By Rock Westfall
With the Oklahoma Sooners‘ move from the Big 12 to the SEC, they will renew hostilities with an old, familiar foe that Missouri Tigers fans prefer to call a “rival” on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia, MO.
The 5-4 Oklahoma squad will take on the 6-2 Missouri Tigers in what Mizzou fans hope will start an annual showdown of passion. The problem is that Oklahoma fans are not interested. Sooner Nation considers itself too good for Mizzou, at least by historical standards and recruiting rankings.
But like their former ancient rivals, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oklahoma’s institutional arrogance may soon be unjustified and obsolete. While Mizzou is having a “down” year after going 11-2 and beating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl in 2023, it is making significant strides on the recruiting trail and with NIL.
Missouri no longer fears Oklahoma as it did when they were members of the Big 12. But Oklahoma retains plenty of snot in its nose over Missouri. Perhaps the Sooners would be wise to get over themselves and grab a Kleenex.
https://twitter.com/johnehoover/status/1854224559223820562
Speaking of “Fake” – OU Haunted By the Prospects of 1998
Last week, embattled third-year head coach Brent Venables and his Sooners scored a 59-14 paycheck game win over the visiting FCS Maine Black Bears to improve their record to 5-4. With three games remaining, Oklahoma needs one more win to secure bowl eligibility, though any bowl that OU gains will be of the lower-tier Weedeater variety.
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With a home game against the Alabama Crimson Tide next week and the regular season finale on the road against the LSU Tigers, Sooner Nation fears that only a win on Saturday at Mizzou will salvage a postseason bid.
Oklahoma last failed to qualify for the postseason under John Blake in 1998. Ironically, Mizzou routed Oklahoma at Faurot Field that year.
In their first season as members of the SEC, Oklahoma arrived with plenty of historic haughtiness and bluster but without a roster ready for success in college football’s best league. Injuries have only made the Sooners even worse.
Oklahoma has suffered such embarrassing losses as 25-15 at home against the Tennessee Volunteers, 34-3 in the Red River Shootout against the rival Texas Longhorns, 35-9 at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks, and 26-14 on the road against the Ole Miss Rebels. Additionally, OU had to pull a rabbit out of the hat in a 27-21 road win against the Auburn Tigers, rallying from a 21-10 4th quarter deficit against a struggling War Eagle squad.
Facing increased heat and a loss of credibility at home, Venables fired first-year offensive coordinator and Sooner legend Seth Littrell after the South Carolina debacle in a Hail Mary act of total desperation and blame deflection. But the real blame lies with Venables.
Last year, then-junior OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel compiled a 172.0 rating with 3660 passing yards and a 30/6 TD/INT ratio with 9.5 yards per attempt. Yet Venables let Gabriel transfer to the Oregon Ducks without a fight, where he is flourishing as a Heisman Trophy candidate on an undefeated top-ranked team.
Instead, Venables preferred sophomore and 5-star recruit Jackson Arnold, who was benched during the Tennessee debacle but returned while OU was drowning against South Carolina. So far this season, Arnold has a 130.4 QBR and 6.2 yards per attempt.
The transition from Gabriel to Arnold and into the SEC has gone poorly. The comparisons are quite an indictment of Venables.
It has been a shameful 2024 season of humility for OU.
Oklahoma has zero right to be arrogant about anything.
https://twitter.com/BoominSooners/status/1786470696329298236
Circled on Missouri Calendars
Missouri is bowl-eligible thanks in part to a fake 51-0 paycheck game win of its own over the visiting FCS Murray State Racers on opening night. Meanwhile, Mizzou’s 30-27 overtime home win over the Vanderbilt Commodores looks much better now than it did at that time.
However, a 41-10 road loss to the Texas A&M Aggies and a 34-0 road loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide shows that head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his Tigers are not the same team compared to 2023.
Mizzou works best under the radar, as was the case in its epic runs of 2007, 2013, and last year. When the Tigers get national attention and preseason hype, as in 2008 and this year, things don’t go as well. In 2024, Missouri is beating the teams it is supposed to beat and losing to the teams that are better than the Tigers.
Missouri was without its revered star, senior quarterback Brady Cook, for most of the Alabama game because of an ankle issue, but Cook stands a good chance to start against the Sooners.
In 2010 the Tigers ambushed the #1-ranked Sooners 36-27 at Faurot Field in one of the most memorable wins in program history. Mizzou fans point to that in their hopes of a déjà vu result Saturday night on SEC Network.
https://twitter.com/SSN_Mizzou/status/1669128563008888832
For Oklahoma, the Missouri Tigers are an annoyance and are considered far beneath OU’s blueblood stats.
For the Missouri Tigers, Saturday’s game is an opportunity to serve up a heaping helping of humble pie to an arrogant program that doesn’t have a right to look down upon anyone in 2024.
Oklahoma would be well-advised to be ready for a sellout crowd packed with hostility and resentment against a Mizzou team that looks, at a bare minimum, equal to OU.
This game is bigger for Mizzou and its fans than it is for Oklahoma and Sooner Nation. That could prove to be a lethal combination that makes Venables even more vulnerable than he is now.
