The No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners welcome the Houston Cougars (0-1) to Norman for a Saturday evening affair. The Sooners lead the all-time series, 3-1, with their most recent win coming in 2019 in Jalen Hurts’ debut.
Since that meeting, both teams have changed coaches and conferences. However, Saturday night will make for an intriguing nonconference affair inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
The Cougars are coming off a disappointing 20-point loss to UNLV, while the Sooners beat Temple by 48. Oklahoma’s offense ranks 23rd in points per game at the Football Bowl Subdivison level, and Houston is sitting at No. 124 after Week 1.
However, the Sooners are likely to see a better team this Saturday night than the one that lost in Week 1. How will the game turn out, our team here at Sooners Wire predicts Oklahoma vs. Houston.
Sooners Wire Staff Predictions
Week 2 has arrived in Norman, and after the Sooners dispatched the Temple Owls with little resistance, they turn the page and continue to gear up for their inaugural conference schedule in the SEC.
In front of them this week at Owen Field is the Houston Cougars. Houston lost key pieces this offseason with Patrick Paul heading to the NFL and Matthew Golden transferring to the Texas Longhorns. Houston also lost convincingly to UNLV, so morale was depleted to start the season. I expect a better effort from them this week, but it will not matter.
Here’s why.
This Oklahoma team is bigger, stronger, faster and better. Improved health should help the stability and overall production of the offensive live that struggled against Temple. Bounce-back performances from some depth receivers will help the Sooners look more explosive this week.
Jackson Arnold throws for another three touchdowns, Jovantae Barnes touches pay dirt for the first time this year, and I think the Sooners’ defense forces Cougars QB Donovan Smith into a couple of turnovers. The Sooners improve from their dreadful 1 of 12 performance on third down and get closer to 45%.
Oklahoma 49, Houston 17
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