Tag: Jackson Arnold

Sooners Wire staff predictions for Oklahoma Sooners vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Sooners Wire staff predictions for the pivotal week four matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Tennessee Volunteers.

It’s the start of something special. The Oklahoma Sooners host the Tennessee Volunteers under the lights in an SEC showdown featuring a pair of top-15 teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

The Tennessee Volunteers come to Norman with the No. 1 ranked offense in the country after three games. They also have the No. 3 scoring defense in the nation, creating quite the challenge for the Oklahoma Sooners.

OU is getting healthier at the right time, potentially adding two veterans to their offensive line and big-time pass catchers on the outside.

So, what does that mean for the Oklahoma Sooners this week as they take on the Tennessee Volunteers in week four? Our staff here at Sooners Wire is split on picking the winner.

Here’s a look at this week’s Sooners Wire Staff Predictions!

Sooners Wire Staff Predictions

Oklahoma suffers their first loss of the season, as Tennessee wins a close battle on Owen Field.

OU’s defense has another strong performance, holding the Vols offense to field goals on multiple drives. However, the Sooners’ offense is unable to string enough drives together to put points on the board to get the job done.

Both quarterbacks show flashes of greatness, but Nico Iamaleava has more help at this point in the season than [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] does.

OU shows plenty of fight but comes up short. However, one loss to a top-10 team doesn’t doom the College Football Playoff hopes for Oklahoma, with plenty of games left on the schedule to make a statement to the CFP committee.

I believe Tennessee is a playoff-worthy team this season and is a little more balanced than the Sooners are right now.

Tennessee 30, Oklahoma 21

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Previewing Oklahoma quarterback, former Vols’ target Jackson Arnold

Previewing Oklahoma quarterback and former Vols’ target Jackson Arnold ahead of the Tennessee game in Week 4.

Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold is in his second season at Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound signal-caller has completed 54-of-86 passing attempts for 484 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions through three games against Temple, Houston and Tulane in 2024.

He also totaled 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 36 attempts.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed Arnold ahead of the Vols’ SEC opener at Oklahoma on Saturday.

“In general, he takes great care of the football,” Heupel said. “I think he has great command and presence in what they are doing offensively. He has the ability to use his feet to make things right. That can be when the pocket breaks down, designed quarterback run or read game. He is a really talented young player.”

The Sooners offered Arnold a scholarship on Dec. 10, 2021 and he committed to Oklahoma on Jan. 24, 2022. Tennessee offered a scholarship to Arnold on Aug. 19, 2021.

Arnold is from Guyer High School in Denton, Texas.

Saturday’s SEC opener between No. 7 Tennessee (3-0) and No. 13 Oklahoma (3-0) is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT (ABC).

PHOTOS: Tennessee starting quarterbacks through the years

Jackson Arnold (11) Nathan J. Fish/USA TODAY Network

College Football Expert coming to Norman for Sooners vs. Tennessee

Josh Pate of 247Sports will be in Norman for Oklahoma vs. Tennessee.

Norman, Oklahoma, is the epicenter of college football this week. One of the biggest home games in recent memory for the Oklahoma Sooners has all of the storylines you could possibly imagine.

No. 15 OU (3-0) will host the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (3-0) in the program’s first conference game as a member of the Southeastern Conference on Saturday night. While both teams are undefeated, the Sooners have stumbled offensively early this year, escaping close calls the last two weeks with lesser opponents. On the other hand, the Volunteers have been mightily impressive all three weeks, sandwiching a ranked win over North Carolina State in between blowouts over Chattanooga and Kent State.

“College GameDay” will be in town for the biggest game of the week, and ESPN and the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] gave the game a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff slot for “The SEC on ABC” showcase and the lead broadcast crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe on the call for “Saturday Night Football” in Week 4.

Tennessee head coach [autotag]Josh Heupel[/autotag] is OU’s most recent national championship winning quarterback and served as an assistant coach for ten years under former head coach [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag]. The final four years of his time in Norman came as the offensive coordinator, before he was fired following the 2014 season. Heupel has rebounded extremely well, becoming the head coach at UCF in 2018 before taking his current gig in 2021. He’s in the midst of Year 4 in Knoxville, and he has done an excellent job of reviving the program on Rocky Top.

Oklahoma head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was the co-defensive coordinator on that 2000 national championship team that Heupel helped lead to a title, and the two coached together for seven years on Stoops’ staff. They know each other very well, with Heupel an offensive guru and Venables a defensive mastermind. Venables is entering Year 3 in Norman. He was brought in to lead OU’s transition to the SEC after coaching the defenses at Clemson for two national titles in the 2010s.

Starting quarterbacks [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and Nico Imaleavea are former five-star prospects in the 2023 class who are in the midst of their first seasons as full-time starters after waiting behind veterans last season. Saturday will mark the fifth career start for each young, talented QB.

Add that both teams run very similar offensive schemes and have shown off remarkable defenses over the past three weeks and you’ve got a doozy on your hands.

In case that wasn’t enough, there’s one more name that has decided he can’t miss Oklahoma-Tennessee.

247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate, who hosts “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” will make his first trip to an OU home game on Saturday. Pate famously tours the country, going to the biggest college football game of the week every week. For Week 4, he’s taking his “Whole New Saturday Tour” to Norman to watch the Sooners battle the Volunteers.

One of the biggest games of the entire college football season is almost here. It’s a massive opportunity on a nationally televised stage for the Sooners to make their first big statement as a member of the SEC.

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Oklahoma Sooners get a bump in ESPN’s updated power rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners found a way to pull away against the Tulane Green Wave and earned a bump in ESPN’s latest power rankings.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 3-0 in 2024 with another strong effort on the defensive side of the ball and an improved offensive performance from the week before.

Though Tulane pulled within five points on the Jackson Arnold interception returned for a touchdown, the Sooners were, by and large, in control of that game from start to finish.

When the score drew close, the Sooners took over.

[autotag]Arnold[/autotag] had another efficient day throwing the ball but showed off his athleticism, speed and ability to run the read-option to spark Oklahoma’s ground attack.

After the Sooners win, OU moved up to No. 15 in ESPN’s latest power rankings.

Seeing Arnold have some success with his legs is a plus for the Sooners. He finished with 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns and also passed for 169 yards and a touchdown. The real season (and SEC season) starts next week for Oklahoma when Tennessee and its high-powered offense travel to Norman. The Sooners will need their best defensive effort of the season. – Chris Low, ESPN

Facing a Tennessee Volunteers team currently No. 1 in the nation in points per game and No. 3 in the nation in points allowed per game, the Sooners will need their very best effort Saturday night.

Tennessee is the best team Oklahoma has seen by a lot in 2024. On the flip side, the Sooners are the best team that the Vols have faced so far this season.

It’s a phenomenal matchup between two top 15 teams, and it has a chance to be one of the best games of the year.

More: New No. 1 in this week’s SEC Power Rankings

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Bob Stoops calls Josh Heupel the ‘MVP of all my recruits’ ahead of top 15 matchup

Bob Stoops doesn’t want to be the focus of what will be a great matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night.

This is a monumental week in Oklahoma Football history. It marks the Sooners’ first conference game in the SEC. It’s a top-15 matchup. ESPN “College GameDay” will be in town to mark the occasion, as will CBSSports/247Sports’ college football analyst Josh Pate. Former five-star quarterbacks [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and Nico Iamaleava will face off for the first time in their collegiate careers.

The game means a ton for both teams’ College Football Playoff chances. A win will set either team up for a strong season. A loss will force the other back to the drawing board.

But it’s an important week for another reason, as it will mark the return of former national championship-winning quarterback and offensive coordinator [autotag]Josh Heupel[/autotag].

And with the hype building for this primetime matchup between the Oklahoma Sooner and Tennessee Volunteers, Former Oklahoma Football head coach [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] is taking himself out of the equation.

Citing a strong relationship with both head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and his former quarterback Heupel, Stoops shared on X that he won’t be doing any interviews in the buildup to the top-15 affair.

“All attention needs to be on those two coaches and their programs,” Stoops posted on social media. “I have great respect for both coaches. I’m grateful for their great work here at OU; Brent as a coach here for 13 years, including our national championship in 2000. Josh, as our 2000 national championship QB and coach for 10 years. I’ve often said he is the MVP of all my recruits because he was the catalyst that go(t) us started in ’99.”

Heupel’s arrival in 1999, alongside Stoops’ coaching staff, which included Venables, helped kickstart the introduction of the Air Raid offense that has taken over college football. Heupel’s success running the offense at OU took the nation by storm in 2000, leading Oklahoma to their seventh national championship and earning a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist.

Though his time as offensive coordinator ended after the 2014 season, Heupel’s legacy has endured long after. Though his an Oklahoma’s focus will be on what happens between the stripes on Saturday, it’s hard to imagine there won’t be some emotions this weekend as well.

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3 Stars from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over Tulane

Which Sooners earned one of our 3 stars from Oklahoma’s 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave?

Saturday was a more significant win than it should have been for the Oklahoma Sooners, not because of the opponent or because the game had some stakes tied to it. However, internally, the Sooners had to answer a few questions.

The Sooners won 34-19 at home to wrap up this portion of their nonconference schedule. Now OU begins SEC play when they host the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers next week.

Several players stood out from the Sooners win and here are this week’s three stars of the game.

1. R Mason Thomas, EDGE

On Saturday, the best player on the field was R Mason Thomas.

Thomas has spent his first two years in Norman, adding mass to his frame while fighting injuries. His development has impressed coaches, but we’d yet to see it come to fruition.

Coming into the season, it felt like now or never for him, and in this third game of the 2024 season, Thomas stepped up and provided good pressure throughout the game, coming up with three pivotal sacks and a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the most critical time of the game.

His calling card is winning with speed and he did just that on Saturday afternoon. He showed good awareness, being able to change his rush approach after the snap to go from working outside to working inside. He has added a few other tricks to his bag to win more regularly.

Thomas was Pro Football Focus highest-graded Power Four edge rusher among players with at least 15 snaps for week three.

OU has been desperate for a star-caliber pass rusher, and Thomas has the ability to fill that void.

2. Jackson Arnold, QB

When you think about Jackson Arnold,  it’s important to know his performances week in and week out will be compared (fairly or unfairly) to his predecessors.

OU’s last decade of QB play is an unreal group of players to live up to. If a guy playing that position struggles in the slightest, it feels underwhelming to the fan base. In a nutshell, that’s where parts of the OU fanbase are at with Arnold. But on Saturday, he played his best game as the Sooners’ QB to this point.

No gaudy numbers were amassed as he had under 200 yards passing, but he also carried the ball 14 times for 97. He was efficient, on target, and largely made good decisions. The one big strike against him was the pick-six he threw.

He looked comfortable out there, and even when the game got tight late in the third and into the fourth, he helped calmly orchestrate a couple of drives to ice it. His biggest test of the season and his career comes next week against OU’s first SEC foe, Tennessee.

3. Heath Ozaeta, OL

Oklahoma’s much-maligned offensive line needed to put together a solid performance as starters Branson Hickman and Jake Taylor continued to nurse injuries.

Heath Ozaeta had a good offseason dating back to the spring. With the aforementioned injuries, an opportunity for him to showcase his skills opened up, and alongside Jacob Sexton, he owned it.

There were some really encouraging moments and also some snaps where he missed a linebacker blitzing that he and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh will have to clean up, but the run game was more productive than it was a week ago.

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Sooners’ defense earns praise from Tulane coach after win

Oklahoma improved to 3-0 with a 15-point win over Tulane.

The Oklahoma Sooners can finally turn their attention to Southeastern Conference play, as they stayed undefeated in Week 3. OU topped the Tulane Green Wave, 34-19, winning another nonconference game at home.

Their defense once again led the Sooners, as OU’s best unit gave up just 13 points. But Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall was impressed with his opponent across the board.

George Stoia, who covers Oklahoma for SoonerScoop and On3 Sports, took to social media to share Sumrall’s comments about the Sooners after the game.

“Oklahoma’s looked like one of the best defenses I’ve seen,” Sumrall said. “I think it’s a very legitimate [autotag]SEC[/autotag] outfit defensively. And really, offensively there’s weapons that you can tell they’re finding themselves in some areas, but the quarterback ([autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]) is talented. No. 6 ([autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag]) is a real guy. No. 10 ([autotag]Bauer Sharp[/autotag]) I think, is a real special player.”

Sumrall continued to praise OU’s defense, highlighting one player in particular.

“They’ve got good players, and their defense is really good. The interior d-line and their linebacker group, I think is elite just watching them. I thought No. 28 ([autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag]) – I recruited 28 when I was at Kentucky, and he’s a dude. He plays like a grown man.”

Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has brought defense back to Norman. The Sooners still have a long list of things to figure out before next week’s game, but the program is beginning to take the identity of their leader on the defensive side of the football.

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Best Photos from Oklahoma Sooners win over Tulane Green Wave

A look at some fantastic photos from the Oklahoma Sooners 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 3-0 on the season with a 34-19 win over the Tulane Green Wave.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half before Tulane began to find some offense at the end of the first thirty minutes. But Oklahoma’s defense found their footing after Tulane opened the second with a touchdown drive.

It wasn’t pretty, but Oklahoma came away with the win and they looked a lot better on offense than they did a week ago against Houston. Jackson Arnold and R Mason Thomas helped seal the deal late in the fourth quarter and the Sooners stay undefeated to start the 2024 season.

There’s still a lot to clean up before Tennessee comes to town.

Here are some of the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over Tulane.

Oklahoma to play host to ESPN ‘College GameDay’

When the Oklahoma Sooners welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to town next Saturday, the matchup will be featured on ESPN College GameDay.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Tennessee Volunteers will meet in one week as a pair of undefeated top-15 teams (Vols are beating Kent State 68-0 at the time of this writing).

It will be the Sooners’ first conference game in the SEC. It will also be a matchup of two former five-star quarterbacks when [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and Nico Iamaleava take the field in Norman.

The Volunteers coming to town also marks the return of former offensive coordinator and national champion quarterback Josh Heupel.

With a number of storylines ahead of the Week 4 matchup, the Oklahoma Sooners will also host ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

The Tennessee Volunteers have looked great to start the 2024 season and are the No. 2 offense in the country. They have a quality win over N.C. State, which was ranked in the top 25 during the Vols week two win.

Oklahoma’s 3-0 isn’t going to earn them many style points, but it has put on display a defense that’s looking really good. But the Tennessee offense will provide its biggest test to date and possibly in the entire 2024 season.

The game is a week away and it’s already a highly anticipated showdown. ESPN assigned it for the prime-time window, which will be Oklahoma’s third prime-time game in four weeks of 2024.

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Sooners defense steps up in the fourth, Oklahoma beats Tulane Green Wave 34-19

The Oklahoma defense came up big in the second half and the Sooners beat Tulane 34-19 to move to 3-0.

Oklahoma needed another strong defensive effort in the second half, but they came through, and the Sooners beat the Tulane Green Wave 34-19 to move to 3-0 on the season.

Tulane started with the ball, but the Sooners forced a three-and-out to give Oklahoma’s much-maligned offense a chance to find some early momentum.

After the Sooners failed to score over their final eight drives against Houston, they got off to a nice start against Tulane, marching down the field on a methodical 14-play scoring drive. Oklahoma converted three third downs on the drive, each of them coming with less than five yards to go to get the first. The longest play of the drive was a 12-yard catch and run by Jovantae Barnes.

The drive culminated with a tough [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] one-yard touchdown drive.

Oklahoma and Tulane traded punts for the next five drives, but the Sooners missed out on points when the kicking operation took too long to get set up and drew a flag for delay of game. Oklahoma was forced once again to punt.

Punter [autotag]Luke Elzinga[/autotag] pinned the Green Wave inside their own 10-yard line, and the Sooners defense forced another three-and-out.

The Sooners then came through with another 7-play scoring drive to take a 14-0 lead. OU didn’t face a third down on the drive, and true freshman running back [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag] scored the first touchdown of his Sooners career on a nine-yard reception for the score.

After Tulane missed a field goal, the Sooners took over and had another efficient drive, going six plays for 67 yards, with Tatum picking up his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run. Jackson Arnold showed off his wheels with a 47-yard run on a read-option to open the drive and put the Sooners in scoring range in an instant.

The Green Wave then followed it up with a clock-eating 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took a really nice throw from backup quarterback Ty Thompson and an incredible catch from Reggie Brown to get on the board. Tulane missed the extra point so the Sooners went into halftime up 21-6.

After halftime, it was a different ball game. The Green Wave held the Sooners to a field goal on their opening drive of the half. On Oklahoma’s third and seven from the Tulane eight-yard line, Jackson Arnold was sacked for a three-yard loss. It forced the Sooners to settle for a field goal. The way the drive ended would signal what the Sooners offense would look like for their next four drives.

The running game couldn’t get going, and the offensive line struggled with Tulane’s pressure packages.

The Green Wave cut the score to 21-13 on their first drive of the second half, finding some explosive plays in the passing game. It was aided by a questionable pass interference call on safety Robert Spears-Jennings, but the Green Wave were able to take advantage.

The Sooners and Green Wave traded punts as the offensive line struggled to contain Tulane’s blitz packages.

Facing a first and 15 after an illegal formation penalty on Michael Tarquin, left guard Heath Ozaeta released a Green Wave linebacker who ran right up the middle and put pressure on Arnold. Arnold avoided the pressure and tried to throw a ball to Deion Burks, but Tulane linebacker Tyler Grubbs stepped in front of the pass for a pick six to cut Oklahoma’s lead to five.

The punters continued to do incredible work as Brent Venables and Jon Sumrall tried to play the field position game. But Tulane got the ball with just over 10 minutes to go in the game. The Sooners defense stepped up before forcing a fourth and one attempt from Tulane. Darian Mensah faced the run and dropped back to pass, but his attempt to hit the slant was disrupted by cornerback Kani Walker, who knocked the ball into the air and after it went through linebacker Kobie McKinzie’s hands, Billy Bowman came up with the interception.

The Sooners responded with a four-play 43-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a Jackson Arnold 24-yard touchdown run, his second of the game. Arnold had to break multiple tackles to get in the end zone.

With Tulane attempting to move the ball to try and come back in the game on, the Oklahoma Sooners defense stepped up and shut the door. Defensive end R Mason Thomas had three sacks on the final two drives, including a strip sack and fumble recovery.

OU’s defense came through on fourth down twice in the final minutes to seal the game once again for the Sooners.

Despite the interception returned for a touchdown, Jackson Arnold had a nice afternoon for the Sooners. Though he failed to throw for more than 200 yards once again in 2024, he ran for 97 yards on 14 carries. He would have had 100 yards, but took time off the clock to kneel on the ball so that the Sooners could avoid snapping it again, taking a three-yard loss on the final play of the game.

Arnold finished the night 18 of 29 for 169 yards, one passing touchdown, two rushing touchdowns, 97 yards rushing, and one interception.

[autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag] was really good once again. He had seven receptions for 80 yards to lead the way for a dinged-up receiving corps. Other than a drop on a critical third down, Burks showed off his catch and run ability through the game.

[autotag]Bauer Sharp[/autotag] was second on the team in receiving with four receptions for 28 yards. Offensive coordinator Seth Littrell made a concerted effort to get the tight ends and running backs involved in the passing game and they caught nine of Arnold’s 18 completions.

The defense held the Green Wave to 13 points and came through once again in critical moments. Senior linebacker Danny Stutsman led the way with 12 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. Robert Spears-Jennings had seven tackles, including six solo, and 0.5 tackles for loss.

The Sooners won the turnover battle once again, the third time that’s happened this season, and held a really good Tulane offense to just 279 yard of total offense. Oklahoma held the Green Wave to just 3.1 yards per carry for the game.

The Sooners are now 3-0 on the season as they get ready to welcome the high-flying Tennessee Volunteers to Norman next Saturday night in primetime.

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