The Oklahoma Sooners and the LSU Tigers will square off for just the fourth time ever on Saturday when OU travels to Baton Rouge for the final game of the regular season.
After a surprisingly dominant performance against the Alabama Crimson Tide last week, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ Sooners will try and win a second straight game, having ensured themselves a 13th game and a 26th-straight bowl berth.
Now [autotag]SEC[/autotag] rivals, Oklahoma and LSU have met three times in their respective histories, all in the postseason. The first meeting came in the Sugar Bowl following the 1949 season. Bud Wilkinson’s undefeated Sooners dominated the Tigers, winning by a final score of 35-0 in New Orleans.
Meeting No. 2 was a big one, as the schools squared off in the BCS National Championship Game following the 2003 season. Heisman Trophy winner [autotag]Jason White[/autotag] and the OU offense were stymied by Nick Saban’s LSU defense, as the Tigers won 21-14. That game was also played in the Sugar Bowl in the Bayou Bengals’ backyard in Louisiana. LSU split the national title with USC that year.
For the most recent meeting, we have to go back just five years. In 2019, Oklahoma and LSU met in the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] Peach Bowl semifinal in Atlanta, Georgia. Heisman runner-up [autotag]Jalen Hurts[/autotag] and CeeDee Lamb led the Sooners against Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Heisman winner Joe Burrow, and the Tigers.
Unlike the previous year’s CFP loss against Alabama, the Sooners weren’t immediately beaten badly out of the starting blocks. The game was tied 7-7 halfway through the first quarter, but the Tigers began to run away in the late first.
LSU exploded to a 35-7 lead and a 49-14 halftime advantage, as they didn’t take their foot off the gas the way Alabama had the year before. The Tigers were out for blood that day, stretching the lead as big as 56-14 in the third quarter. It was an embarrassing playoff performance for the Sooners, but LSU was simply too good.
The Tigers won 63-21 and would win it all that year, defeating Clemson (and defensive coordinator Brent Venables) in the national championship game. The stats from the semis are astounding. Jefferson had a ridiculous 14 catches for 227 yards and four touchdowns with all four scores coming in the first half. Burrow accounted for eight total touchdowns, mostly throwing jump balls or wide-open passes to his excellent receivers.
Oklahoma ran for just 97 yards, and only Lamb had more than 30 receiving yards. Two straight lackluster performances in the playoff from Oklahoma ended up being their final two appearances in the four-team version of the bracket.
Now, the teams meet in Death Valley for the first time in the regular season. Oklahoma wants to improve to 7-5 and get to a better bowl game while logging a mini-run to end a horrid 2024 season. LSU is looking to continue to rebound from a late-season slide and see where they land when bowl season comes.
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.