By Rock Westfall
The Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners are off to 3-0 starts. Yet, gaging the moods of their respective fans, you would think Oklahoma was 0-3. Big Orange is riding high with a terrifying offense that leads the nation in scoring. Vols freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is emerging as a national sensation and Heisman Trophy candidate.
By contrast, Oklahoma’s offense has been rather pedestrian. The Sooners rank an abysmal 113th for passing yardage and 48th for points scored.
Adding to the plot is that Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables encouraged quarterback Dillon Gabriel to transfer to Oregon despite lighting up enemy defenses for a 172.0 QBR last year with 3,660 yards and a 30/6 TD/INT ratio. Venables was worried about then-freshman Jackson Arnold losing patience and hitting the portal if Gabriel returned. Thus, Venables bet on Arnold. So far, the returns are minimal while Gabriel has been just as good at Oregon.
By college football standards, Oklahoma fans have been patient with Venables up to now. He was granted grace for the ugly departure of HC Lincoln Riley, QB Caleb Williams, and a host of other players, coaches, and staff to the USC Trojans. But Venables is in Year 3, and that is about as long as a honeymoon lasts in the sport.
In the historic inaugural SEC game at Oklahoma, the Sooners are a 7.5-point dog. Many gamblers believe that the line is too low.
Nico Iamaleava for Heisman pic.twitter.com/EwarsTJsUu
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) September 15, 2024
More Sports News
Heupel Plots Revenge and Triumphant Return
Once upon a time, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel quarterbacked the Sooners to a national title under Bob Stoops. Subsequently, Heupel became the OU offensive coordinator. However, Stoops eventually believed he had to make a change, and he fired his understudy. Stoops said it was one of the most difficult moments of his life.
Heupel has never forgiven Stoops for kicking him to the curb. But he has used that dismissal as rocket fuel for a highly successful run as an offensive coordinator at Mizzou and then as head coach of UCF and Tennessee.
The irony is that Heupel was a fallback choice for athletic director Danny White, who originally hired him at UCF. When White could not find a credible replacement for the ousted and disgraced Jeremy Pruitt, He reached out to the Knights head coach. Heupel arrived to a lukewarm reaction but is now celebrated for beating Alabama and restoring the roar of Big Orange Nation.
Heupel has a reputation for being an offensive mastermind, which Iamaleava is taking to a new level. So far this season, Iamaleava has an eye-popping 182.7 QBR with 698 yards, a 71.6 completion percentage, and a 6/2 TD/INT ratio.
Before routing a bad Kent State team 71-0 last week, the Vols disemboweled a respected perennial bowl program, NC State, in Charlotte 51-10.
Equally impressive for UT is an unheralded defense ranked 1st overall in the nation and 2nd for points allowed.
Big Orange will roll into Norman with confidence riding high and a coach hell-bent on settling the score of a lifetime.
10 years ago, Bob Stoops fired Josh Heupel as Oklahoma’s OC pic.twitter.com/jamhmAYY67
— zach ragan (@zachTNT) September 15, 2024
Vulnerable Venables Seeks Sooner Magic in Career-Defining Game
Brent Venables also had some touchy times with Bob Stoops as the Oklahoma defensive coordinator. Venables was encouraged to leave for Clemson when Stoops wanted to hire his brother Mike Stoops as DC. Mike proved to be a failure in that role, while Venables restored his reputation as Dabo Swinney’s right-hand man and fielded some of the best defenses college football has ever seen.
Since returning to Oklahoma, Venables stopped the bleeding in the immediate aftermath of Riley’s Hollywood defection. But there has not been a sense of Oklahoma being truly dominant yet in the Venables era.
Feeding into that lack of dominance is Jackson Arnold. So far, the sophomore has a 132.3 QBR, 484 yards passing, a 62.8 completion percentage, and a 7/2 TD/INT ratio.
The most eye-popping comparison to Iamaleava this year is Arnold’s 5.6 yards per attempt, compared to Nico’s 10.4. Certainly, that is a cause for pause.
No doubt, Brent Venables will pour his defensive expertise into this week’s preparation. Oklahoma is unlikely to win a shootout with Tennessee and will have to rely on slowing down the Tennessee offense to have a chance. Oklahoma’s defense ranks a solid 22nd for points allowed and has not been effectively complimented by the offense.
Coach Barry Switzer, the great retired Oklahoma legend, has often talked of what he calls “Sooner Magic” over the decades. Switzer has frequently been validated by the term in Oklahoma thrillers of the past. In fact, Bob Stoops became known as “Big Game Bob” thanks to some serious Sooner Magic on the game’s biggest stages.
The thought of Oklahoma losing a big game at home is never a forgone conclusion to count on. However, on Saturday, OU needs a good dose of Sooner Magic along with stout defense and a jumpstart of its offense to stand a chance.
Skepticism, while justified, should be tempered by Oklahoma’s ghosts of glory.
Said it all off-season. I personally think it was stupid to move on from Dillion to Jackson. I don’t think Dillion is this nfl qb but he’s a way better college qb than Jackson. https://t.co/3Sw9sJEIbc
— Chris (@cfbtalk07) September 14, 2024
