Game Primer: OU vs. Tennessee

Saturday, September 21

Norman

6:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Tennessee

Tickets

NORMAN, OK - September 14, 2024 - Fans during the game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

September 19, 2024 | Football

Game Day Central College GameDay Watch Listen

#15/13 Oklahoma

#6/7 Tennessee

Saturday, Sept. 21 / 6:30 p.m. CT / Owen Field

ABC / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• No. 15/13 Oklahoma (3-0, 0-0) plays its first-ever Southeastern Conference intraleague contest when it hosts No. 6/7 Tennessee (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. The game will be televised by ABC with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe announcing.

• ESPN College GameDay will originate from Norman on Saturday for the ninth time and first since 2020. It will mark OU's 41st appearance on the show, fourth most nationally (the Sooners are 27-13).

• Saturday's game is the fourth of four consecutive OU home contests to open the season. The Sooners have won 10 straight home games and own the nation's best home winning percentage since the start of the 1999 campaign (143-13 [.917]).

• Tennessee is Oklahoma's first AP top-10 opponent in Norman since 2017 when the No. 5 Sooners beat No. 8 TCU 38-20. OU is 5-3 at home vs. AP top-10 competition since the start of the 2000 season. The other wins came against No. 1 Nebraska in 2000 (31-14), No. 9 Iowa State in 2002 (49-3), No. 2 Texas Tech in 2008 (65-21) and No. 10 Texas Tech in 2013 (38-30). The losses were to No. 5 Notre Dame in 2012 (30-13), No. 10 Baylor in 2014 (48-14) and No. 3 Ohio State in 2016 (45-24).

• 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.

• Saturday's contest will mark the 1,342nd in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth in college football annals with their .726 all-time winning percentage (947-341-53 record). They trail Ohio State (.734), Alabama (.734), Michigan (.734) and Notre Dame (.730). Since the end of World War II (1946 season to present), OU leads all programs with 703 wins (31 more than Alabama, the program with the next most) and owns the best winning percentage (.767) among Power Four programs. Tennessee ranks 13th with 583 wins during the same span.

NORMAN, OK - September 14, 2024 - Oklahoma Defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (#2) during the game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

GAME CAPTAINS

• This week's OU game captains are junior defensive lineman Gracen Halton, redshirt junior offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu, sixth-year senior offensive lineman Michael Tarquin, sixth-year senior redshirt senior defensive lineman Da'Jon Terry, sixth-year senior defensive back Woodi Washington and junior defensive lineman Damonic Williams.

FOR THE FANS

• "ESPN College GameDay" will originate from the South Oval (in front of Bizzell Memorial Library) on Saturday morning from 8-11 a.m. Fans are invited to attend and engage with college football's premier pregame show. Students and fans have the opportunity for up-close view of the show by standing in the pit immediately adjacent to the stage. Selection is on a first-come, first-serve basis for all fans. Students admitted to the pit are encouraged to wear school colors and should have a numbered wristband. Participants are subject to ESPN security procedures and policies. Not including 2020 when fans were not allowed to attend, this marks College GameDay's first appearance in Norman since 2012. Click here for complete details and hit times.

• Approximately two hours and 15 minutes before each home game (4:15 p.m. this Saturday), OU players and coaches will arrive at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium via team buses and walk to their stadium entrance while being cheered by fans. This year's "Walk of Champions" path originates from the Jenkins Ave./Brooks St. intersection just northeast of the stadium (view map here). The team will be led by the Sooner Schooner and OU Spirit.

• Once again, "Party at the Palace, Presented by Allstate" will be held on the lawn immediately north of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for fans of all ages, this week running from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Highlights include sponsor giveaways, music, food trucks and other vendors, Devon Energy's innovative STEM program "SportsLabs" and more. Additionally, the Sooner Radio Network (flagship 107.7 The Franchise) originates the start of its pregame show live from Party at the Palace beginning three hours prior to kickoff.

• OU announced a significant expansion of its public tailgating options for its debut football season in the SEC. The university has established new public tailgating areas at prime locations, including Boyd Lawn, along Asp Ave. and near Oklahoma Memorial Union. More details are available here.

• For a full list of OU game day policies, procedures and additional fan information, click here.

10 KEY STORYLINES

• In addition to serving as Oklahoma's first conference game as a member of the Southeastern Conference, Saturday's contest is significant because former OU national championship quarterback Josh Heupel returns to Norman as Tennessee's head coach. Heupel, who set virtually every school passing record over the 1999 and 2000 seasons, was the Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior when he led OU to a 13-0 record and the program's seventh national title. Heupel was the Sooners' first-ever consensus All-America quarterback and became OU's first All-America signal-caller since Jack Mildren in 1971. In 2000, Heupel was named Associated Press Player of the Year, Walter Camp Player of the Year, The Sporting News Player of the Year and CBS Sports Player of the Year. He completed 654 of 1,025 passes as a Sooner (64%) for 7,456 yards and 53 touchdowns. The Aberdeen, S.D., product served as an OU graduate assistant in 2004 before joining the full-time staff in 2006 as quarterbacks coach. From 2011-14, he was co-offensive coordinator and QB coach.

• Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was an Oklahoma QB during the 2006-08 seasons and went on to serve on the Sooners' staff (quality control from 2009-11 and grad assistant from 2012-14). Volunteers secondary coach Willie Martinez was OU's defensive backs coach from 2010-11, and UT Football Chief of Staff Billy Ray Johnson spent more than 15 years in OU Athletics administration, primarily in housing and ticket office roles.

• Tennessee is the nation's highest-scoring team, winning 69-3 vs. Chattanooga, 51-10 vs. NC State (in Charlotte) and 71-0 vs. Kent State, for an average of 63.7 points per contest (next highest figure is 56.0). UT's +178 point differential is the largest by an SEC team through its first three games of a season in league history.

• The No. 6 Volunteers are the highest-rated opponent in the AP poll to come to Norman since No. 3 Ohio State beat the 14th-ranked Sooners 45-24 in the third game of the 2016 season.

• OU has registered 10 takeaways through three games, tied for most in the country, and is +8 in turnover margin to rank second (Maryland is +9). It has six fumble recoveries - tied for the national lead and the same number it had all of last season - and four interceptions. Tennessee has forced four turnovers (three fumbles and one interception) and is +1 in turnover margin.

• Junior defensive linemen Gracen Halton and R Mason Thomas entered the season with a combined 8.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, but through three games this season have teamed for 7.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks. Halton, who earned his first career start Saturday vs. Tulane, 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 the week before. He has 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks. Thomas' three career starts have come this season. He is coming off 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. He has a team-high 4.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks on the year.

• Preseason All-America linebacker and Butkus Award-hopeful Danny Stutsman ranks second in the SEC (10th nationally) with his 11.0 tackles per game and first in the league (second nationally) with his 7.0 solo tackles per outing. The senior has led OU in tackles each of the last two seasons (125 in 2022 and 104 in 2023) and has 27 stops over the last two weeks (15 vs. Houston and 12 vs. Tulane). He has 300 career tackles.

• Redshirt junior receiver Deion Burks has 22 receptions (ranks second in SEC and 11th nationally), the most ever by a Sooner in his first three career games. The Purdue transfer also has three receiving touchdowns.

• Eighteen Sooners (12 offensive and six defensive) have made their first OU starts this season: offensive linemen Joshua Bates, Geirean Hatchett, Branson Hickman, Logan Howland, Febechi Nwaiwu, Michael Tarquin and Jake Taylor, wide receivers Deion Burks, Zion Ragins and Brenen Thompson, tight ends Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts, linebacker Kobie McKinzie, defensive back Dez Malone and defensive linemen Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, R Mason Thomas and Damonic Williams.

• Tennessee is one of six AP top-16 teams and one of five in the top seven that OU will face in its remaining nine regular season games (No. 1 Texas [in Dallas], vs. No. 4 Alabama, at No. 5 Ole Miss, vs. No. 6 Tennessee, at No. 7 Missouri and at No. 16 LSU).

ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY RETURNS TO NORMAN

• "ESPN College GameDay" will air from Norman on Saturday morning, marking the 41st time the show will have been on hand for a game involving Oklahoma. Only Ohio State (59 times), Alabama (58) and Florida (42) have been featured more often than OU, and the Sooners are 27-13 in such games.

• This will mark College GameDay's ninth appearance at an OU home contest (Oklahoma is 6-2). The last was in 2020, a 41-13 Sooners win over No. 14 Oklahoma State when fans were not permitted to be at College GameDay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OU's other wins when hosting College GameDay came in 2000 (31-14 vs. No. 1 Nebraska), 2001 (38-37 vs. No. 11 Kansas State), 2003 (52-9 vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State), 2007 (41-31 vs. No. 11 Missouri) and 2008 (65-21 vs. No. 2 Texas Tech). The two losses came in 1995 (38-17 to No. 4 Colorado) and 2012 (30-13 to No. 5 Notre Dame).

• Saturday will mark Tennessee's 25th appearance on College GameDay (11-13 record).

SEC PLAY IS FINALLY HERE

• Saturday will mark Oklahoma's first conference game as an SEC member when it hosts Tennessee. Other league home games will be against South Carolina (Oct. 19) and Alabama (Nov. 23). The first SEC edition of the Red River Rivalry against Texas in Dallas is scheduled for Oct. 12 at the Cotton Bowl, with OU serving as the designated home team.

• The Sooners are no strangers to their new SEC foes as Oklahoma has a 161-112-13 (.586) record against the league's current member schools, including fellow new entrant Texas. Not including the Longhorns, OU owns a 110-49-8 (.683) all-time record against current SEC programs.

• 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 championships (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).

• 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).

OU-TENNESSEE SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma owns a 3-1 record against Tennessee, winning a home-and-home series in 2014 and '15 and splitting a pair of Orange Bowl meetings in the 1938 and '67 seasons.

• The Sooners posted a 34-10 home victory over the Volunteers on Sept. 13, 2014, before pulling off an unlikely 31-24 double-overtime road win the following season after trailing 17-0 in the fourth quarter. Bob Stoops was OU's head coach in both contests and Butch Jones coached UT in both meetings.

• The other meetings came in the 1939 Orange Bowl (17-0 Tennessee; was OU's first bowl appearance) and the 1968 Orange Bowl (26-24 Oklahoma). Tom Stidham coached OU in the first of those two matchups while the second Orange Bowl meeting came in Chuck Fairbanks' first season as Sooners head coach.

• The programs have never met as members of the same conference.

2015 OU-UT FLASHBACK; A FINISH FOR THE AGES

• The most recent Oklahoma-Tennessee matchup on Sept. 12, 2015, in Knoxville stands as one of the Sooners' most memorable contests of the last decade. After falling behind 17-0 and trailing 17-3 with less than nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, No. 19 OU scored touchdowns with 8:20 and 0:40 left in regulation to force overtime at No. 23 UT and went on to post a 31-24 double-overtime victory in front of the largest crowd to ever watch the Sooners play (102,455).

• Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield, playing in his second contest as a Sooner, accounted for four touchdowns (three passing and one rushing). He finished the game 19 for 39 through the air for 187 yards. In the fourth quarter and overtimes, he was 11 for 14 for 103 yards.

• After surrendering a TD in the first overtime, OU responded with one of its own on 4th and goal from the 1. Mayfield faked a handoff to Samaje Perine and bolted into the end zone on the right side following a block by the sophomore running back to knot the game at 24.

• In the second overtime, senior receiver Sterling Shepard turned a short reception on 3rd and 3 into an 18-yard touchdown thanks to an acrobatic move along the sideline. It was his second TD of the night (also scored with 40 seconds left in regulation on a 5-yard catch).

• Junior cornerback Zack Sanchez sealed the game with his ninth career interception on Tennessee's final possession on 3rd and 12 from the OU 27-yard line. Sanchez was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after adding six tackles (one for loss) and a QB hurry.

• OU's comeback win marked the largest by any team against UT in a regular season game.

• The Oklahoma defense allowed only 254 yards of total offense (3.3 yards per play) after the Vols racked up 604 yards (6.9 per play) against Bowling Green the previous week. OU allowed only 93 yards in the second half and overtimes (2.5 yards per play).

• The game marked the first time since 1983 the Sooners had trailed by 14 or more points at the end of the third quarter and went on win.

• OU did not score a touchdown on its first 11 possessions but reached the end zone on each of its last four.

LAST SOONERS-VOLS MATCHUP IN NORMAN

• In a game that was closer than the final score indicated, No. 4 Oklahoma downed unranked Tennessee 34-10 on Sept. 13, 2014, in the only previous series meeting in Norman. OU outgained the Vols 454-313 on the night and had 21 first downs to UT's 18.

• Then-sophomore quarterback Trevor Knight passed for 308 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another score. He was 20 for 33 with one interception while running for 17 yards on five carries.

• Sterling Shepard caught five passes for a game-high 109 yards while Durron Neal had career highs of seven receptions and 71 yards. Samaje Perine ran nine times for 67 yards and Keith Ford carried the ball 15 times for 56 yards and a score.

• With Tennessee driving, OU senior cornerback Julian Wilson iced the win with a 100-yard interception return with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter for the game's final tally of the night.

• Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley was 21 for 44 with a touchdown (two interceptions) en route to a 201-yard performance through the air. Jalen Hurd carried the ball 14 times for 97 yards.

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS

• Oklahoma is 143-13 (.917) at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the start of the 1999 season, giving the Sooners more conference championships during the period (14) than home defeats. It is the best home winning percentage in the country over the last 25-plus seasons (Boise State [.904] and Ohio State [.897] are next). OU has outscored its opponents by an average of 43-18 in those games.

• Including this week's Tennessee game, OU has sold out 156 straight originally scheduled home contests, dating back to the start of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops' first as head coach). Only Nebraska has a longer current streak (399).

DEFENSE OFF TO A STRONG START

• 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. So far, the Sooners have not disappointed.

• OU ranks 23rd in the country by permitting just 11.3 points per game (it ranks 16th among teams that have played at least three games). It gave up three points to Temple, 12 to Houston and 19 to Tulane.

• The Sooners rank 22nd nationally in rushing defense, permitting only 77.7 yards per game on the ground. They held Temple to 69 rushing yards (1.9 per carry), Houston to 58 (1.7) and Tulane to 106 (3.1). They rank 11th in the country by allowing just 2.2 yards per rush.

• Oklahoma is one of just 13 teams to play at least three games this season and not allow a rushing TD.

• OU has allowed only six scores (three touchdowns and three field goals) on its opponents' 38 possessions. The defense has forced 18 punts and has recorded nine takeaways, a safety and a turnover on downs.

NOTING THE OFFENSE

• The Sooners are tied for first nationally by converting all of their red-zone trips into points (10 TDs and 3 FGs). Only four teams have a perfect red-zone conversion rate with more red-zone trips than OU.

• Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, whose lone career starts have come in Oklahoma's last four games, has completed 54 of 86 pass attempts (63%) for 484 yards and seven touchdowns versus two interceptions in three games this season. He has also netted a team-high 159 rushing yards with two TDs.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Deion Burks ranks second in the SEC and 11th nationally with his 22 receptions and ranks third in the league with 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. The Purdue transfer entered the season with seven career receiving TDs (all in 2023).

• Junior Jovantae Barnes leads the running backs with his 126 rushing yards (averaging 4.1 yards per carry) but has yet to find the end zone. Freshman Taylor Tatum, the consensus No. 1 running back nationally in the 2024 class, is averaging 6.8 yards on his 15 rushes (102 total yards) and has run for a pair of TDs and caught another.

• Redshirt sophomore running back Gavin Sawchuk has started each of the first three games but has been held to 35 yards on 16 carries. Sawchuk ran for over 100 yards in each of the last five games in 2023.

• Oklahoma tight ends have scored two touchdowns this season (one by Bauer Sharp vs. Temple and one by Jake Roberts vs. Houston), already matching the total number of TDs scored by OU tight ends last season (one each by Austin Stogner and Blake Smith).

• Similarly, OU's tight ends combined for 20 catches for 252 yards in 13 games last season. This year they have already totaled 14 catches for 136 yards.

• Redshirt sophomore receiver Nic Anderson has yet to play this season because of (injury) but could return soon. 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.

• OU's offensive linemen who have played this season have combined for just 20 career starts as Sooners. Seven of the eight who have started at least one game this season had never started at OU prior to this year (Jacob Sexton started one game in 2022 and four last season).

NORMAN, OK - September 14, 2024 - Oklahoma Running back Taylor Tatum (#8) during the game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Peyton Martin/University of Oklahoma

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 5 for 6 and 12 for 12, respectively, on the year. 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 28 of his 40 career field goal attempts (70%) and all 124 of his PAT tries. His streak of 124 made extra-points is the fourth-longest in program history. Schmit handled kickoffs the first three games this season.

• Super seniors Josh Plaster and Luke Elzinga split punting responsibilities the first six games last season, with Plaster taking the field in longer situations and Elzinga serving as short-field specialist. Elzinga took over full responsibilities in game seven vs. UCF and averaged 45.1 yards on his 27 kicks on the year (long of 58; 13 inside the 20; eight fair catches). This season he is averaging 43.1 yards on his 17 punts (long of 54; eight inside the 20; seven fair catches). Plaster, like last season, is the team's primary holder.

• Sophomore Peyton Bowen ranks 18th nationally by averaging 15.3 yards on his four punt returns.

• OU ranks third nationally in punt coverage, as opponents are averaging -3.0 yards per return.

"TAKEAWAYS, NO GIVEAWAYS"

• The Oklahoma coaching staff preaches "takeaways, no giveaways" with its players and the Sooners have turned that message into reality so far in 2024, as OU is tied for second nationally with a +2.7 turnover margin per game (10 takeaways, two giveaways). The Sooners had six takeaways and no giveaways against Temple in the season opener and had two takeaways and just one giveaway vs. both Houston and Tulane.

• OU has registered six fumble recoveries so far this season, which is the same number it had all of 2023. The six recoveries are tied with Air Force for the national lead.

• Six different Sooners have each registered one fumble recovery and four different players have each logged one interception. Billy Bowman Jr. and Robert Spears-Jennings have one each.

• OU is outscoring opponents 48-6 off turnovers through three 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.

100TH YEAR OF GAYLORD FAMILY – OKLAHOMA MEMORIAL STADIUM

• 2024 marks the 100th season of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. OU owns a sparkling 421-86-15 (.821) all-time record at the "Palace on the Prairie" and has faced 94 opponents there (South Carolina and Maine this season will mark the 95th and 96th foes).

• The first game played at the current stadium site, called Owen Field and named after former head coach and athletics director Bennie Owen (a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame), took place in 1923, before stadium construction got underway. On Oct. 17, 1925, the first contest was played in front of the new 16,000-seat west stands, a 7-0 victory over Drake in which Roy "Goat" Lamb scored the game's only touchdown on a 2-yard run in muddy conditions.

• Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, named in honor of university personnel who died in World War I, was erected at a cost of $293,000 and dedicated on Nov. 7, 1925. Almost since its inception, the stadium has been a work in progress, with countless expansions and improvements taking place. Prior to the 2002 season, the stadium was renamed "Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium" after a generous donation helped complete one of those expansions. Capacity peaked at 83,489 from 2016-18, but dropped to its current figure of 80,126 in 2019 after seat and aisle widening.

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 (703) than any other program (next most is 672 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 12,879 points scored, which is 588 more than second-place Boise State (12,291) and 879 more than third-place Oregon (12,000).

• 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

• Oklahoma is 10-5 all-time as the No. 15-ranked team in the AP poll (7-1 at home). Prior to the last two weeks when the Sooners were also ranked 15th, their last game played as the 15th-ranked team was in 2015 (44-24 victory over West Virginia in Norman). OU's last loss as the AP's 15th-ranked team came in 2006 (34-33 at No. 18 Oregon). Its only home loss as AP No. 15 came to No. 7 Kansas in 1995 (38-17).

• In their 13 wins since the start of the 2023 season, the Sooners have outscored opponents 146-23 off turnovers. In their three losses during the same span, they have been outscored 44-13 off turnovers.

• The Sooners have registered an interception in nine straight games and in 25 of 29 contests during the Brent Venables era (since the start of the 2022 season). The last time OU had at least one interception in nine straight games (12 INTs during this stretch) was the 2013-14 seasons (10 straight games from the Iowa State contest in 2013 to the Texas game in 2014 [17 interceptions]).

• Of the 78 players on OU's depth chart, 24 (or 31%) are 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 87 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 90-7 when scoring at least 35 points and 79-4 when scoring at least 40.