The 2-0 Oklahoma Sooners are looking for their third straight win to open up the 2024 season, as they’ll be hosting the Tulane Green Wave in Norman on Saturday.
After wins against Temple and Houston, OU has plenty of questions still to answer, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Oklahoma’s poor offensive performance last Saturday has fans and experts alike predicting another tough contest this week for the Sooners.
One name on that list is 247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate, who hosts “Josh Pate’s College Football Show.” He gave his picks for possible upsets in week three and included the Sooners hosting the Green Wave.
“Tulane is in town the week before Oklahoma welcomes in Tennessee,” Pate said. “Everyone’s already looking at Tennessee at Oklahoma … There’s this this pesky little detail that Tulane is actually who you’re playing this weekend. Tulane tasted it last week, Tulane got close. Tulane in many people’s minds should have beaten Kansas State … They had a really good chance to win and it slipped through their fingertips.”
Pate went on to detail the many injuries that the Sooners are dealing with right now, especially at two important positions.
“Oklahoma is badly banged up,” Pate said. “Offensive line and wide receiver, they are badly banged up. I feel like the collective mentality from our Oklahoma folks is ‘let’s just get through this game, find a way to get through this game, maybe get some guys back and then we’ll take our chances in conference play.’ I’m not saying that’s [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ mentality, I’m saying our Oklahoma folks, that’s their mentality, and if the team’s mentality mirrors that then you could look at a fourth quarter dogfight. You could look at a fourth quarter dog fight no matter what because Tulane’s just good enough. John Sumrall is just a good enough coach, and they’ll have it dialed up here.”
Pate also made the point that converting on third downs and extending drives will be critical to the OU effort this week. The Sooners are 131st out of 134 teams in the country in third-down efficiency heading into week three, which won’t come close to getting the job done for the rest of the season.
It would be in Oklahoma’s best interest to sustain some drives on offense early in the game and let their superior talent and depth begin to lean on the Green Wave. Getting a sold-out crowd excited early with efficiency and consistency on offense could take Tulane out of the game early and avoid a dogfight in the fourth quarter again. Otherwise, the Green Wave have all they need to believe that they can pull off a big-time upset.
More: Broadcast information for Oklahoma Sooners vs. Tulane Green Wave.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.