The View, G3 | Gameday Info, G4 Player Spotlight, G5 | Scouting the Opponent, G6 Things to Watch, G7
1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup whiskey
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3 to 4 pounds)
1 medium onion, quartered
8 hamburger buns, split
Beyond winning
Sooners mired in such a funk, progress, not victory, all that can be asked
It just doesn’t matter. Do you remember it, that particular phrase? Maybe heard it in movie, a bunch of kids chanting it, led by an adult?
Type it into Google and by the time you’ve pecked out “It just doesn’t,” the search engine’s likely to offer “matter meatballs.”
Because “Meatballs” was the movie, Bill Murray was the adult, and one way or another, Murray’s kids from Camp Northstar were going to find a way to take down the cooler and more athletic kids from Camp Mohawk because, well … “It just doesn’t matter.”
Oklahoma football, though, will be experiencing a mostly different version of “It just doesn’t matter” when it arrives in Oxford to meet Ole Miss inside VaughtHemingway Stadium.
A competition’s at hand, so maybe that’s a similarity, and the way it’s gone for the
Oklahoma at Ole Miss
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Where: VaughtHemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
TV: ESPN
Sooner offense, Bill Murray, not Seth Littrell, might as well have been the offensive coordinator the first seven games of the season, so there’s that, too.
Mostly, it just doesn’t matter for the Sooners because it happens to be the Bulldogs, but it could be anybody; it happens to be in Oxford, but it could be anywhere; because not the opponent, not the site, not even the conference matters.
All that matters is OU. Heck no, these Sooners aren’t going to go win — it’s true, there was the day Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in Tokyo and the night Chaminade stunned Ralph Sampson and No. 1 Virginia in Honolulu, so maybe anybody has a slight puncher’s chance — but maybe they’ll hit for a couple
Radio: KREF FM 99.3 / AM 1400
plays more than 20 yards; maybe they’ll limit Ole Miss to four or five sacks rather than nine; maybe they won’t have their tight ends, Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts on islands, trying to handle big-time defensive ends.
Hey, I’m hardly qualified to be a playbook author, but maybe line those guys up in the slot so somebody has to account for them rather than run around them on the way to Jackson Arnold, after all they’re far better receivers than blockers. It’s an idea.
Anyway, that’s where OU finds itself.
The defense is terrific and if it can force an opponent to
Paxson Haws | The Transcript OU wide receiver J.J. Hester slides to the ground after trying to catch the ball as the Oklahoma Sooners competed against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19, 2024.
Jacob Jordan didn’t expect to see any action during last week’s game against South Carolina.
When he arrived on campus this year as a true freshman walk-on, it wasn’t guaranteed he would see the field at all this season. Listed at 5-9, 182 pounds, the wide receiver from South Lake Carroll, Texas only received scholarship offers from a few FBS schools.
Texas Tech, North Texas, Tulsa and Western Kentucky all sent offers, but when Jordan got an offer to be a preferred walk-on in Norman, he jumped at the opportunity.
“To be honest with you, it wasn’t that hard for me,” Jordan said. “I was confident in my abilities, and I know it was going to take a lot of work, obviously, but I was confident that I was going to able to come in here and play.”
Jordan didn’t just end up playing last week against the Gamecocks, he was the Sooners’ biggest offensive bright spot in a frustrating 35-9 loss.
He had three targets in the
OU Football Schedule
Oklahoma 51, Temple 3
Oklahoma 16, Houston 12
Oklahoma 34, Tulane 19
Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15
Oklahoma 27, Auburn 21 BYE WEEK
Texas 34, Oklahoma 3
South Carolina 35,
Oklahoma 9
Oct. 26 at Ole Miss,
Burks against Tulane (seven catches for 80 yards).
Nothing has come easy for the Sooners’ offense this season, but the undersized true freshman was made it look easy in his first action.
“I remember him coming up to me saying, ‘Man, it’s easier than in practice,’” junior Brenen Thompson said.
11 a.m. ESPN
Nov. 2 vs. Maine, 1:30 p.m. ESPN+ or SECN+
Nov. 9 at Missouri, 2:303:30 or 5-7 p.m. BYE WEEK
Nov. 23 vs. Alabama, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.
Nov. 30 at LSU, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.
ing time, but after several weeks of poor offensive performances, the Sooners are looking for a spark.
second quarter and caught all three. The second went for 27 yards, which is the team’s seventh-longest completion this season.
“Halfway through the second quarter, Coach (Emmett) Jones just told me I’m in,” Jordan said. “So I went in there and made the most of
my opportunity and made a few plays. I’m happy with it.”
He caught three more passes in the fourth quarter including two for 18-yard gains.
Not only did Jordan lead the game in receiving with six catches for 86 yards, he tied the most receiving yards
by any OU player this season.
The other, J.J. Hester against Auburn, reached that mark primarily from a 60-yard completion in the fourth quarter.
The only other receiver that has played as complete a game statistically as Jordan did last Saturday was Deion
Oklahoma’s receiving corp was its deepest position group on the offense coming into the season, but has been decimated by injuries. The Sooners have been down five starting wide receivers since the Tennessee game over a month ago.
The true freshman was still a long-shot from seeing play-
Still, OU head coach Brent Venables said he didn’t simply get playing time because the team was desperate. Jordan has been doing all the right things in practice to earn the trust of his coaches. He’s an excellent route runner with great situational awareness and the right attitude to get better.
Venables sees Jordan as a great example for other players on the team.
“That was a message to guys to stay ready, keep working, keep developing,
Paxson Haws | The Transcript OU wide receiver Jacob Jordan tries to out run his opponent as the Oklahoma Sooners competed against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19.
Scouting the opponent: Ole Miss Rebels
DAVIS CORDOVA CNHI SPORTS OKLAHOMA
Losing two of its last three has Ole Miss scrambling for a win.
No. 19 Ole Miss will host Oklahoma football on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN in Oxford, Mississippi. The Rebels are coming off of a bye week, but lost two weeks ago at No. 13 LSU in overtime and at the end of September, lost to Kentucky at home. In both games, the Rebels lost by a field goal.
The Rebels’ lone win is at South Carolina by 24 points –the same team that trounced the Sooners last week in OU’s worst home loss since 2014.
Ole Miss has a reasonable schedule and has played just one ranked opponent (LSU), but is still a good football team that still has an outside chance at the CFP. The Rebels, though, would need to win-out including Saturday’s game.
The Sooners roll into Oxford with a new offensive coordinator and a new, or returning, starting quarterback. Will there be significant change? Who knows, but the Rebels have shown to wield strengths that OU has had trouble with this season.
Artie Walker Jr. | Associated Press
Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffi n, left, talks to quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against South Carolina Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Columbia, S.C.
Here is a breakdown of the Ole Miss team:
OFFENSE
The Rebels have one of the best offenses in the country, but the past three weeks –since the Rebels have played
SEC teams – have been somewhat of a struggle.
The Rebels have standout quarterback Jaxson Dart, who is third in the country in passing yards with 2,384 and is the third-most efficient quarterback.
Ole Miss is also second in the country in total offense, averaging 560.7 yards per game, but much of that historic offensive success came in the first four games against Furman, Middle Tennessee State, Wake Forest and
Last Meeting
1999 Independence Bowl
Ole Miss 27, Oklahoma 25
• The final college football game of the 20th century.
• Rebels’ 39-yard field goal with no time left thwarted an 18-point second-half comeback.
• OU would go on to win its next 20 games, its next loss wouldn’t come for 666 days (Nebraska, 2001).
Georgia State – teams with a combined record of 12-16.
In the past three games, the Rebels have averaged 23.3 points per game and scored just seven offensive touchdowns in SEC play.
The Rebels scored 27 points against the Gamecocks three weeks ago in a win. Ole Miss scored three touchdowns –all were less than 5-yard runs for a touchdown.
Hope for OU is that the Rebels have had struggles against SEC defenses – like South Carolina’s offense –and that if OU doesn’t have a start similar to the one last
week against the Gamecocks, OU could have a chance if it’s able to limit the Rebels offense, which has the capability to be explosive.
DEFENSE
Ole Miss’ greatest strength will go against OU’s greatest weakness.
The Rebels’ defensive line is one of the best in the country and is the best group on the team.
The Rebels are tied-seventh in the country in sacks with 24 this season, while OU has allowed 29 so far –second-worst in the country.
Ole Miss has feasted on offensive line’s all season with defensive end Jared Ivey leading the team in sacks with five while six other Rebels have at least 1.5 sacks this season.
Two weeks ago, though, the Rebels had zero sacks against LSU, but had six against South Carolina the game before.
The Rebels have allowed just 10.6 points per game this season – mostly from the nonconference schedule where they allowed just 22 points – but still pose a huge threat to the OU offense, which has struggled with pass protection all season.
DAVIS CORDOVA CNHI SPORTS OKLAHOMA
1. OU’S DEFENSE WITH A BETTER START
The Sooners got off to one of the worst starts they could possibly have last week with three turnovers – two returned for touchdowns – and a 21-0 deficit early in the first quarter against South Carolina. The defense was put into a bad situation and was dealt a bad hand, but the Sooners’ defense put up a good fight against the Gamecocks, limiting South Carolina to just 12 points following the meltdown.
The Ole Miss offense has seen a struggle since starting SEC play, but the Rebels have statistically the thirdbest offense in the country.
In the Rebels’ last three games, losing two of those, they have averaged just above 23 points per game.
For the Sooners, a better start will go a long way for the defense to get into a rhythm and use its ability to keep the Sooners in the game.
2. ARNOLD’S RETURN
Jackson Arnold was benched during the Tennessee game, but after Michael Hawkins Jr.’s historically bad start last week, Arnold got back into the game and played decently, which
3 THINGS TO WATCH
OU defensive back Reggie Powers III before the Oklahoma Sooners competed against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19, 2024.
earned him the start for this week in Oxford.
Arnold threw for 225 yards and a touchdown on a 50% competition percentage against the Gamecocks last week. It was the most yards Arnold has thrown in a game since the Alamo Bowl last season.
Arnold will still have many wide receivers out, with four of the five starting receivers ruled out for Saturday and Deion Burks listed as questionable, and still have the same struggling offensive line from his first four starts, but he does have a new coordinator.
Seth Littrell was fired on Sunday after seven games
as offensive coordinator and Joe Jon Finley will be calling offensive plays. This will be his first time calling plays, but he did spend the South Carolina game in the press box with Littrell. It’s unsure whether or not there will be a positive difference from the change, but surely with a change that massive in the middle of a season, there will be many changes to the way the Sooners call plays and what plays are called.
3. OU’S WEAKNESS AGAINST THE REBELS’ STRENGTH
The OU offensive line has
not been great.
Ou is second-to-last in the country in sacks allowed, while Ole Miss is tied for seventh in the country in team sacks. That matchup alone doesn’t bode well for the Sooners.
Sacks are drive-killers and was apparent last week when multiple drives were squashed by a sack from the Gamecocks, sacking OU’s quarterbacks nine times. The Rebels biggest strength is its ability to get to the quarterback and into the backfield to disrupt plays.
For OU, efficient pass blocking is key for any type of success on offense on Saturday.
STATS TO KNOW
TARIK MASRI TRANSCRIPT SPORTS EDITOR
271
Through seven games, Ole Miss has outgained its opponents by 300 or more yards four times. Meanwhile, the Sooners’ offense has reached 300 yards of total offense just three times all season. The Rebels are ranked first nationally in yards per game margin at 271 yards per game. They rank first in the SEC and second nationally in total offense and fifth in the SEC and 13th national in total defense.
39
It isn’t hard to guess where the football is going when Jaxson Dart steps back to pass. Out of his 151 completions, 39.1% have been caught by Tre Harris, who currently leads the nation in receiving yards (987), which is the largest share by a QB/ WR duo in the FBS. Harris averages 8.4 catches per game.
5
Oklahoma is a perfect 5-0 all-time when facing SEC opponents on the road. The Sooners have only played one true road game this season and pulled out a comeback victory over Auburn. Before that, the
Sooners hadn’t been at an SEC venue since facing Alabama in 2003. Still, the Sooners have had a pedestrian road record in three seasons under Brent Venables. They’ve gone 5-5 in that time and are still looking for their first ranked road win.
2.9
The Sooners’ run defense had a bounce-back game against South Carolina after their worst performance of the season the week before against Texas. They held the Gamecocks to 74 yards rushing on 41 carries and are ninth nationally in yards allowed per rush (2.9). The Rebels lead the way allowing just under 2.0 yards per rush.
28 Saturday will mark just the 28th game the Sooners have played as an AP unranked team since the 2000 season. Oklahoma is 17-10 in those games. 11 of them have come against ranked opponents and they’ve gone 7-4 in those games.
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@ normantranscript.com
Paxson Haws | The Transcript
WHAT TO WATCH
LSU visits Texas A&M to battle for first place in the SEC
ERIC OLSON AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
No. 8 LSU’s visit to No. 14 Texas A&M this weekend gives us an improbable, late October battle for first place in the Southeastern Conference.
The Tigers were picked fifth in the preseason media poll and the Aggies ninth. Both have won six straight since season-opening losses and are the only SEC teams unbeaten in conference play.
LSU’s ascent has coincided with freshman Caden Durham’s emergence at running back and first-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s unit coalescing since linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. and defensive lineman Jacobian Guillory went out with season-ending injuries.
Texas A&M was without quarterback Conner Weigman for three games because of a shoulder injury. Marcel Reed was solid as Weigman’s replacement, and the Aggies have been able to lean on running back Le’Veon Moss and a Nic Scourton-led defense that’s allowed 20 points or fewer in five games.
The SEC’s other Top 25 matchup has No. 5 Texas at No. 25 Vanderbilt. The
Longhorns have a shaky quarterback situation coming out of last week’s loss to Georgia. The Commodores, on a three-game winning streak and ranked for the first time in more than a decade, already have beaten Alabama and are looking to collect another big pelt.
No. 20 Illinois will play its first regular-season game west of the Rocky Mountains since 2014 when it visits No. 1 Oregon. The Illini have beaten three Top 25 opponents after having gone 3-40 against ranked teams since the 2008 Rose Bowl. The Ducks entered the week No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2012 and are 7-0 for the first time since 2013.
No. 24 Navy, which has been part of one of the season’s feel-good stories along with No. 23 Army, will put its unblemished record on the line when it faces No. 12 Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
BEST GAME
No. 8 LSU (6-1, 3-0 SEC) at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1, 4-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
This matchup, like many, could have major College
NUMBERS TO KNOW
7 — Consecutive seasons
Kansas State has blocked at least one punt, the longest streak in the nation.
8 — Consecutive quarters Oklahoma has not scored a touchdown.
13 — Tulane’s winning streak in regular-season conference games (AAC), longest in the nation.
81.6% — Ohio State quarterback Will Howard’s completion rate over the past two games (49 of 60).
598 — Career scrimmage touches by Rutgers fifth-year running back Kyle Monangai — all with no fumbles, according to Sportradar.
UNDER THE RADAR
Football Playoff implications by the end of the season. That particularly resonates with A&M’s 12th Man fan base, which hasn’t forgotten being left out of the four-team playoff in 2020 in favor of Notre Dame. The Aggies are looking for a second top-10 win here.
Mike Elko is off to the best start by a first-year Aggies coach since D.X. Bible went
8-0 in 1917. LSU’s roll has included narrow wins over South Carolina and Mississippi.
The home team has won each of the last seven meetings. A&M is favored by 2 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
HEISMAN WATCH
Miami’s Cam Ward keeps
building his case. His 319 yards passing against Louisville last week made him the first Hurricanes quarterback to throw for over 300 in seven consecutive games. His average of 362.6 per game leads the nation, as do his 24 touchdown passes. Next up
No. 17 Boise State (5-1, 2-0 MWC) at UNLV (6-1, 2-0), Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network) The CFP’s expansion to 12 teams guarantees a bid to the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion, and both of these teams are in the thick of the race for it. If the season ended today, Boise State would be the G5 entry based on an AP Top 25-based projection. UNLV is getting the third-most votes
1150 W. Lindsey Norman, Oklahoma 73069
Randy J. Williams | Associated Press
Texas A&M offensive lineman Ar’maj Reed-Adams (55) and running back Le’Veon Moss (8) react during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi State, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Starkville, Miss.
LSU running back Caden Durham (29) dives into the end zone for a touchdown against Arkansas during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark.
among teams outside the Top 25, and No. 23 Army and No. 24 Navy right now represent the American Athletic Conference’s best chances.
Broncos star Ashton Jeanty will be challenged by the Mountain West’s top run defense. The Rebels are bowl-eligible in consecutive seasons for the first time. Regardless of outcome, these teams could meet again Dec. 6 in the MWC title game.
HOT SEAT
Lincoln Riley won 17 of his first 20 games at Southern California; he’s lost nine of his last 14.
The Trojans have not shown themselves to be finishers during their 1-4 start in Big Ten play. The four losses are by a combined 14 points, and all in games USC held leads in the second half.
Last week’s collapse in a 29-28 loss at Maryland was egregious. The Terrapins, down 28-14 with 13 minutes left, converted two fourth downs during a touchdown drive and a two-point pass, and a blocked field goal and pass interference penalty set up the winning touchdown with 53 seconds left.
The heat will get turned up another notch if the Trojans don’t win at home against Rutgers, which has lost three straight.
Michael Woods | Associated Press
HORNING
cough the ball up multiple times inside the Sooner red zone, maybe the earth will stop spinning on its axis and deliver Sooner Nation a victory.
Otherwise, any imagined progress is bound to come in the tiniest increments because the offensive linemen OU selected in the transfer portal last offseason were either talentless hacks despite several power conference starts or simply aren’t being reached by timeless assistant Bill Bedenbaugh, whose magic may have run out or at least taken hiatus.
I have no idea what Joe Jon Finley can do his first week on the job and it’s reasonable to be concerned he might actually fare worse than Littrell.
He’s never play-called before, though he finished up as a Sooner player 17 years ago it somehow feels more like 5 or 10 and it’s hard not to worry the space between his idea of what the offense he’s inherited can
do and what it actually can could fill the Grand Canyon.
Still, if he knows his stuff at all, perhaps he can get OU out of plain dumb plays, like putting the tight ends on blocking islands, like dropping back deep to throw when the line can’t
protect at all, like even creating a small package to take advantage of Michael Hawkins’ athleticism even as Arnold remains QB1. They say when you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one, yet if the Sooner line is the Sooner line is the
Sooner line, OU probably needs two quarterbacks. It’s another idea.
Sorry.
The only thing good about where OU finds itself?
Future stars stand ready to be identified, because when it just doesn’t matter,
a walk-on receiver like Jacob Jordan can step on the field and be terrific, as he was last week, and maybe it will be somebody new today. When it just doesn’t matter, the progress bar is awfully low.
CONTINUED FROM G5
keep believing in yourself, trust the process, all of those things,” he said. “He’s a living, breathing example of what that looks like. And taking all the things that you do in practice, taking it to the game.”
The school is no stranger to walk-on success stories. Most recently Drake Stoops went from walk-on to now a practice squad member for the Los Angeles Rams at the same position Jordan plays.
Of course there’s the story of Baker Mayfield, who originally walked on at Texas Tech before transferring to OU.
“I looked up to Drake a lot and before he left for the Rams I got to train with him, and pick his brain on a couple things,” Jordan said. “I look up to Drake a lot and try to model my game after him a little bit.”
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com.
Paxson Haws | The Transcript
An OU player grabs his opponents feet as the Oklahoma Sooners competed against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19, 2024.
