The No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)take on the Houston Courgars (0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 6:45 p.m. (CT). Even though Oklahoma won the season opener against the Temple Owls convincingly, there are certainly some areas that Brent Venables and staff are looking to improve on in week two before playing a tough Tulane squad in week three.
What to watch for:
Will the Sooners pick up some momentum on the ground?
Four different running backs saw carries against the Temple Owls, and the touches were split pretty evenly between Gavin Sawchuk, Jovantae Barnes, Sam Franklin, and true freshman Taylor Tatum. Tatum was the leading rusher, carrying the ball just five times for 69 yards. He also had the only rushing touchdown of the night. I expect Oklahoma to try to establish the run game early against the Cougars, and open up the passing game for Jackson Arnold.
Will the offense take more shots down the field?
Arnold did throw four touchdown passes, but other than the 47-yard pass to Jalil Farooq, who is now out for 6-8 weeks with a broken foot, I didn’t see a lot of shots taken down field. However, that might not be something to look much into. “We didn’t push the ball down the field tonight and that was by design,” Venables said. Maybe it was a mixture of the offensive line being banged up, and also not wanting to open up the playbook too much.
The wide receiver room is a little thin right now, especially after losing Jayden Gibson for the entire season, and now Jalil Farooq for 6-8 weeks. Help is on the way, though. Brent Venables said that Nic Anderson “will be back sooner rather than later,” and Jaquaize Pettaway is expected to play after missing the first game with a hamstring injury.
Final thoughts
Oklahoma’s defense looked solid in the opener, allowing just three points and forcing six turnovers. Four of those takeaways were fumble recoveries, and Oklahoma had only recovered six fumbles all of last season.
I expect the defense to play another solid game against Houston, while the offense polishes up a few areas and looks efficient on the ground and in the air.
