Game Primer: OU vs. Missouri

Saturday, November 9

Columbia, Mo.

6:45 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Missouri

AUBURN, AL - September 28, 2024 - Oklahoma Defensive back Eli Bowen (#23) 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

November 08, 2024 | Football

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Oklahoma

#24 Missouri

Saturday, Nov. 9 / 6:45 p.m. CT / Columbia, Mo.

SECN / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• In the first meeting between the programs since 2011, Oklahoma (5-4, 1-4 SEC) travels to face Missouri (6-2, 2-2) on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. CT at Memorial Stadium in Columbia. Missouri is ranked No. 22 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. The game will be televised by SEC Network with Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic announcing.

• Former longtime conference cohorts, Oklahoma and Missouri are meeting for the 97th time Saturday, with the Sooners holding a commanding 67-24-5 series lead. The programs first met in 1902 in Columbia and played every year from 1919-1995.

• OU posted an 8-2 record against Missouri when both schools were members of the Big 12 Conference. Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between the programs since 2011, which was the Tigers' last year in the Big 12. The No. 1-ranked Sooners won that game 38-28 in Norman over unranked Mizzou.

• The Sooners have won eight of the last nine meetings against the Tigers and 20 of the last 22.

• Missouri's last five wins in the series have come in Columbia (2010 [36-27], 1998 [20-6], 1983 [10-0], 1981 [19-14] and 1969 [44-10]). Going back to the start of the Barry Switzer era (1973), OU has won 12 of its last 16 games at Mizzou.

• Oklahoma has won 34 of its last 44 true road games (.773) going back to the 2014 season but are 6-7 in their last 13 such contests going back to 2021 (1-1 this season).

• 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 705 wins (30 more than Alabama, the program with the next most). Missouri ranks 39th with 474 wins during the same span.

NORMAN, OK - November 02, 2024 - Oklahoma Wide receiver J.J. Hester (#13) during the game between the Maine Black Bears and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Peyton Martin/University of Oklahoma

KEY STORYLINES

• After averaging 288.1 offensive yards per game over its first seven outings this season, Oklahoma has averaged 497.0 over its last two contests at Ole Miss (329; the Rebels ranked No. 13 nationally in total defense entering the game at 289 yards allowed) and vs. Maine (665). Not including sacks, the Sooners totaled 578 rushing yards over the two games and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

• Since being reinserted into the lineup early in the game against South Carolina three weeks ago, sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold has completed 55 of 88 passes (63%) for 631 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

• Junior running back Jovantae Barnes' three best rushing performances this season have come in the last three games. Barnes had 70 yards on 17 carries (4.1 average) three weeks ago against South Carolina, ran for 67 yards on 16 carries (4.2 average) two weeks ago at Ole Miss and racked up career highs of 203 yards (11.3 average) and three touchdowns on 18 carries Saturday vs. Maine. He is averaging 113.3 yards per game and 6.7 yards per rush over the three contests.

• OU wide receiver J.J. Hester, a transfer from Missouri, will return to Columbia on Saturday. The redshirt senior spent 2020 and '21 at Mizzou, redshirting his first season (did not play) and catching 12 passes for 225 yards and two TDs in his 13 games (one start) in '21. Plagued by injury the last two seasons at OU (he played in nine total games and logged one reception), Hester has 13 catches this season for a team-high 265 yards. He is coming off a career-high 112-yard effort, which included a 90-yard touchdown. It was OU's longest reception since 1995 and tied for the second longest in school history.

• True freshman walk-on receiver Jacob Jordan, who did not play in OU's first six games, has totaled 15 receptions for 160 yards over the last three contests (his first collegiate appearances). He had six catches for 86 yards against South Carolina, six more grabs for 38 yards and his first career touchdown at Ole Miss and three receptions for 36 yards against Maine.

• Senior Danny Stutsman has 344 career tackles to rank 11th in Oklahoma history (ninth among linebackers). He needs nine stops to tie defensive end Kevin Murphy (1981-85) for 10th most in school annals. His 35.5 career tackles for loss rank him seventh among OU inside linebackers (needs 1.5 to move into the top four).

• In the Sooners' five wins this season they have outscored opponents 63-6 off turnovers. In their four losses they have been outscored 41-0 off turnovers. Missouri has outscored opponents 21-14 off turnovers.

• Since the start of the 2023 campaign, OU is 12-0 when it wins the turnover battle (4-0 this year) and 2-6 when it loses it (0-4 this year). Missouri has committed seven turnovers in its eight games (four interceptions and three lost fumbles) and is +1 in turnover margin on the season.

• OU has featured a different starting offensive line in eight of its nine games this season, and 11 Sooners have started at least one contest. Febechi Nwaiwu (right guard) has started all nine games. Other starters have been Jacob Sexton (four starts at left tackle and four at left guard), Michael Tarquin (three games at left tackle and four at right tackle), Branson Hickman (four games at center), Jake Taylor (four games at right tackle), Heath Ozaeta (four games at left guard), Troy Everett (started the last three games at center), Logan Howland (three games at left tackle), Joshua Bates (two games at center), Spencer Brown (one game at right tackle) and Geirean Hatchett (one game at left guard; out for the year).

• Sixth-year wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. and sophomore offensive lineman Cayden Green are Tigers who used to be Sooners. Wease Jr. spent four seasons in Norman (2019-22) and started 17 of his 36 games, catching 64 passes for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a true freshman last year, Green played in 11 games and made five starts at left guard.

RIVALRY RENEWED

• Saturday's game will mark the 97th between Oklahoma and Missouri, but the first since 2011. The only opponents OU has played more often than Mizzou are Texas (120 games), Oklahoma State (118), Kansas (114) and Kansas State (103).

• The Sooners own a 67-24-5 all-time record against the Tigers and have won eight of the last nine meetings, 20 of the last 22, 32 of the last 36 and 51 of the last 60.

• OU is 31-16 against MU in Columbia and has won 23 of its last 29 games there.

• The Sooners have posted 20 shutouts against the Tigers, OU's third most against any opponent (32 vs. Oklahoma State and 24 vs. Kansas State). The most lopsided score in series history came in 1986 when Barry Switzer's Sooners won 77-0 in Norman.

• In the teams' last meeting on Sept. 24, 2011, Bob Stoops' No. 1-ranked OU squad came back from an 11-point deficit (14-3) to post a 38-28 home victory. The Sooners racked up 592 yards of offense, including 448 passing yards from Landry Jones on 35-of-48 (.729) throwing. All three of Jones' touchdowns were to wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who caught 13 passes for 154 yards. OU held Mizzou QB James Franklin to a .485 completion percentage (16 for 33). He threw for 291 yards and one score. Running back Henry Josey (133) and Franklin (103) each rushed for over 100 yards.

OU ROAD SHOW

• Oklahoma has won 34 of its last 44 true road games (.773) going back to 2014, with seven of the 10 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 44 true road games.

• OU has scored at least 30 points in 41 of its last 49 true road games (school-record 35-game streak was stopped in 2021 at Baylor). The next highest team total over its last 49 true road contests is 34 (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 162-116-13 (.579) record against the league's current member schools, including fellow new entrant Texas. Not including the Longhorns, OU owns a 111-52-8 (.673) all-time record against current SEC programs.

• Entering this season, OU had never faced two SEC programs: South Carolina and Mississippi State. The Sooners hosted the Gamecocks three games ago but do not face the Bulldogs in 2024. Also entering this year, OU had never played a campus game against Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State or South Carolina.

• 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).

NOTES ON 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 yards allowed per rush (seventh at 2.7), tackles for loss per game (seventh at 8.0) and sacks per game (ninth at 3.2). They also rank 17th in turnovers gained (16), 17th in rushing defense (106.1 ypg), 18th in red zone defense (.731), 19th in rushing touchdowns allowed (eight) and 20th in third-down conversion percentage defense (.319).

• OU is allowing just 323.6 yards per game this year. The last time the Sooners allowed fewer points per contest for an entire season was 2009 (272.6 ypg).

• AP and CBS Sports midseason first-team All-America linebacker and Butkus Award-hopeful Danny Stutsman ranks fourth in the SEC with his 8.6 tackles per game and has 7.5 TFLs and three QB hurries. The senior has led OU in tackles each of the last two seasons (125 in 2022, 104 in 2023) and has 338 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 nine games this season have teamed for 12.5 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. Thomas has team highs of 7.5 TFLs (tied with Stutsman), 6.0 sacks and seven QB hurries on the year. He ranks 21st nationally and sixth in the SEC with his 6.0 sacks, which are already more than any Sooner had last season.

• Junior safety Robert Spears-Jennings is tied for second nationally with four forced fumbles (one off the lead) and has a team-high two recoveries. His four forces are tied for the third most in OU single-season history.

• Oklahoma is tied for 12th nationally by allowing just 26 rushes of 10 or more yards and is tied for 13th by allowing just six rushes of at least 20 yards (one by Auburn, three by Texas and one each by South Carolina and Maine).

• OU has allowed only 19 touchdowns on its opponents' 113 possessions (one every six possessions). The defense has forced 51 punts and has recorded 14 takeaways, a safety and six turnovers on downs.

• During the Brent Venables era (since the start of the 2022 season), OU's defense is tied for second in the nation with NC State with its 43 interceptions (UNLV has 45). The Sooners have registered at least one interception in 11 of their last 15 games and in 27 of their last 35.

NOTES ON THE OFFENSE

• Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, who started Oklahoma's first four games this season as well as the last two contests, has completed 116 of 190 pass attempts (61%) for 1,169 yards and 12 touchdowns versus three interceptions on the year. He has also rushed for 193 yards and is tied for second on the squad with three rushing TDs.

• Junior running back Jovantae Barnes leads the team with his 577 rushing yards (averaging 4.7 yards per carry) and has a career-high-tying five rushing touchdowns. He is coming off his three best performances of the year - a 70-yard rushing day vs. South Carolina, a 67-yard rushing afternoon at Ole Miss (also caught five passes for 57 yards, both career highs) and a career-high 203 rushing yards with a career-high three TDs on Saturday vs. Maine. Freshman Taylor Tatum, the consensus No. 1 running back nationally in the 2024 class, is averaging 5.6 yards on his 43 rushes (239 yards) and has run for three TDs and caught another. He missed the Auburn game due to injury.

• Redshirt sophomore running back Gavin Sawchuk started each of the first three games but has been held to 42 yards on 20 carries on the year. Sawchuk, who has not played the last three contests, ran for over 100 yards in each of the last five games in 2023.

• OU's tight ends combined for 20 catches for 252 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games last season. This year, tight ends Bauer Sharp, Jake Roberts and Kaden Helms have already totaled 44 catches for 357 yards and four TDs. Sharp leads the squad with 34 catches, ranks second with 256 receiving yards and has two scores.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Deion Burks leads the team with his 6.5 catches per game and three receiving TDs, 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 four 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) but hasn't played since. Before last season's injury, Anthony led OU with 429 yards on 27 catches.

• Senior receiver Jalil Farooq was lost to injury in the first half of the opener against Temple and has not played since. 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).

• OU's offensive linemen who have played this season have combined for just 50 career starts as Sooners. Nine of the 11 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

• Redshirt senior Zach Schmit served as OU's placekicker the last two seasons and has made 31 of his 43 (72%) career field goal attempts and all 134 of his PAT tries. His streak of 134 made extra-points is tied with Uwe von Schamann for the third longest in program history. Schmit, who has handled kickoffs in all nine games this season, also handled field goals and extra points at Auburn and each of the last three contests. He has made his lone four field goal attempts of the year (two in the win at Auburn and one each vs. South Carolina and Maine).

• 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, returned for the Texas game but did not play the last three contests). 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.

• Keltner and Schmit have combined to go 11 of 13 on field goal attempts, as OU ranks fourth in the SEC out of 16 teams with its 85% conversion rate.

• Super senior Luke Elzinga ranks ninth nationally and fourth in the SEC with a 45.8-yard average on his 46 punts (16 of 50+ yards; long of 63; 17 inside the 20; 14 fair catches; just two touchbacks). His performance has helped OU to a No. 10 national ranking with its 42.7-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 third in the SEC (30th nationally) by averaging 8.1 yards on his 21 punt returns (ranks fifth nationally among players with at least 20 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 four games, however, as OU has totaled nine turnovers (seven fumbles and two interceptions) and gained just three (an interception against Texas and fumbles vs. Ole Miss and Maine). The Sooners were outscored 31-7 off turnovers in those outings.

• Oklahoma is outscoring opponents 63-47 off turnovers through nine games.

• OU has recovered 10 fumble fumbles so far this season, which is four more than it had all of 2023. The 10 recoveries are tied for the second most nationally (Duke has 11).

• Nine 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 two recoveries and one interception. Spears-Jennings is also tied for second nationally with four forced fumbles.

• 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.

NORMAN, OK - October 19, 2024 - Wide shot during the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Jacob Wood/University of Oklahoma

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST

• During the modern era of college football (since the end of World War II), the Sooners are the nation's No. 1 team with more wins (705) than any other program (next most is 675 by Alabama).

• Oklahoma has finished in the top 5 of the AP poll a nation-leading 33 times (Ohio State is second with 30).

• OU leads all FBS programs with 50 all-time conference championships. The rest of the top five includes Nebraska (46), Michigan (44), Ohio State (39) and USC (37). The Sooners' 14 league titles since 2000 are the most among Power Five programs (Ohio State ranks second with 11).

• No program has more all-time 11-win seasons than Oklahoma's 27 (Alabama also has 27). And since the start of the 2000 season, OU and Ohio State have produced a nation-leading 18 seasons of at least 10 wins.

• Since former head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, OU leads the country with its 13,006 points scored. Boise State (12,567) is second and Oregon (12,208) third.

• OU's 80 consensus All-Americans since 1950 lead the nation (Alabama ranks second with 77 and Ohio State third with 73). Since 2000, OU has produced 30 consensus All-Americans, second only to Alabama.

EXTRA POINTS

• OU has won its last 89 games when holding opponents to 22 or fewer points. Its last loss under the circumstance came at Nebraska in 2009 (10-3).

• Since the start of the 2012 season, OU is 91-7 when scoring at least 35 points and 80-4 when scoring at least 40.

• Twenty-eight players (18 offensive and 10 defensive) have made their first OU starts this season.

• In their 15 wins since the start of the 2023 season, the Sooners have outscored opponents 161-23 off turnovers. In their seven losses during the same span, they have been outscored 85-13 off turnovers.