Week 14 of the 2024 college football season brings us the Oklahoma Sooners matching up against the LSU Tigers. OU is currently 6-5 overall and 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play, as the final week of the regular season features a key matchup in Baton Rouge.
[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team secured a 26th-straight bowl berth last week with a surprising 24-3 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Now Oklahoma is looking to guarantee a winning record this year and improve their bowl destination.
To get a second-straight win, the Sooners will need to play excellent football on the road against a very good team. The Tigers looked like one of the best teams in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] earlier this season before losses against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Florida put a damper on their season. Still, they are capable of playing with the best of the conference, getting wins over teams like Ole Miss and South Carolina earlier this year.
LSU is coming off of a bounce-back win over Vanderbilt, and it’ll be Senior Night at Tiger Stadium. They are also looking to improve their bowl game and send their seniors off with a win over a blue blood program.
Here are three keys for Oklahoma, as they try to take down the Bayou Bengals.
1. Handle the Atmosphere
Night games in Death Valley can get incredibly rowdy, and that’s exactly the environment the Sooners are walking into on Saturday night. The Tigers have one of the best homefield advantages in all of college football, and that place will be rocking.
The Sooners haven’t handled road atmospheres very well this year, with their only road win coming at Auburn. The quarterback who started that game ([autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag]) won’t be starting this week. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], who started road losses against Ole Miss and Missouri, will have to step up and lead his troops in an environment that will be way tougher than Faurot Field.
2. Another Epic Defensive Performance
The OU defense was on fire against Alabama last week, shutting down the Crimson Tide offense time and time again. One of the most explosive offenses in the conference was powerless to move the ball against [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag]’s unit.
LSU goes about things a bit differently on offense, but they’re still effective. Garrett Nussmeier isn’t a heavy run threat, but he’s thrown for nearly 3,500 yards this season. His weapons can hurt you, as the Tigers are very good at the skill positions. As per usual this season, it’ll be up to the defense to win this game.
3. New Wrinkles on Offense
The Sooners ran the ball almost at will last week, and it was effective. LSU has had a week to prepare for what Oklahoma did against Alabama, so there will have to be some new things in the playbook.
The general tone should stay the same. OU needs to run the ball, run the quarterback, hold onto the ball and shorten this game. LSU has struggled with quarterback run game, allowing Jalen Milroe and Marcel Reed to have big days against the Tigers.
That’s the primary recipe for success for this team, with all of their obvious limitations on offense. The Tigers will almost certainly load up the box this week, forcing the Sooners to throw the ball. Can Arnold do that? It’s the question that might decide this game.
Oklahoma and LSU will kick off at 6:00 p.m. from Baton Rouge, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.