The Oklahoma Sooners kick off their season in a unique way in 2024. Instead of the traditional Saturday game, OU will host the Temple Owls on Friday night to get things rolling this year. The game will begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. The Sooners, Owls, ESPN, and the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] all agreed to the change, which allows Oklahoma’s first official game as a member of the SEC to be highlighted on Labor Day weekend.
Oklahoma enters Year 3 under head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and will be looking to start strong with bigger fish to fry later on the schedule. Still, overlooking any opponent in the unpredictable world of college football would be a mistake, so here are three keys for the Sooners as they welcome the Owls to Norman.
1. Execution
Oklahoma has more talent than Temple. Plain and simple. The Sooners would have to be way off their game to lose this one, but, nothing in college football is guaranteed.
The most important thing coaches want to see on Friday night is execution of offense, defense, and special teams. Sure, the occasional procedural penalties will come with the first game of the new season, but all three units need to show high-level execution this week.
As Oklahoma breaks in new coordinators on all three units and plenty of newcomers will be playing their first game at OU, it’s impossible to expect perfection. But mistakes on offense, missed assignments on defense, and mishaps on special teams shouldn’t (and won’t) be tolerated.
2. Avoid Turnovers
Going hand-in-hand with execution is avoiding turnovers. No FBS team forced fewer turnovers than Temple last season, with just five total takeaways. The Owls only intercepted opposing quarterbacks three times and return zero players who registered a pick in 2023.
Turnovers plagued Oklahoma in their loss against Arizona in December’s Alamo Bowl. They’ve had nine months to work out the kinks, but fans will have their eyes on the turnover numbers all season long.
Sacks should also be mentioned here. Perhaps the biggest difference between the 2022 Temple defense and the 2023 Temple defense was the pass rush. That was a clear strength two seasons ago when the Owls registered 38 sacks, but that number went down to 22 last year. OU’s rebuilt offensive line knows that this is the first of 12 chances to prove everyone who doubted them this offseason wrong. A clean sheet against Temple would be a great start.
3. Stay Healthy
Perhaps the biggest thing fans and coaches will want to see on Friday night is the Sooners walk away as healthy as they can be after the game. Oklahoma is a little banged up coming into the season. Several players are dealing with injuries.
Aside from wide receiver [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag]’s season-ending injury, none of the other players seem to be out for the year at this point, and most are day-to-day. However, the last thing OU needs is more players going down with anything more that bumps and bruises. Health will be the most important factor to keep track of during the game.
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.
