Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma Sooners

 It's a cool, rainy Saturday in Oklahoma to kick off The Gauntlet for the Sooners. That smug butthole Lane Kiffin and the 6-1 Ole Miss Runnin Rebels come to town to face our 6-1 Sooners. The Sooners took care of business last week against an inferior South Carolina group who, it must be noted, managed the clock worse at the end of the first half against the Sooners than the Sooners did two weeks ago against Texas.

Alas, the Sooners find themselves in terrific position, in control of their own destiny the rest of the way. Can they take care of business at home? 

OFFENSE

John Mateer looked more comfortable last week, an indicator that the thumb is fine. Turns out, going against the scout team doing skeleton drills after a couple weeks off is a sub-optimal way to prep for the Texas game. 

Importantly, the running game re-established itself against the Gamecocks. The Sooners need more of that today. They need to sustain some drives and turn field position. Tory Blaylock was great and is an emerging star. He's my OPOG.

I also have a gut feeling today might be the breakout game for Deion Burks that everyone has been waiting for.

DEFENSE

This will be as difficult a test as a Texas for this group. Importantly, the crowd will be hyped up and Jaxson Dart is not quarterbacking the Rebs.

There's really not a lot of mystery to what the Sooners gameplan will be. It's run downhill like a scald-assed ape to rush the quarterback.

Lane Kiffin will have some stuff dialed up to take advantage and they'll get some big pops I'm sure. The Sooners have to limit them to non-touchdowns and hang in there. 

This Taylor Wein, a sophomore DL, has been all the rage from the coaching staff and has been getting after it the last couple of weeks. I'll take him as my DPOG

THE SCORE

Ole Miss is efficient on offense and can score a lot of points. Enough that the Sooner offense will likely struggle to keep up in a shootout. That's not their game. The Sooners need to take care of the ball and play keep away. Get up two scores and let the defense cook. 

I'm content with ugly wins the rest of the way. Let's get one today.

Sooners 34, Ole Miss, 24

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner

Michigan Wolverines vs. Oklahoma Sooners

Welcome to a gorgeous college football Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners (1-0, 0-0) find themselves in a big time early test against a big name Michigan Wolverine squad. The Sooners are fresh off a record setting debut from John Mateer last week against the Illinois State Redbirds. 

This one is not make or break for the season or for Brent Venables. However, a win today would be a big statement and an even bigger confidence boost for the Sooners.

OFFENSE

John Mateer is a gamer. The Sooners have a QB. That's sweet relief. However, there are some questions from last week heading into this one. One, freshman phenom offensive lineman Michael Fasusi did not play last week. Will he be available today? If so will he play and can he be a difference maker? The running game, while likely vanilla, was not exactly stellar. It needs to be better to win today.

Second question. Wither Jaydn Ott? He had 1 carry last week in garbage time and went for -3 yards. Rumor has it he was "dinged up". If so, why play him at all? Is he better now and will he get some more carries today.

That said, freshman running back Tory Blaylock was dynamic with the opportunities he got last week. That guy is going to be good. Hopefully he gets some opportunities today as well.

Third question. Will we see some planned runs for Mateer? He didn't have many last week and Brent Venables admitted after the game that the gameplan across the board was very vanilla.

For my OPOG I'm going with Blaylock although it makes intuitive sense to go with Mateer. His command of the offense will ultimately be the difference maker today. 

DEFENSE

The Sooner D put up some pretty gaudy numbers last week against Illinois State, giving up roughly 150 total yards. They did get gashed in the run game early though.

Obiviously today they have to stop the run. I also expect them to try to confuse the hell out of freshman wunderkind Bryce Underwood. 

The secondary will be key and I expect them to get a couple of turnovers against the young fella.

I am, however, taking David Stone for my DPOG. I think he'll be a disrupter on the d-line and really create opportunities for the secondary to capitalize on Underwood being forced to make throws and quicker decisions.

SCORE

I think this one will be fairly low scoring. The Sooners will have a hard time getting chunk plays against the Wolverines and Michigan will also struggle due to the Sooner D dictating the action.

I like the Sooners 24-17

Boomer to the motherfuckin Sooner