Oklahoma
Schedule Review: A Look at Oklahoma’s Opponents After Week 3
Temple
Temple is still looking for its first win of 2024 three weeks into the season. Most recently, the Owls got the closest they’ve gotten so far in a 28-20 loss to Coastal Carolina in Temple’s home opener on Saturday. Temple was unable to overcome a 14-0 deficit to start the game.
After losing to Oklahoma in Week 1, Temple then lost to Navy 38-11. Next, the Owls stay home to play Utah State in search of their first win.
Houston
Like Temple, Houston is still trying to tally its first victory of the young season. However, the Cougars ended up being handed a pretty daunting start. Even before a trip to the SEC-bound Sooners, Houston lost to UNLV 27-7 in Week 1. Fast forward, and UNLV is now 3-0 after just beating Kansas on Friday night. Saturday night was the Cougars worst loss so far – a 33-7 embarrassment to Rice at home. Houston will now start Big 12 play at Cincinnati at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Tulane
We all know what happened to Tulane on Saturday in Norman. If not, read more of Sooners on SI.
The Green Wave went to Norman 1-2 after nearly upsetting a top-20 Kansas State team the week before at home. Tulane led 20-10 at halftime before dropping the game 34-27. The Green Wave beat Southeast Louisiana 52-0 Week 1.
Things likely get easier for Tulane here on out with conference play starting. The Green Wave gets Louisiana first in AAC action.
Tennessee
Tennessee comes to Norman next. And the Volunteers are rolling under former OU quarterback Josh Heupel.
The No. 7 Volunteers have outscored opponents 191-13 so far. That includes a 51-10 beat down of then-No. 24 NC State Week 2. Most recently, they thumped Kent State 71-0 on Saturday night.
How impressive Tennessee has been, plus the storylines of Heupel’s return and OU’s inaugural SEC game, has garnered enough national attention to attract ESPN College GaneDay to Norman on Saturday morning. The game will then be under the lights at Memorial Stadium at 6:30 p.m.
Auburn
The sky was falling for a week at Auburn, and a victory over a winless New Mexico team on Saturday might not have really fixed anything.
The Tigers handled New Mexico 45-19, but the week before that they lost to California 21-14 at home. Week 1 was another beatdown but against Alabama A&M.
The loss to Cal led Auburn to go with freshman Hank Brown at quarterback on Saturday. He was 17-of-25 for 235 yards and four TDs compared to no interceptions in his first start. So when OU goes to Auburn in a few weeks, it looks like for the first time in his career, Jackson Arnold will be the most experienced QB on the field.
But before hosting the Sooners, the Tigers welcome Arkansas on Saturday.
Texas
The Longhorns might be the only SEC team hotter than Tennessee right now. A battle between the UTs for an SEC title and the sole possessor of the acronym would be fun.
Texas handled Colorado State 52-0 Week 1 before going into the Big House and embarrassing then-No. 10 Michigan 31-12. This week, UTSA was the victim, 56-7. Do the math, and the Longhorns have outscored their opponents 139-19 through three weeks.
Unlike OU, though, Texas still won’t start its SEC journey this week. The Longhorns will host Louisiana Monroe at 7 p.m. Saturday before getting Mississippi State the next week.
South Carolina
South Carolina was oh-so-close to upending No. 16 LSU on Saturday but instead dropped to 2-1.
After starting the season against Old Dominion, the Gamecocks have already played two SEC games, handling Kentucky 31-6 before losing to LSU 36-33 on Saturday while hosting GameDay.
The Gamecocks go back to nonconference play next, though, hosting Akron at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Ole Miss
OK, so Ole Miss might be just as hot as Tennessee and Texas but hasn’t had as tough of a test yet.
The Rebels outscored their three nonconference opponents 168-9. Their biggest challenge, though, was Wake Forest, which Ole Miss beat 40-6 on Saturday. The other two were Furman and Middle Tennessee State. And that soft schedule only continues for the Rebels with Georgia Southern upcoming.
Maine
Speaking of easy matchups.
Maine beat Colgate 17-14 Week 1 before dropping its next two games to Montana State and Monmouth. OU is the only FBS opponent on Maine’s schedule. But the Sooners will definitely need this break in the midst of an SEC gauntlet.
Missouri
And back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Missouri is another undefeated top-10 team from the SEC ahead of OU. Mizzou most recently slipped past No. 24 Boston College 27-21 on Saturday in Columbia. That was the first time this season the Tigers gave up a point after shutting out Murray State and Buffalo.
Next, Missouri hosts Vanderbilt.
Alabama
Alabama looked vulnerable after Week 2, but then thumped an undefeated Wisconsin team 42-10 on Saturday. Before that, the Crimson Tide struggled early in a 42-16 win over South Florida.
The Crimson Tide now get a week off before the granddaddy of SEC matchups – Georgia at Alabama at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
LSU
LSU has bounced back with two straight wins after losing its season opener to USC, 27-20. The Tigers came back from a 17-0 hole, though, to get by South Carolina 36-33 on Saturday.
The Tigers will go back to nonconference play next and play UCLA, which is, uhh, in L.A., like USC.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
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