Game Primer: OU vs. Auburn

Saturday, September 28

Auburn, Ala.

2:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Auburn

Tickets

September 26, 2024 | Football

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#21/18 Oklahoma

Auburn

Saturday, Sept. 28 / 2:30 p.m. CT / Jordan-Hare Stadium

ABC / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• After four home games to start the season, No. 15/13 Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1) plays its first-ever road contest as a member of the Southeastern Conference when it travels to face Auburn (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. The game will be televised by ABC with Joe Tessitore, Jordan Rodgers and Katie George announcing.

• Saturday's contest will mark just the second in OU history played in the state of Alabama. The other was in 2003, when the No. 1-ranked Sooners posted a 20-13 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. OU was coached by Bob Stoops and the Crimson Tide by Mike Shula.

• Going back to the 2010 season, Oklahoma has won 34 of its last 41 true road games against unranked opponents (.829).

• 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 1,343rd in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth in college football annals with their .725 all-time winning percentage (947-342-53 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). Auburn ranks 16th with 567 wins during the same span.

KEY STORYLINES

• OU head coach Brent Venables faced Auburn three times while he was Clemson's defensive coordinator and came out victorious in each matchup — 26-19 in 2012 in Atlanta (his first game with CU), 19-13 in 2016 in Auburn and 14-6 in 2017 in Clemson). His defensive units held Auburn to an average of 12.7 points and 251.0 yards in the three contests and racked up 17 sacks and 37 tackles for loss. Gene Chizik was Auburn's head coach in the first meeting and Gus Malzahn was for the second two.

• Saturday's game will pit an Oklahoma team that ranks first nationally in turnovers gained (12) and third in turnover margin (+1.8 per game) against an Auburn squad that is tied for last with its 14 turnovers lost and ranks 131st out of 133 teams in turnover margin (-2.5 per game).

• OU has registered four interceptions and a nation-leading eight fumble recoveries, two more than it had all of last season (no other team has more than six recoveries this year). Auburn has thrown eight interceptions and lost six fumbles.

• Since the start of the 2023 season, OU is 11-0 when it wins the turnover battle (3-0 this year) and 2-3 when it loses it (0-1 this year).

• During the Brent Venables era (since the start of the 2022 season), Oklahoma leads the nation with its 41 interceptions. During that same period, Auburn is tied for eighth nationally with its 33 interceptions thrown. The Sooners have registered at least one interception in 9 of their last 10 games and in 25 of their last 30.

• 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 four games this season have teamed for 8.0 TFLs and 6.0 sacks. Halton, who earned his first career start two games ago 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, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and safety. Thomas' three career starts have come this season. He 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. He has a team-high 4.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks on the year.

• Preseason All-America linebacker and Butkus Award-hopeful Danny Stutsman ranks second in the SEC with his 9.0 tackles per game and first in the league (14th nationally) with his 21 solo tackles. The senior has led OU in tackles each of the last two seasons (125 in 2022 and 104 in 2023) and has 303 career stops.

• Redshirt junior receiver Deion Burks has 26 receptions (ranks second in SEC and 13th nationally), the most ever by a player in his first four OU games. The Purdue transfer also has three receiving touchdowns.

• Twenty Sooners (14 offensive and six 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, Zion Ragins and Brenen Thompson, tight ends Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts, running back Taylor Tatum, linebacker Kobie McKinzie, defensive back Dez Malone and defensive linemen Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, R Mason Thomas and Damonic Williams.

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

SPOTLIGHT ON MIKE

• Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is slated to start Saturday at Auburn. If he does, he will become just the seventh Oklahoma QB to start at least one game as a true freshman, and just the second OU signal-caller to make his first start as a true freshman in a true road game (the other was Troy Aikman, whose Sooners lost at Kansas 28-11 in 1984).

• OU's True Freshman QB First Starts

Darrell Royal - 1946 (OU won 27-6 vs. Nebraska; home)
Troy Aikman - 1984 (OU lost 28-11 at Kansas; road)
Jamelle Holieway - 1985 (OU won 59-14 vs. Iowa State; home)
Cale Gundy - 1990 (OU lost 33-31 vs. Iowa State; home)
Caleb Williams - 2021 (OU won 52-31 vs. TCU; Home)
Jackson Arnold - 2023 (OU lost 38-24 vs. Arizona in Alamo Bowl; neutral)

• Hawkins Jr. entered last Saturday's game vs. Tennessee late in the second quarter and finished the contest. He completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown, and rushed 12 times for 22 yards with no turnovers.

• On the year, Hawkins is 13 for 22 through the air for a 59% completion rate with one TD and no interceptions. He also has 32 yards on 14 rushes.

• Hawkins Jr. was rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN, On3 and Rivals and as the No. 3 dual-threat QB recruit in the country by Rivals and No. 7 by ESPN. His father, Michael, played cornerback for Oklahoma under Bob Stoops in 2002 before spending multiple years in the NFL.

SEC SOONERS

• Saturday's contest at Auburn will mark Oklahoma's first conference road game as an SEC member. Other league road outings this year will be against Ole Miss (Oct. 26), Missouri (Nov. 9) and LSU (Nov. 30). 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.

• 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).

• OU is no stranger to many of its new SEC brethren as Oklahoma has a 161-113-13 (.584) record against the league's current member schools, including fellow new entrant Texas. Not including the Longhorns, OU owns a 110-50-8 (.679) 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 season but do not face the Bulldogs. OU has 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. It was 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).

HAVE CONFIDENCE, WILL TRAVEL

• Oklahoma has won 33 of its last 42 true road games (.786) going back to 2014, with seven of the nine losses one-score outcomes.

• OU's 2019 defeat at K-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 42 true road games.

• OU has scored at least 30 points in 41 of its last 47 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 33 (Ohio State).

OU-AUBURN SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma and Auburn have met two times, both Sugar Bowl contests and both OU victories.

• In the final game of the 1971 season, Chuck Fairbanks' No. 3 Sooners downed Ralph Jordan's No. 5 Tigers 40-22 in front of 84,031 fans at Tulane Stadium.

• In the last game of the 2016 season, Bob Stoops' No. 7 OU squad prevailed 35-19 over Gus Malzahn's 17th-ranked AU team. Attendance at the Superdome was 54,077.

1972 SUGAR BOWL FLASHBACK

• With former OU head coach Bud Wilkinson serving as color analyst in the ABC announce booth, the third-ranked Sooners, who entered the game averaging NCAA records of 566 total yards and 472 rushing yards per contest (only regular season contests counted toward official NCAA records), dominated on the ground en route to a 40-22 victory over No. 5 Auburn on Jan. 1, 1972.

• With its vaunted "Wishbone" offense (Barry Switzer was offensive coordinator), OU eclipsed the previous Sugar Bowl rushing record of 373 yards with a 439-yard effort, led by quarterback Jack Mildren's 30 carries for 149 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Greg Pruitt added 95 yards and a TD on 18 rushes and Leon Crosswhite finished with 78 yards and a score on 17 totes. The Sooners attempted only four passes, completing one for 11 yards.

• The Sooners scored a Sugar Bowl-record five TDs, three of them following Auburn turnovers. They also got a 53-yard field goal from John Carroll to make the score 34-0 midway through the third quarter. The field goal set OU and Sugar Bowl records for distance.

• OU's Joe Wylie returned a first-quarter punt 71 yards for a TD that gave the Sooners a 19-0 lead.

• The Sooners held Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan, that year's Heisman Trophy winner, to a 45% completion rate, as he connected on just 20 of 44 passes for 250 yards and one TD with one interception (by defensive back Geoffrey Nordgren).

• OU finished the season with an 11-1 record and a 6-1 mark in the Big Eight Conference. Its only league loss came vs. Nebraska (35-31) in Norman in the "Game of the Century."

2017 SUGAR BOWL FLASHBACK

• In what wound up being Bob Stoops' last game as Oklahoma head coach (not including his 2021 Alamo Bowl role as interim head coach), the No. 7 Sooners capped their 2016 season with a 35-19 win over the No. 17 Tigers on Jan. 2, 2017, marking their 10th consecutive victory and Stoops' second career Sugar Bowl title.

• The game was particularly significant for the Sooners because Samaje Perine rushed for 88 yards, pushing him past Billy Sims and into first in OU history in career rushing yards. The game marked the last in the collegiate career of Perine, who was just a junior and finished with 4,122 career yards (6.0 per carry) and 49 rushing touchdowns.

• Sooners signal caller Baker Mayfield threw for 296 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19-of-28 passing, while Joe Mixon led the team in rushing with 91 yards and a pair of scores on 19 carries. Mixon also logged five catches for a game-high 89 yards.

• The Oklahoma defense held Auburn to 339 yards of total offense and just 154 passing yards. Freshman Caleb Kelly led OU with 12 tackles.

• Cornerback Jordan Thomas recorded the game's only interception, picking off Auburn's Jeremy Johnson in the Sooners' end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

• 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 26th in the country by permitting just 14.8 points per game (it ranks 18th among teams that have played at least four contests). It gave up three points to Temple, 12 to Houston, 19 to Tulane and 25 to Tennessee (the Vols averaged 63.7 points over its first three games).

• The Sooners rank 27th nationally in rushing defense, permitting only 96.0 yards per game on the ground. They held Temple to 69 rushing yards (1.9 per carry), Houston to 58 (1.7), Tulane to 106 (3.1) and Tennessee to 151 (2.9). They rank seventh in the country and third in the SEC by allowing just 2.5 yards per rush, and have surrendered just one rushing touchdown (by Tennessee).

• OU also ranks fourth nationally in sacks (14), eighth in tackles for loss (32) and 28th in total defense (284.8 ypg).

• Oklahoma is one of just seven teams nationally (Ole Miss is the only other SEC squad) that has not allowed a rush of at least 20 yards this season. Among teams that have played at least four games, OU is one of three not to allow a rush of 20 yards or more (Ole Miss and Iowa are the others).

• OU has allowed only five touchdowns on its opponents' 53 possessions. The defense has forced 26 punts and has recorded 11 takeaways, a safety and a turnover on downs.

NOTING THE OFFENSE

• Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, whose lone career starts have come in Oklahoma's last five games, has completed 61 of 102 pass attempts (60%) for 538 yards and seven touchdowns versus three interceptions in four games this season. He has also netted a team-high-tying 138 rushing yards with two TDs.

• Freshman QB Michael Hawkins Jr. is 13 for 22 through the air this season for a 59% completion rate with one TD and no interceptions. Eighteen of his 22 pass attempts came Saturday against Tennessee. He also has 32 yards on 14 rushes.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Deion Burks ranks second in the SEC and 13th nationally with his 26 receptions and ranks seventh 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 138 rushing yards (averaging 3.5 yards per carry) and has one rushing TD. Freshman Taylor Tatum, the consensus No. 1 running back nationally in the 2024 class, is averaging 6.4 yards on his 18 rushes (116 total yards) and has run for a pair of TDs and caught another.

• Redshirt sophomore running back Gavin Sawchuk started each of the first three games but has been held to 33 yards on 18 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 20 catches for 183 yards.

• Redshirt sophomore receiver Nic Anderson sustained an injury in August camp and made his season debut against Tennessee on Saturday but did not record a reception. 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 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 season 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 26th nationally by converting 94% (16 of 17) of their red-zone trips into points (12 TDs and 4 FGs).

• OU's offensive linemen who have played this season have combined for just 25 career starts as Sooners. Eight of the nine 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).

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 6 for 7 and 12 for 13, 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 45.5 yards on his 24 punts (long of 63; 11 inside the 20; nine fair catches). Plaster, like last season, is the team's primary holder.

• Sophomore Peyton Bowen ranks 32nd nationally by averaging 10.1 yards on his nine punt returns.

• OU ranks sixth nationally in punt coverage, as opponents are averaging -0.4 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 third nationally with a +1.8 turnover margin per game (12 takeaways, five 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. Saturday vs. Tennessee, OU had two takeaways and three giveaways.

• OU has registered eight fumble recoveries so far this season, which is two more than it had all of 2023. The eight recoveries lead the nation (no other team has more than six).

• Eight 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 48-16 off turnovers through four 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.

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 12,894 points scored, which is 547 more than second-place Boise State (12,347) 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 has played one opponent (No. 5 Tennessee) ranked in the top 14 of this week's AP poll and has five more such contests on the schedule: vs. No. 1 Texas [in Dallas], vs. No. 4 Alabama, at No. 6 Ole Miss, at No. 11 Missouri and at No. 14 LSU.

• Oklahoma is 4-1 all-time as the No. 21-ranked team in the AP poll (1-1 on the road). OU's last game as the 21st-ranked team was a 41-24 road loss at unranked UCLA in 2005. The Sooners won on the road as the AP's 21st-ranked team at unranked TCU in 1993 (35-3 victory).

• In their 13 wins since the start of the 2023 season, the Sooners have outscored opponents 146-23 off turnovers. In their four losses during the same span, they have been outscored 54-13 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 78 players on OU's week 4 depth chart, 25 (or 32%) were freshmen. That includes 18 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.