Venables, Littrell, Arnold and the Sooner defense must bring more than ever to have a shot at taking down Vols
Venables, Littrell, Arnold and the Sooner defense must bring more than ever to have a shot at taking down Vols
Author’s note: Though I missed last week on vacation, this would be the return of my weekly pregame column that also appears in Saturday’s Norman Transcript’s GAMEDAY section. Only here, you get it a little earlier and with a few final edits, too. Funny story, it’s original form was about 810 words, but that’s too long for the paper. This one’s 700 and change. I don’t think it lost any real content, and it ought to be a lesson for writers. If I can find 100 words to let go of and still feel I’ve hit all my marks, you can lose 25 to 50.
Enjoy.
We know the scores.
Oklahoma beat Temple, Houston and Tulane 51-3, 16-12 and 34-19 and that lopsided Temple score took six Owl turnovers to produce.
Tennessee topped Chattanooga, then-No. 24 North Carolina State and Kent State 69-3, 51-10 and 71-0.
If we’re only talking what’s occurred this season, Tennessee should be ranked no lower than third, behind Texas and Alabama, rather than sixth. Meanwhile OU would still be ranked, but not 15th.
Sooner Nation loves its defense and it should, the Sooners ranking 23rd in scoring defense (11.3 ppg), 22nd in first downs allowed (15.7 pg), 27th in total defense (264.7 ypg), second in turnover margin (+8), 10th in sacks (3.6 pg) and 36th in third-down defense (30.2%).
Yet, the Volunteers rank better in almost every category, including third in scoring defense (4.3 ppg) and second in total defense (160.7 ypg). They also rank first in scoring offense (63.7 ppg) and second in total offense (639.3 ypg).
So, College GameDay may be here, it’s the game we’ve been thinking about since the schedule arrived, but making it competitive remains a huge chore for OU. Indeed, the 7-point spread feels more about branding and getting even money on both sides than what these teams have done to date.
“Hard to argue that anybody’s playing better ball than Tennessee right now,” Brent Venables said.
So, here’s what today’s about from at least one vantage point.
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