Following 28-11 victory over SMU, the #19 ranked Sooners will make the drive down the Turner Turnpike to Skelly Field for a friendly In-state battle with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Hurricane (1-1), led by first year head coach and former OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, come into this matchup following a 43-10 loss at the hands of the Washington Huskies. Money wise, it’s a huge game for the hometown Hurricanes, as they achieved a sellout (30,000) for the first time since 2009, when the 5th ranked Boise State Broncos came to town.
Oklahoma is a 28 point favorite in this matchup though, so it won’t (or shouldn’t) be a game by any stretch. A shaky offensive performance and a stout defensive performance from the Sooners a week ago gives them an elite opportunity to play a complete game this Saturday in the 918, the final non conference game before a trip up to Cincinnati to begin Big 12 play. Here are 3 keys to a dominant victory this weekend.
1. “Score From Far”...light up the scoreboard
Last week’s performance from the offensive was a bit, well, underwhelming.Though some of the reaction is a bit extreme, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has been called everything but a child of God in the last week. Dillon Gabriel wasn’t awful last week, but he also wasn’t great. Although Tawee Walker had an exceptional night running the ball (21 car, 117 yards) and quite frankly
kept things going for the OU offense, the big hogs up front struggled quite a bit.. The lack of touches for Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawhuck did raise a few eyebrows, but they should be more involved this week. This weekend though, the Sooners have an elite opportunity to hang half a hundred. It’s what you should do to inferior opponents.
Tulsa has a defense that plays aggressive, but it’s nothing to worry or shake in your boots about. It’s a chance to get more guys involved, especially on the outside, including guys like Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson, and Jaquazie Pettaway. Lebby said it in his Monday press conference…the offense was too conservative at times against the Mustangs. The Tulsa defense allowed 454 passing yards a week ago up in Washington, so there’s great chances to air it out this week. Keep your foot on the gas, and burn the scoreboard at Chapman Stadium up.
2. Defense, Defense, Defense
It‘s obviously early, but the OU defense has shown incredible improvement through 2 games. They’ve only allowed 1 touchdown through 8 quarters of football. They’ve had key playmakers step up like freshman DB Peyton Bowen, LB Kip Lewis, and CB Kani Walker. Then there’s the emergence of Danny Stutsman, who looks to be the guy everyone thought he would be under a guy like Brent Venables. Stutsman seems to be a spark for this defense, because when he performs well, so do the other 10 guys. For those of you worried about the pass rush, this is a Tulsa offense that’s not great up front.
They allowed the most sacks in the AAC a season ago. The Golden Hurricanes also don’t have a set starter at Quarterback, but it seems to be Roman Fuller who will take the first snaps on Saturday. They did put up 318 yards of offense against the Huskies and ran the ball well, but with the way the Sooners front 7 is trending, there’s a ton of chances to shut it all down this week. With Justin Harrington being banged up, I expect a lot of Peyton Bowen and Reggie Pearson in the Cheetah spot this weekend.
3. Win the Trenches
Simply put, the OU offensive line was not good a week ago. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t what many expected of that unit. The good news is Tulsa isn’t great up front defensively. This is the perfect time for that group to get things tuned up before heading into conference play against the likes of Cincinnati and Iowa State, who are 2 teams that have m solid defensive fronts. With Tawee Walker and Marcus Major as the horses right now out of the backfield, getting guys like Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk involved would unleash a whole new world in the run game.
Final Score Prediction:
The Sooner offense gets things going this weekend, and should start to put things away at Halftime. Jackson Arnold leads the charge in the 3rd quarter, and things go from there. A few late scores from the Golden Hurricanes give them some points on the board.
No. 19 Oklahoma - 57
Tulsa - 14
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