A week three years in the making has finally arrived in Norman.

The eyes of the college football world will be on No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0) as the Sooners open up SEC play for the first time against No. 6 Tennessee (3-0).

College GameDay will be on hand in Norman for just the second time since 2012 to see the Sooners’ last national championship winning quarterback, Josh Heupel, lead another program onto Owen Field. 

Come 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night, Brent Venables’ team will meet its biggest test of the young season. 

The Volunteers have destroyed all challengers thus far, beating Chattanooga, NC State and Kent State by a combined score of 201-13.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava deservedly gets a lot of credit pulling the strings in Heupel’s offense, but Tennessee defensive end James Pearce Jr. may have the biggest impact on Saturday’s game. 

Pearce, who had 10 sacks a year ago, won’t have to wait long to hear his named called in the 2025 NFL Draft, and he leads one of the nation’s best defensive lines. 

Oklahoma’s offense was always going to have its hands full with the Tennessee front, but those concerns are magnified by the issues the Sooners have had in the trenches through the first three games. 

Bill Bedenbaugh’s unit has had to navigate youth and injuries, and the Sooners rolled out yet a different combination up front for a majority of the 34-19 win over Tulane. 

Redshirt freshman Heath Ozaeta was inserted at left guard, which bounced Jacob Sexton to left tackle, which helped OU’s offense improve from a lethargic performance abasing Houston. 

Quarterback Jackson Arnold rushed for 97 yards and two scores, and the offense totaled 182 yards on the ground total. 

Arnold also completed 18-of-29 passes for 169 yards and a score, though he did through a nearly catastrophic pick six that pulled Tulane within one score to start the fourth quarter. 

While Oklahoma’s offense has been a roller coaster to open the season, Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s unit has been consistently excellent. 

The Sooners contained a talented Green Wave offense, and stepped up in the fourth quarter to hold onto the lead for the second straight week. 

It was defensive tackle Gracen Halton who made the key play against Houston, a safety that effectively ended the game. 

Last Saturday, it was defensive end R Mason Thomas’ turn.

He took over the fourth quarter, tracking down Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah for three sacks, one of which was a strip sack where Thomas also recovered the fumble, and he also batted a ball down at the line of scrimmage to force a fourth-and-15.

Heupel’s Tennessee offense will be an entirely different animal for OU’s defense, however. 

Iamaleava has had plenty of time to throw behind an experienced offensive line, and he’s completed 48-of-57 passes for 698 yards, six scores and two interceptions. The redshirt freshman has also run for 102 yards and a score on 17 carries in 2024. 

Saturday’s SEC debut for the Sooners will be broadcast on ABC. 

The Tennessee Titans have suffered back-to-back losses to begin the Brian Callahan era after falling to the New York Jets in Nashville on Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdowns and the Jets stopped the Titans at the goal line in the game’s final seconds as New York held on for a 24-17 win.

Titans quarterback Will Levis went 19 of 28 passing for 192 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed four carries for 38 yards and lost a fumble. Tennessee receiver Calvin Ridley finished with four catches for 77 yards and two total touchdowns.

The Jets were led by their running backs. Rookie Braelon Allen had seven carries for 33 yards and the go-ahead 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He also caught a 12-yard score in the second quarter. New York star running back Breece Hall had 14 carries for 62 yards to go along with seven catches for 52 yards and a 26-yard score.

Levis led a scoring drive during Tennessee’s second possession of the game, as Ridley took an end-around 10 yards to the end zone to put the Titans up 7-0 early.

The Titans were primed to add on to this after the defense forced another Jets punt, but Levis committed an inexcusable turnover for the second straight week. On 3rd and goal, he attempted to flip the ball back to Tyjae Spears as he was getting sacked. He would’ve been better off going down, as Spears was unable to catch the ball as the Jets recovered the fumble.

After a third straight Jets punt, Levis tossed an interception on a deep pass intended for Treylon Burks. This gave Rodgers and the offense life, as he led a scoring drive that ended with the touchdown pass to Allen.

Tennessee added a field goal and led 10-7 at halftime.

The Jets flipped the script to start the second half. Hall scored on the first drive of the third quarter before New York blocked a Titans punt a few plays later, which led to a field goal. The Jets suddenly had a 14-10 lead.

Levis responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Ridley. The two teams then traded punts on four straight possessions headed into the fourth quarter.

Once the Jets got the ball back, Rodgers made the Titans pay, leading a seven-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Allen’s go-ahead 20-yard score with 4:31 left in the game.

The Titans put together a 13-play drive looking to tie the game but Levis’ pass to Tyler Boyd fell incomplete on 4th and goal.

Tennessee will look to avoid an 0-3 start next week in a reunion game vs. Malik Willis and the Green Bay Packers.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dylan Sampson rushed for 101 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first half — to lead No. 7 Tennessee to a 71-0 victory over Kent State on Saturday night.

It was Sampson’s fourth straight game, dating back to last season’s Citrus Bowl game, in which he rushed for over 100 yards.

“(Sampson) has great vision and great pace,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “He presses the line of scrimmage and is elusive in space.”

“You can only control what you’ve got in the moment,” said Sampson. “That’s the way you find out who you are. The (running back) position is all about grit.”

DeSean Bishop added 120 rushing yards and two TDs in the first half for the Volunteers (3-0). They led 65-0 at halftime, the largest point total in one half in school history. The 71 points are the most in modern-era school history.

The Golden Flashes (0-3) generated just 23 total yards in the first half. They were offered to have a running clock in the second half but declined.

“That is not who we are as a team or a culture,” Kent State coach Kenni Burns said of the clock adjustment. “I talked to the captains about it and they said absolutely not.”

Heupel refused to comment about the decision.

Tennessee rolled up 37 points in the first quarter, the most in one quarter in school history. In those first 15 minutes, there was a safety, two snaps over the Kent State quarterback’s head and an onside kick that the Vols recovered.

“We have a really young football team,” said Burns. “There was an obvious mismatch in personnel. We did not knock the ball down when we had the chance to.”

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was 10 of 16 for 173 yards and a touchdown with 31 yards rushing.

“We still have a lot more to improve on,” Iamaleava said. “Every day we want to be 1% better.”

The Tennessee defense has gone 16 quarters — dating back to the bowl game — without giving up a touchdown.

THE TAKEAWAY

Kent State: Coach Kenni Burns’ primary task this week with his team will be to keep the game with Tennessee and the upcoming matchup with Penn State in perspective. The Golden Flashes are young. Being overmatched by a Top 10 team can be used as a growth opportunity, rather than something that will impede progress or cause frustration.

Tennessee: Last week’s lopsided win over North Carolina State came with its share of mistakes. The Vols used the game with Kent State to clean up those concerns before they are tested in their first true road game against No. 15 Oklahoma. Iamaleava threw the first two interceptions of his career last week. He was able to make better decisions against Kent State.

UP NEXT

Kent State: The Golden Flashes have one of the toughest two-week stretches in the nation. After enduring a very loud and intimidating crowd at Tennessee, they will be in another hostile environment next Saturday at No. 8 Penn State.

Tennessee: After getting through their three tune-ups with flying colors, the Vols will visit coach Josh Heupel’s alma mater No. 15 Oklahoma in the Sooners’ first-ever Southeastern Conference game.

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