OU Alum…here are my thoughts.

[OU Alumni]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

 

[GoBigOrange_2309]

Pretty solid take. Those 3 point you made about your offense is a huge advantage for our fast and deep defense including an extremely talented and deep d line. From watching both teams this year I’m just having a hard time not seeing UT pull away by 3+ TDs

 

[apevol]

I dont think the Sooners are as bad as Michigan

 

[WillisWG]

Not many come to Norman and leave with a W, hoping this Vols team is one of those teams.

 

[Hydro556]

OU likely better than MI.

I think your D line can give our O Line issues and disrupt Nico's pocket.

I think TN wins a close game. 34-24 with a late score. Barring crazy turnovers from either side anyway.

 

[bpalmer28]

Oklahoma is better than Michigan.

I think Tennessee wins 45-17, but it's Nico's first road start and that's a HUGE wildcard. He's gotten away with some throws this year that he may not get away with against OU. Also, our secondary hasn't been tested. Another big wildcard.

 

[B81]

This game is a toss up, with home field advantage on OU’s side. Tennessee has not been tested, like they will be in this game. We will learn a lot about who we are this week. Should be a nail biter.

 

[Tman44]

Our O Line is an extremely special unit. Nico is an assassin with very talented weapons at receiver. We have a three headed beast at running back. Our defense is ranked second in the nation. The OU fans are going to need to be loud and OU has to play a perfect game to keep this from being a repeat of then #6 ranked Tennessee going into Baton Rouge to destroy a 16th ranked LSU. #6 vs #15 this time. How familiar. Go Vols!

 

[njvols]

I think we'll win, but who knows...OK first SEC game w/ JH coming in riding high, and prime time home night game. Going to be rocking. I think the danger of the early season games is you really don't know your teams yet. In 2015, UT was one or two bonehead Butch Jones game decisions away from pulling off an upset against a great OK team. If Vols get up early, and OK has to play catch up, it could get ugly. If game is a close low scoring affair into mid Q3, we are going to struggle to get the W. We have to be able to run the ball.

 

[njvols]

Our O Line is an extremely special unit. Nico is an assassin with very talented weapons at receiver. We have a three headed beast at running back. Our defense is ranked second in the nation. The OU fans are going to need to be loud and OU has to play a perfect game to keep this from being a repeat of then #6 ranked Tennessee going into Baton Rouge to destroy a 16th ranked LSU. #6 vs #15 this time. How familiar. Go Vols!

You bring up a good point but in reality, if we played LSU 10 times or later in the season, things would have evened out some. They ended up not being a horrible team...we just got on them early and never let up...their fans were barely in their seats, and never got into the game. Night games are an entirely different animal...fans juiced up all day and players revved up. More than jumping on OK out of the gate, we've got to make sure we don't give OK a short field on turnovers, b/c if we're making them drive the full field to score, over the course of the game, I don't think OK can match us.

 

[volmandu]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

I went to a small school in Oklahoma (down I-40) around time when Jason White was killing it there .. we would go to our school games and folks would tune into their radios to listen to OU games .. fun times
I think it will be closer than most people think as it is a big game for OU but our running game and DL play will be difference at the end .. Expect lots of mistakes from both QBs .. 35-24 Vols

 

[DaddyChad]

It’s in Norman. Nico is a young player so he could make mistakes. Other than that I just see the win conditions for OU are a lot more limited than Tennessee. This isn’t the typical offensive powerhouse with a mediocre defense, our dline is very deep and very talented. I would say our secondary hasn’t been tested but idk that u would say OU has a dynamic passing game either. If Nico can get “on” early it will be a rough night for OU; should know in the first couple of drives what kind of game this will be.

Don’t want to piss on OU bc they’re usually a great team and have great fans but this matchup is a nightmare for them on paper.

 

[Volnanza]

I do expect it to be close.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Our O Line is an extremely special unit. Nico is an assassin with very talented weapons at receiver. We have a three headed beast at running back. Our defense is ranked second in the nation. The OU fans are going to need to be loud and OU has to play a perfect game to keep this from being a repeat of then #6 ranked Tennessee going into Baton Rouge to destroy a 16th ranked LSU. #6 vs #15 this time. How familiar. Go Vols!

I want to see our OL perform against a front 4 like OU before jumping to conclusions. Our OL struggled last year, even before the injury bug hit, against competent SEC front lines like we will see Saturday night.

I do think we will struggle (relatively speaking) to score against OU since their D is good on all 3 levels.

I just dont think Arnold and OU will be able to score enough if we play clean football...

 

[JRich]

Vols by fiddy.

 

[Gandalf]

TN will be tested and I dont expect them to come out blowing up 2 TDs out the gate. OU has a legit D that will put some pressure on Nico. BV is surely going to have some wrinkles to throw at Heupel that may frustrate our early attacks.

The problem is that TN's O is really balanced right now and both on the ground and in the air move the chains very fast. CJH has shown he can play many different ways and shift as soon as you think you have one figured out. One small mistake and poof its way downfield and 7 points on the board.

Then OU offense comes on the field. Our D is quite possibly better than our O and Pearce Jr is going to be looking to kill someone this weekend because he has been having to share the action so far. The only area of concern is possibly the secondary so OU would have to air it out and beat us with their arm. Based on what I have seen so far, that doesnt seem likely. Our D is likely to wreak havoc. So they go 3 and out and poof back in the hands of our offense.

I think it will be a feisty first quarter and maybe (big maybe) first half. Then TN is simply going to have broken loose by 14 and OU will be forced to pass only. Then it starts slipping away and our much deeper team begins to romp.

 

[pimo1]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

Is it true that your top 4 WR's (Anderson, Farooq, Anthony and Gibson?) are all injured? If so how? I feel like after the second one went down you'd get the bubble wrap out. Are any of those guys due back this game? I have a feeling they might have just held them for when they were really needed to not risk getting someone nicked up in a game that they'd win anyway? Also from what I'm reading people say their top 4 returners out but wasn't Burks still expected to be 'the man'? I also saw Andeson is maybe coming back this week? Anderson is a whole different animal 6'4 220ish

I have heard it mentioned that the reason for the playcalling issues on the offensive side have been more about wanting to play vanilla and not show your hand (something we are very familiar with here) is that true?


I feel like UT wins easily but I also feel like we will see a different Oklahoma Offense than their first 3 games.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

If Anderson plays, his size will give our CBs problems, especially if they dont turn their heads....

 

[Vol_in_NC_1999]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

Well, it's in Norman. Oklahoma seldom loses at home, even during bad years. Case in point: Look at the previous four seasons. During the regular season, you guys had:

2 losses in 2023 (both away), so no home losses
SEVEN losses in 2022 (a HORRIBLE year by your standards), but only two home losses.
2 losses in 2021 (both away), again NO home losses
2 losses in 2020 with one home loss to Kansas St

That's 11 losses in 4 seasons, but only 3 at home. I'm not trying to be a pessimist with BVS (Battered Vols Syndrome); just trying to point out that it's difficult for opponents to win at Oklahoma.

 

[fossilfiction]

You and fairdinkem

 

[Lekvolrrah]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

 

[Nicovfl8]

I really don’t see how my Sooners win this game.

I graduated in 2007 so I was a student and had season tickets when OU was playing for national titles…This Sooners team just isn’t as talented overall.

We have major issues on offense.

1. Playcalling hasn’t been good.
2. O-line has had injuries and was a weakness coming into the year.
3. Arnold still makes Freshman type mistakes and doesn’t hang in the pocket.

Our defense is pretty good but I’m hesitant to say it’s great like a lot of our fans. We’re used to Lincoln Riley (TBOW) defenses so our perception is skewed.

On the flip side, I think Tennessee is really good and I would consider them a dark horse to make a run at the national title.

Tenn. has a great offense that can run the ball and a talented front 7 with possibly the best d-lineman in the country (Pearce).

The line is 7 for a reason. This is giving me Texas/Michigan vibes.

I hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, I hope those of you that visit Norman have a good experience…and leave with a loss…I just don’t see it happening. Lol

Thank you for being an honest sooner fan

 

[Redleg68]

Oklahoma is better than Michigan.

I think Tennessee wins 45-17, but it's Nico's first road start and that's a HUGE wildcard. He's gotten away with some throws this year that he may not get away with against OU. Also, our secondary hasn't been tested. Another big wildcard.

Wouldn't the Bowl last year count as kinda of as a semi-road start?

 

[TheVolsFrog]

We have a balanced run/pass game and we finally have depth on D to keep the D fresh.
It's an away game. This will be our first real test.
As long as Nico doesn't try and force the ball, I think we'll be fine

 

[DC_Vol]

I want to see our OL perform against a front 4 like OU before jumping to conclusions. Our OL struggled last year, even before the injury bug hit, against competent SEC front lines like we will see Saturday night.

This gives me flashbacks to 2014. Out O line about got Worley murdered on the field. I was sitting right near his parents in the game. It was terrible.