Three Matchups Oklahoma Must Win Against Tennessee

The margin for error is gone for both Oklahoma and Tennessee. 

The No. 14-ranked Volunteers host the No. 18 Sooners on Saturday with both teams looking to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race. 

Both programs are 6-2 overall. All losses have come in SEC play, meaning the winner on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium will still need help to get to Atlanta. But whoever emerges victorious will be in a great position when the season’s first CFP rankings drop on Tuesday. 

Brent Venables’ defense will have its hands full yet again, this time facing Josh Heupel’s offense one week after matching wits with Lane Kiffin. 

If the Sooners win these three matchups, they’ll have a great chance to notch another legendary win in Knoxville. 

Tennessee’s defense isn’t quite Alex Grinch’s “Speed D”, but Tim Banks’ unit will look familiar to OU fans. 

Given time to work in the pocket, opposing quarterbacks have shredded the Tennessee secondary.

The Vols are allowing 266.3 passing yards per game this season, which enters the week ranked 122nd in the FBS.

Teams have been able to throw and score on Tennessee, but not due to a lack of pressure. 

The Volunteers average 3.4 sacks per game, which ranks sixth in the country. 

Dominic Bailey and Joshua Josephs have done most of the damage for Tennessee this year. Bailey leads the team with 4.5 sacks, and he’s closely followed by four sacks from Josephs. 

True freshman Ryan Fodje performed admirably last week for the Sooners. When Derek Simmons went down, he bumped from guard to right tackle to make his first-career start after working for just two days at tackle. 

Across from him, fellow true freshman Michael Fasusi protects John Mateer’s blind side. 

Saturday night, Fasusi and Fodje will face a massive test. 

Not only will they be tasked with blocking productive pass rushers, they’ll have to do it in a deafening environment. 

Regardless of whether Heath Ozaeta or Eddy Pierre-Louis starts beside Fasusi, the Sooners will start a pair of underclassmen on the left side of the line. 

If OU’s line can hold up on the edge, then Mateer should have a clear enough picture to take advantage of Tennessee’s secondary. 

If not, it could be a long night for Oklahoma. 

For their part, the Volunteer offensive line has kept quarterback Joey Aguilar clean. 

The Vols are 20th in sacks allowed per game, which has helped the offense rank third in first downs per game, third in passing offense and second in scoring offense in 2025.

Oklahoma needs star defensive end R Mason Thomas to have a good night. Add in a strong showing from Taylor Wein, who continues to grow into the season, and the Sooners could put real pressure on Aguilar. 

Wein ranks second in the SEC with 11 tackles for loss and he has 3.5 sacks through eight games. 

Lance Heard has started every game at left tackle for the Volunteers this year, and while Venables moves his defensive linemen all over the field, Wein will get plenty of chances to battle Heard on Saturday night. 

Tennessee defensive back Colton Hood missed time against Kentucky due to a reported calf injury. 

He was not listed on the availability report this week, signaling he should be good to go on Saturday. 

Isaiah Sategna, Deion Burks and Javonnie Gibson will hope to test Hood and see if there are any lingering effects from the injury. 

Burks and Sategna’s speed could be crucial if Hood is half a step slow, assuming Mateer delivers the ball on time on Saturday night. 

If the OU quarterback can’t shake off last week’s poor showing against Mississippi, it might not matter who the Vols have in the secondary. 

Mateer missed plenty of open receivers in last week’s loss to the Rebels, something he hopes to make right at Neyland Stadium.