The Oklahoma Sooners initially opened up as a -3 point favorite over the Tennessee Vols for the Saturday evening showdown, but the line changed very quickly. It’s one game, and it was against Akron, but the revamped Sooner passing attack was fantastic in the opener throwing for 439 yards and doing anything it wanted against a veteran MAC defense. Stoops is chalking up the early issues to penalties.
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All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark, all quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. “If you have any deficiencies, they’ll be exposed”.
When asked about the SEC after Monday’s practice, quarterback Baker Mayfield grinned and said, “No comment on that”. “I think he illustrates the difference between building a team and building a program”.
The Sooners started two freshmen – Orlando Brown and Dru Samia – at offensive tackle against Akron, with Brown committing one of the false starts, on Oklahoma’s first series. Somewhat lost in the excitement over Mayfield’s performance was Oklahoma’s ineffective showing on the ground.
The Vols advance from handling Bowling Green in an eventual 59-30 rout to facing No. 19 Oklahoma in Knoxville. Martinez served a one-game suspension during the Bowling Green game after committing an NCAA recruiting violation.
Yes, Ohio State’s schedule in nonconference and the Big Ten is an easy target – Arkansas coach Bret Bielema noted the Buckeyes have one game against a ranked opponent.
It’s fair enough to say that Tennessee is still in the walk-before-crawling phase of Butch Jones’ tenure, if for no other reason that the Volunteers were rendered so totally out of whack by the Lane Kiffin-to-Derek Dooley botched baton handoff in the aftermath of Phillip Fulmer being unceremoniously chased away. UT returned 18 starters this season, tied for the fourth most in all of FBS, from a team that finished last season on a 4-1 run.
Stoops downplayed the significance of the game-day environment at Neyland Stadium, noting the Sooners have visited traditional powers such as Notre Dame and Florida State in recent years.
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“I look forward to it because I like to prove people wrong”, Striker said Tuesday.
