooners rank in the top 10 nationally in several defensive categories, including sacks per game (fourth at 3.6), tackles for loss per game (sixth at 8.1) and yards allowed per rush (ninth at 2.9). They also rank 11th in rushing touchdowns allowed (five), 14th in turnovers gained (14) and 18th in red zone defense (.737).

• AP and CBS Sports midseason first-team All-America linebacker and Butkus Award-hopeful Danny Stutsman ranks third in the SEC with his 8.9 tackles per game and has 5.0 TFLs and two QB hurries. The senior has led OU in tackles each of the last two seasons (125 in 2022, 104 in 2023) and has 329 career stops.

• Junior defensive linemen Gracen Halton and R Mason Thomas entered the season with a combined 8.0 career tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, but through seven games this season have teamed for 12.0 TFLs and 10.0 sacks. Halton was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after registering a career-high 2.0 TFLs (11-yard sack and a 5-yard safety) in a 16-12 win over Houston in week two. He has 5.0 TFLs, 4.0 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, a safety and two QB hurries. Thomas turned in a 3.0-sack effort vs. Tulane in which he also logged a forced fumble and recovery, a pass breakup and a QB hurry en route to being named Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. In OU's win at Auburn, he registered sacks on back-to-back fourth-quarter plays with OU clinging to a 24-21 lead. Thomas has team highs of 7.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks and five QB hurries on the year. His 6.0 sacks are 10th most nationally and third most in the SEC, and already more than any Sooner had last season.

• Sophomore linebacker Sammy Omosigho's first career starts came in the Auburn and Texas games, filling in for injured Kendel Dolby at OU's "Cheetah" position. Omosigho ranks sixth on the team with his 21 tackles, which are already 14 more than he had in his 10 games last season. He ranks third on the squad with 4.5 tackles for loss and has two QB hurries. Junior linebacker Jaren Kanak got the start at that position Saturday vs. South Carolina (his first start of the season) and tallied three tackles.

• Oklahoma is tied for 16th nationally by allowing just five rushes of at least 20 yards this season (22-yarder by Auburn, three by Texas and one by South Carolina).

• OU has allowed only 14 touchdowns on its opponents' 90 possessions (one every 6.4 possessions). The defense has forced 40 punts and has recorded 13 takeaways, a safety and four turnovers on downs.

NOTING THE OFFENSE

• Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, who started Oklahoma's first four games this season and played most of this past Saturday's contest vs. South Carolina, has completed 79 of 138 pass attempts (57%) for 763 yards and eight touchdowns versus three interceptions on the year. He has also rushed for 109 yards and has a team-high-tying two rushing TDs.

• Freshman QB Michael Hawkins Jr. entered the Tennessee game late in the first half, finished that contest and then played the entire Auburn and Texas contests. In the victory at Auburn, he became just the seventh OU quarterback to start at least one game as a true freshman, and first Sooner true freshman QB to win on the road in his first career start. In the next game, he became the first OU true freshman QB to start against Texas. Hawkins Jr. also started the South Carolina game. In OU's four SEC games, he is 43 for 68 through the air (63%) for 459 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. He has also rushed 47 times for 103 yards and a TD.

• Junior running back Jovantae Barnes leads the team with his 307 rushing yards (averaging 3.5 yards per carry) and has two rushing touchdowns. He is coming off a season-high 70-yard effort vs. South Carolina. Freshman Taylor Tatum, the consensus No. 1 running back nationally in the 2024 class, is averaging 6.2 yards on his 24 rushes (149 total yards) and has run for a pair of TDs and caught another. He missed the Auburn game due to injury.

• OU's tight ends combined for 20 catches for 252 yards in 13 games last season. This year, tight ends Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts have already totaled 32 catches for 273 yards.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Deion Burks leads the team with his 6.5 catches per game and three receiving touchdowns, which all came in the first half against Temple. In that game, Burks became the first Sooner to register three receiving TDs in his OU debut. Burks' 26 receptions are the most ever by a player in the first four games of his OU career. The Purdue transfer, who has missed the last three games due to injury, entered the season with seven career receiving TDs (all in 2023).

• Redshirt sophomore receiver Nic Anderson sustained an injury in August camp and has missed all but one game this season (he started vs. Tennessee but left the game in the first half and has not played since). Anderson earned 2023 freshman All-America honors from The Athletic after catching 38 passes for 798 yards and a team-high-tying 10 TDs. He averaged 21.0 yards per catch to rank fifth nationally.

• Senior receiver Andrel Anthony tore his ACL in last year's game against Texas (Oct. 5), returned to play limited snaps in this season's opener vs. Temple (one catch for four yards) but hasn't played since. Before his injury last season, Anthony led OU with 429 yards on his 27 catches.

• Senior receiver Jalil Farooq was lost to injury in the first half of the season opener against Temple and is out indefinitely. Farooq entered the year with 86 career catches for 1,229 yards and seven TDs, and 32 rushes for 235 yards. OU is also without the services of junior receiver Jayden Gibson, who was lost for the year following an August injury. Gibson caught 14 passes for 375 yards (26.8 per reception) and five TDs last season (scored in each of the last three regular season games).

• The Sooners are tied for 39th nationally by converting 90% (19 of 21) of their red-zone trips into points (13 TDs and 6 FGs).

• OU's offensive linemen who have played this season have combined for just 40 career starts as Sooners. Eight of the 10 who have started at least one game this season had never started at OU prior to this year (Jacob Sexton had one career start and Troy Everett four as a Sooner).

A GLANCE AT SPECIAL TEAMS

• After winning the primary placekicking job, Florida State transfer Tyler Keltner went 3 for 3 on field goals and 6 for 6 on extra-point attempts against Temple in the opener to earn SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He is 7 for 9 and 12 for 13, respectively, on the year (missed the Auburn game after having his appendix removed, and did not play in the South Carolina contest). Keltner spent his first four seasons at East Tennessee State, where he was 56 for 74 on field goals (76%) and 131 of 131 on PATs, and three times earned All-Southern Conference honors.

• Redshirt senior Zach Schmit served as OU's placekicker the last two seasons and has made 30 of his 42 (71%) career field goal attempts (is 3 for 3 this year) and all 125 of his PAT tries. His streak of 125 made extra-points is the fourth-longest in program history. Schmit has handled kickoffs in all seven games this season and made his lone three field goal attempts of the year (two in the win at Auburn and one vs. South Carolina).

• Keltner and Schmit have combined to go 10 of 12 on field goal attempts, as OU ranks sixth in the SEC out of 16 teams with its 83% conversion rate.

• Super senior Luke Elzinga is off to a great seven-game start, ranking sixth nationally and third in the SEC with a 46.2-yard average on his 40 punts (14 of 50+ yards; long of 63; 16 inside the 20; 12 fair catches; just two touchbacks). His performance has helped OU to a No. 15 national ranking with its 42.9-yard net punting average. Elzinga has already been named to the Ray Guy Award's "Ray's 8" three times this season (following the Houston, Tennessee and Auburn contests).

• Sophomore Peyton Bowen ranks 29th nationally (third in SEC) by averaging 8.4 yards on his 14 punt returns.

"TAKEAWAYS, NO GIVEAWAYS"

• The Oklahoma coaching staff preaches "takeaways, no giveaways" with its players and the Sooners turned that message into reality through its first five games in 2024, as they were tied for third nationally with a +1.6 turnover margin per contest (13 takeaways, five giveaways) at the time.

• That trend has reversed itself the last two games, however, as OU has totaled six turnovers (four fumbles and two interceptions) and gained just one against Texas (interception) and South Carolina (none). The Sooners were outscored 31-0 off turnovers in those outings.

• OU has recovered eight fumble fumbles so far this season, which is two more than it had all of 2023. The eight recoveries are tied for the third most nationally.

• Eight different Sooners have each registered one fumble recovery and five different players have each logged at least one interception. Billy Bowman Jr. has two interceptions and one fumble recovery, while Robert Spears-Jennings has one of each.

• OU is outscoring opponents 56-47 off turnovers through seven games.

• Last season, OU ranked second nationally with 26 takeaways (20 interceptions) and with 111 points off takeaways (ranked first with 8.5 points per game).

• Points off turnovers were a telling stat in 2023. In OU's 10 wins last season it outscored opponents 98-17 off turnovers. In its three losses it was outscored 44-13.

DALLAS, TX - October 12, 2024 - Oklahoma Defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (#2) during the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, TX. Photo By Peyton Martin

EXTRA POINTS

• Two OU players hail from the state of Mississippi. Sixth-year defensive lineman Da'Jon Terry is from Meridian and freshman offensive lineman Isaiah Autry-Dent is from Fulton. Terry has played in all seven games this season (one start) and has 13 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Autry-Dent has yet to play as a Sooner.

• Since the start of the 2000 season, OU has played just 27 games when unranked in the AP poll. It is 17-10 in those contests (7-4 vs. AP-ranked teams).

• Twenty-five Sooners (17 offensive and eight defensive) have made their first OU starts this season: offensive linemen Joshua Bates, Geirean Hatchett, Branson Hickman, Logan Howland, Febechi Nwaiwu, Heath Ozaeta, Michael Tarquin and Jake Taylor, wide receivers Deion Burks, J.J. Hester, Jaquaize Pettaway, Zion Ragins and Brenen Thompson, tight ends Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts, running back Taylor Tatum, quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., linebackers Kobie McKinzie and Sammy Omosigho, defensive backs Eli Bowen and Dez Malone and defensive linemen Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, R Mason Thomas and Damonic Williams.

• In their 14 wins since the start of the 2023 season, the Sooners have outscored opponents 154-23 off turnovers. In their six losses during the same span, they have been outscored 85-13 off turnovers.

• The season-opening game vs. Temple was OU's first contest since 1987 to finish +6 in turnover margin. The Sooners converted all six takeaways into points (34 total).

• Of the 74 players on OU's depth chart last week, 24 (or 32%) were freshmen. That includes 17 true freshmen and seven redshirts. Thirty-two true (22) or redshirt (10) freshmen have played in at least one game this season.

• OU has won its last 88 games when holding opponents to 22 or fewer points. Its last loss under the circumstance came at Nebraska in 2009 (10-3).