Completed Event: Football versus Illinois State on August 30, 2025 , Win , 35, to, 3
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Football
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Saturday, September 7
Norman
6:45 p.m.
University of Oklahoma
vs
Houston
Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma
Game Primer: OU vs. Houston
September 05, 2024 | Football
#15/13 Oklahoma
Houston
Saturday, Sept. 7 / 6:45 p.m. CT / Owen Field
OPENING KICK
• No. 15/13 Oklahoma (1-0) plays its second straight home game to open the 2024 season when it hosts Houston (0-1) on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. SEC Network will televise its first Sooners game, with Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic announcing.• Saturday's game is part of a two-game home-and-home series, with OU slated to play at Houston's TDECU Stadium on Sept. 16, 2028.
• The Sooners and Cougars were both members of the Big 12 Conference in 2023 but did not meet. Before OU joined the SEC on July 1, it spent 28 years in the Big 12 and won 14 league titles.
• 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 1,340th in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth in college football annals with their .725 all-time winning percentage (945-341-53 record). They trail Ohio State (.734), Michigan (.734), Alabama (.733) and Notre Dame (.730). Since the end of World War II (1946 season to present), OU leads all programs with 701 wins (31 more than Alabama, the program with the next most) and owns a .766 winning percentage.
• Going back to the start of the 1998 campaign, Oklahoma is 25-1 in its second game of the season. The lone loss during the stretch came in 2020 when unranked Kansas State beat No. 3 OU 38-35 in Norman.
• The Sooners are coming off a 51-3 season-opening home win over Temple in which they registered six takeaways and converted them into 34 points. It was the first Friday night home game in program history.
• Houston, which finished 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12 Conference last season, lost 27-7 at home to UNLV on Saturday. The Cougars were outgained 308 yards to 247.
GAME CAPTAINS
• This week's OU game captains are junior running back Jovantae Barnes, senior defensive back Kendel Dolby, senior defensive lineman Ethan Downs, senior tight end Jake Roberts and redshirt senior kicker Zach Schmit.
FOR THE FANS
• Approximately two hours and 15 minutes before each home game (4:30 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 has changed and will originate 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.
• At 2 p.m., OU will hold its second annual Parade of Champions, which will honor the Sooners' team and individual national and conference champions from the 2023-24 school year, including the national champion softball squad, as well as some of OU's 2024 Olympians. The free event, which will feature OU Spirit, the Sooner Schooner and the Pride of Oklahoma Drumline, will originate from Baked Bear on Campus Corner and proceed south on Asp Ave. to Oklahoma Memorial Union. Other sports participating are baseball, women's basketball and women's gymnastics — all 2024 Big 12 champions.
• Party at the Palace on the north side of the stadium offers new opportunities for fans to participate in pre-game activities in 2024. With a larger footprint, now extending to the west of Brooks Mall, fans can expect an array of new food and beverage offerings, including food trucks, a brew garden and tastings; family-friendly activities; LED screens featuring games-in-progress along with live coverage of the Sooners' arrival; and more. In addition to staple offerings like inflatables and athlete autograph signings, fans can also look forward to the EA Sports College Football '25 Gaming Truck and a Jordan Shoe Box Pop-Up Shop. 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.
KEY STORYLINES
• The Sooners have beaten Houston three times in their four meetings. OU's victories over the Cougars came in 1981 (40-14 in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas), 2004 (63-13 in Norman; OU was ranked No. 2) and 2019 (49-31 in Norman in most recent matchup; OU was ranked No. 4). No. 15 Houston posted a 33-23 win over the No. 3 Sooners in the 2016 season opener at NRG Stadium in Houston.
• Saturday's game will mark the third time for Oklahoma to face Houston head coach Willie Fritz in four seasons. The Sooners hosted Tulane in in 2017 and in the 2021 season opener when Fritz was the Green Wave's head coach. In 2017, OU cruised to a 56-14 win by outscoring Tulane 42-0 after the game was tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter. The 2021 contest, which was originally scheduled to be played in New Orleans but was moved to Norman due to Hurricane Ida, saw No. 2 OU survive 40-35. The Sooners led 37-14 at halftime.
• Eighty-two Sooners played in Friday's season opener against Temple and 33 of them are in their first year at Oklahoma. Eleven players (seven offensive and four defensive) made their first OU starts: OL Geirean Hatchett, Branson Hickman, Febechi Nwaiwu and Michael Tarquin, WR Deion Burks and Brenen Thompson, TE Bauer Sharp, DB Dez Malone and DL Jayden Jackson, R Mason Thomas and Damonic Williams. Jackson is the only freshman.
• Of the 78 players on OU's week 2 depth chart, 25 (or 32%) are freshmen. That includes 18 true freshmen and seven redshirts.
• After ranking second nationally last season with 26 takeaways and with 111 points off takeaways (ranked first with 8.5 points per game), OU forced Temple into six turnovers and converted them into 34 points. The six takeaways led the nation in week one, as did the +6 turnover margin (only one other team had better than a +3 margin).
SOONERS TO WEAR THROWBACK ALTERNATE UNIFORM
• Oklahoma will wear a brand new alternate uniform for Saturday's game against Houston. Drawing inspiration from the uniforms of the dominant Bud Wilkinson era, the new 2024 alternate ensemble features crimson jerseys with white numerals, white tri-stripes on the shoulder sleeves and SEC and Jordan Brand patches. The uniform also includes crimson striping on the sides of the white pants and on the top of the logo-free white helmet. The helmet stripe is painted as opposed to a decal.• The alternate uniform is representative of the one worn by OU teams from 1946-56 and closely resembles the "Sooner Legacy" uniform OU donned Aug. 30, 2003, in a 37-3 season-opening home win over North Texas.
• As part of the 100th-year celebration of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, each 2024 home game will feature a different theme, with the Houston game spotlighting the hugely successful Wilkinson era.
• Wilkinson coached the Sooners from 1947-63 and compiled a 145-29-4 (.826) record. The 1969 College Football Hall of Fame inductee led Oklahoma to 47 consecutive wins from the 1953 to 1957 seasons, still the longest streak in FBS history. Wilkinson, who compiled a 40-11 combined record against rivals Nebraska (14-3), Oklahoma State (17-0) and Texas (9-8), directed OU to its first three AP national championships in 1950, 1955 and 1956. The 1956 squad is often regarded as Wilkinson's finest, and possibly the best in program history. It went 10-0, posted six shutouts and outscored opponents 466-51.
• Wilkinson is the only individual in NCAA annals to win three national titles as both a player (1934-1936 with Minnesota) and a head coach.
RECAPPING THE WIN OVER TEMPLE
• In the program's first-ever Friday night home game, Oklahoma excelled in all three phases of a 51-3 win over Temple. It was the fourth time in head coach Brent Venables' 27-game tenure the Sooners did not give up a touchdown.
• Offensively, sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold completed 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 141 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He became just the third Sooner to ever pass for at least four TDs in their first career home start, joining Josh Heupel in 1999 and Spencer Rattler in 2020.
• Three of Arnold's TDs went to redshirt junior Deion Burks. The receiver finished with six catches for 36 yards and became the first Sooner to catch three TD passes in a season opener and the first OU player to haul in three TDs in his school debut. The Purdue transfer's scoring grabs covered 14, 8 and 5 yards. Arnold also threw a 14-yard TD pass to Southeastern Louisiana tight end transfer Bauer Sharp on OU's opening drive.
• The Sooners averaged 6.1 yards per rush and were led by freshman Taylor Tatum, who racked up 69 yards on just five carries (13.8 average), including a game-long 35-yarder and an eight-yard TD. Redshirt junior Sam Franklin carried four times for 45 yards (11.2 average; long of 30) and junior Jovantae Barnes carried five times for 33 yards (6.6 average).
• On defense, OU held the Owls to 197 yards and 3.2 yards per play. Temple gained 128 yards on 12-of-25 passing and 69 yards on 36 rushes (1.9 average).
• The Sooners registered six takeaways on the night, their most since 2003. After recovering six fumbles all of last season, they recovered four against Temple (most nationally on the week), and added two INTs. Junior linebacker Jaren Kanak returned one of the recoveries (on an Owls punt return) 21 yards for a touchdown.
• The game was OU's first since 1987 to finish +6 in turnover margin. The Sooners converted all six takeaways into points (34 total).
• Sixth-year kicker Tyler Keltner, who transferred from Florida State, was 3 for 3 on field goals (50, 42 and 24 yards) and made all six PAT tries in his OU debut.
• OU finished with six sacks and nine tackles for loss. Redshirt freshman Markus Strong notched solo sacks on each of the game's last two plays.
KELTNER EARNS SEC HONORS
• OU placekicker Tyler Keltner was named Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday following his performance in the Sooners' 51-3 season-opening win over Temple on Friday. He shared the award with Georgia placekicker Peyton Woodring.
• Keltner, a sixth-year player who is in his first season at OU after transferring from Florida State, made field goals of 50, 42 and 24 yards and all six PAT attempts in the victory against the Owls. The 50-yarder came on his first attempt of the game, was OU's first 50-yard field goal make since the 2021 season and just the fourth in a season opener in program history.
• Keltner became only the second OU kicker to convert a 50-yard field goal on his first attempt as a Sooner. The other occurrence was a 60-yarder by Tony DiRienzo in 1973.
• Keltner's 15 points tied as the second most by an SEC kicker on the week. Among the three SEC kickers who made three field goals, he was the only won with a 50-yarder.
• The Tallahassee, Fla., native, who played his first four seasons at East Tennessee State before transferring to Florida State, has made 59 of 77 career field goals (77%) and all 138 PAT tries for 315 points.
LAST TIME VS. HOUSTON
• Making his Oklahoma debut, graduate transfer quarterback Jalen Hurts accounted for 508 yards of offense to Houston's 408 in a 49-31 home win over the Cougars on the night of Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. He was named Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week and Maxwell Award Player of the Week.
• Hurts was 20 for 23 through the air for 332 yards and three touchdowns while running 16 times for a career-high 176 yards (11.0 average) and three more scores. His 508 yards of total offense were 112 more than the previous school record for a Sooner debut, held by Baker Mayfield (396 vs. Akron in 2015). The total offense figure represented the fifth-highest total by an OU player in any game and the second highest by a Sooner at home (Mayfield had 572 vs. Tulsa in 2015). No Sooner has posted a higher total since.
• Hurts became the first Sooner to ever throw for at least 300 yards and rush for at least 150 in a game. He also became the first player in Big 12 history to throw for at least 300 and rush for at least 150 while completing at least 80% of his passes.
• Hurts' 176 rushing yards were the second-most by an OU quarterback. Only Thomas Lott (195 vs. Kansas State in 1976) ran for more in a game.
• OU's 686 yards were its most ever in a season opener.
• The Sooners registered 13 first downs on 17 first-quarter plays and 20 first downs on 35 first-half plays.
• Junior linebacker Kenneth Murray led the Sooners with 13 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss while recording a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Sophomore defensive lineman Ronnie Perkins registered seven tackles, 1.0 sack, 2.0 TFLs and a forced fumble.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
• Oklahoma is 141-13 (.916) 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 [.895] are next). OU has outscored its opponents by an average of 43-18 in those games.
• The Sooners have posted 153 straight sellouts of originally scheduled home games, dating back to the start of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops' first as head coach). Only Nebraska (397) has a longer current streak.
HELLO, SEC
• 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).
• 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.
• Sept. 21, 2024, will mark Oklahoma's first conference game as an SEC member when it hosts Tennessee, which is coached by former Sooner All-America quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Josh Heupel, who led OU to the 2000 national title. 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.
ONE OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST SCHEDULES
• Oklahoma's 2024 schedule is not for the faint of heart. The Sooners will face six opponents that were ranked in the top 15 of the preseason AP poll — tied with Florida for the most nationally — and eight total teams that made bowl games last year, including College Football Playoff participants Alabama and Texas. OU's opponents in the preseason AP top 15 are No. 3 Texas (in Dallas), No. 4 Alabama (home), No. 6 Ole Miss (road), No. 11 Missouri (road), No. 13 LSU (road) and No. 15 Tennessee (home). All six squads made bowl games last season, as did Auburn and Tulane (both are receiving votes in the AP poll).• For just the seventh time in program history, OU will play seven home games in 2024. The Sooners are also the designated home team for the Allstate Red River Rivalry against Texas in Dallas on Oct. 12. The other six seasons in which Oklahoma played seven home games were: 1991, 2001, '03, '07, '18 and '21.
NEW (BUT FAMILIAR) COORDINATORS
• The 2024 OU coaching staff features new play-callers on both sides of the ball. Following the departure of former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby who is now Mississippi State's head coach, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables announced in December that Seth Littrell was promoted to offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley was elevated to co-offensive coordinator. Littrell, who was an offensive analyst for the Sooners in 2023 following a seven-year head coaching stint at North Texas, is OU's quarterbacks coach and serves as offensive play-caller. Finley, entering his fourth season on OU's staff, will continue to coach tight ends and is playing an increased role in offensive game-planning and oversight.
• In January, Venables announced the hiring of Zac Alley as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Alley joined OU's program after spending the last two seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State. He also served the 2021 season in the same capacity at ULM. The 31-year-old is extremely familiar with Venables, having worked under him for four years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 (.932) record (tied with Alabama for the nation's best during that span) and won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and two national championships (2016 and 2018).
40 SCHOLARSHIP NEWCOMERS
• Of the Sooners' 127 players, 40 are scholarship newcomers. That includes 27 December high school signees and 13 transfers. Thirty-two of the 40 (20 freshmen and 12 transfers) enrolled at OU in January and participated in spring practices.
• Twenty-four of the 40 scholarship newcomers are offensive players and 16 are defensive players.
• The 13 scholarship transfers entered the season having combined to make 258 collegiate starts (182 starts among 10 players on offense and 76 starts among three players on defense).
COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST
• Oklahoma finished 10-3 last season and tied for second in the Big 12 with a 7-2 league mark. The Sooners made their school-record 25th consecutive bowl appearance (nation's second-longest current streak), facing No. 14 Arizona in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.
• OU's victory total gave it 42 all-time seasons of at least 10 wins, one behind national leader Alabama.
• The Sooners ranked No. 3 nationally in total offense (507.0 ypg) and No. 4 in scoring offense (41.7 ppg). They were the only team in the country to score at least 59 points in four games or more. OU also ranked No. 6 in passing offense (324.8 ypg), pass efficiency rating (167.5), No. 7 in third-down conversion percentage (49.2) and No. 12 in fourth-down conversion percentage (68.4).
• Super senior Drake Stoops and redshirt freshman Nic Anderson were one of just five duos from the same team (the only one in the Big 12) to each register double-digit receiving touchdowns (each had 10).
• On the other side of the ball, OU led the country with their 1.5 interceptions per game (20 total pickoffs) and ranked No. 7 in tackles for loss per contest (7.5), No. 14 in opponent third-down conversion percentage (31.1) and No. 17 is pass efficiency defense rating (118.6). It ranked No. 46 in scoring defense (23.5 ppg), which was down considerably from 2022 when it ranked No. 98 (30.0 ppg).
• OU tied for the national lead with its 11 different players registering at least one interception.
• The Sooners finished No. 2 nationally with 26 takeaways, No. 4 with 2.0 takeaways per game and No. 23 with their +0.46 turnover margin per contest.
• In its 10 wins, OU outscored opponents 98-17 off turnovers. On the year, the Sooners' 111 points off takeaways ranked No. 2 nationally behind national champion Michigan (122 in two more games).
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