Auburn

The Sooners travel to Auburn today for the first SEC road game and the first meeting against Auburn in the regular season. Auburn is down this year, but down is relative and winning on the road there will be tough. The Sooners played relatively well against Tennessee last week, at least defensively. I think game flow resulted in Tennessee playing a toned down version of their offense but the Sooners responded nevertheless. 

The biggest takeaway from last week, aside from a disappointing loss, was Jackson Arnold being benched. Venables made some uncharacteristically candid (in my opinion) comments regarding Arnold. Basically saying that he had absolutely no idea what Arnold was thinking on the RPO play where Arnold threw a backwards pass that wound up being a fumble. Venables, in so many words, said that handing off to the running back was a no-brainer choice there and on no level was a pass to the wideout even a part of the play. I'm wondering if Arnold is just wildly unprepared. He may have coasted, even dominated, on sheer talent in high school, but that clearly won't work at this level. Thus, the Sooners have made the switch to Michael Hawkins. He didn't look exceptional as a passer, but he made enough plays with his legs to inspire confidence that he might provide a spark on offense.

Offense

I've done an absolutely miserable job of even getting close here. In my defense the offense has been mostly terrible. Losing Farooq certainly hurt but we all know the real story here has been the piss poor offensive line play. Arnold is benched, we will see for how long, and Hawkins is in. I am looking for Hawkins, in a tough spot on the road, to have a solid first start. I think he keeps plays alive with his legs, makes enough throws, and keeps the defense off the field today. He's my OPG.

Defense

Stutsman! Stutsman! Stutsman! (chanting, smashing beer can on forehead, biting the head off a squirrel etc. etc.)

Score

Auburn has not done a great job of taking care of the football. The Sooners defense has done a nice job of forcing turnovers. This is the first road test of the SEC era of Sooners football. They have uncertainty at the QB position. We too have uncertainty at the QB position, coupled with a bad offensive line. Auburn is 2.5 point home dogs today. I think OU does enough today with the defense. Sooners win on the road 27-25.

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner!