Oklahoma

Schedule Review: A Look at Oklahoma’s Opponents After Week 3

Published

1 year ago

September 15, 2024

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.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

Published

3 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

As consumer electricity needs grow, lawmakers are discussing strategies to ease the burden on landowners who don’t want the towers and wires carrying that energy on their property.

As it’s written now, the bill would require transmission owners to pay landowners $2 per foot of line annually. During the committee meeting, Murdock said he introduced the legislation to “start a conversation.”

“ This is an idea of, maybe moving forward, if the landowners are getting a royalty off of the power being pushed across their property, it may make it a little more palatable for someone to have a transmission line go across their property,” he said.

Landowners can enter into easement agreements with companies to set aside portions of their land for the builds. But in some cases, eminent domain is used to obtain a right-of-way.

“ I’m not saying that this is going to do away with eminent domain,” Murdock said. “What I’m hoping is this just makes it a little more palatable.”

Murdock said he spoke with utility companies about the legislation, though he didn’t name them. The bill’s language could change after creating an alternative rate based on conversations with the companies, he said.

Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, said the bill could raise utility rates for consumers living in Oklahoma’s most populous counties if companies charge more to make up for the annual fee.

Murdock pushed back, noting the lines are necessary to deliver electricity to other counties.

“You understand that you flip that light on because — and have that ability to have electricity because — the people in my district have a transmission line that goes across them, getting you that power,” he said.

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Published

15 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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