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Tennessee heads west this weekend to break in the Sooners for their first SEC experience. This one has been circled on the calendar for awhile by both fan bases, and undoubtedly, Josh Heupel himself. You should know the story, but let's recap it a bit, for the childrens. Heupel was a legendary Sooner QB with a national championship under his belt and was a member of his former head coach, Bob Stoops, staff. As an offensive coordinator, he was doing well. Oklahoma had an off year, and the offense was not up to where it had been. It so happens, that the defense was much worse, but Stoops fired Heupel instead of his brother who was the defensive coordinator. Heupel found this unpleasant and he and Stoops do not exchange fruit cakes on the regular around Christmas time. It all kind of worked out with Oklahoma hiring Lincoln Riley as OC, then head coach, and Heupel has established himself as the leader of a top 5 program in the nation.
Keys to Victory:
1. Who has the growing pains? Both Jackson Arnold, QB for OK and Nico were top quarterback recruits. So far, Nico has had an easy transition into the starting role, with few of his mistakes coming at any true cost. He has not played a true road game and Oklahoma can get rowdy. Arnold on the other hand has not been bad, but he's not at his peak level. A key in this game will be who manages the moment better. Nico is calm and collected, so you wouldn't expect him to get too hyped up for this atmosphere. Arnold on the other hand has not thrown for over 200 yards yet this year, so I'm all in on Nico winning this match-up.
2. Salty D: Oklahoma features a senior ladened defense that returns a ton of talent from the previous year. This will be the first test for the Vol offense this year as they have ripped through the previous opponents like cheap jeans on a yoga master. The challenge will be to keep pressure off of Nico and not become one dimensional in the offense. With the way Tennessee has run the ball this year, I expect the Vols to hold their own against a stout defense and use the run game to create opportunities on the deep ball.
3. The Sooner, the Better: As Oklahoma will be honoring the 2000 National Championship team, featuring Coach Heupel at QB, there will be extra juice in the crowd. If Tennessee can jump out to a quick two score lead, they will be able to effectively negate the home field advantage to a great degree. The Sooner they can get on top, the better.
Prediction: Tennessee comes out hot, but Oklahoma is too talented to simply go away. There will be 2-3 moments in the game in which Tennessee will create separation, or Oklahoma will close it. Your outcome is going to depend upon these moments. Ultimately, Tennessee wins enough to win by enough.
TN 37
OK 20
