Tell me about ou

[utexas8 1433]

I only watched bits and pieces. OU couldn’t move the ball. Every time I saw Tennessee had it, it was 3 and out. OU defense legit? Tennessee offense not as good as advertised? Tennessee D seemed legit too or OU offense was just that horrible.

Anyway after watching Tennessee play I don’t think they can beat Georgia.

[LTtxfan 48722]

blOU defense is legit.  Injuries in OL and at WR along with poor play by Arnold hurting blOU.   Their bye week before Texas couldn't come at a better time...

[Duane Moore 5236]

I’ll be interested in seeing their injury report after this game. Tennessee beat the hell out of them last night, and that field did them no favors. 

[closetojumping 62010]

OU has absurd injury issues at this point. 

-They lost Dolby (cheetah starter, kind of like a bad version of Barron) for the season and maybe ever with a dislocated ankle.

-Burks left the game and is rumored on their 247 board to have a season ending issue. No idea if valid but the dude is hurt with a lower leg injury and that nullifies his overrated value. 

-Anderson severely reinjured his quad and may be done for the year. 

-Anthony isn’t playable because he’s a shadow of his former self. 

-Tatum has a neck injury or concussion or both. 

-Terry has a vagina and has now been helped off the field more times this season than they’ve played games. It’s hilarious. 

-Jayden Jackson has a shoulder injury. 

-Danny Stutsman has a weird head injury that causes him to disappear from within 5 yards of the LOS in big games. Dude had 3 tackles last night and Tennessee literally ran the ball 50 times. 

-Oh and now they’ve sunsetted their previously perceived savior at QB for a true freshman who looks like an Alex Orji starter kit. Venables wouldn’t commit to either QB in the postgame press conference and might be cooking up a divisive QB controversy if we’re really lucky.  If I’m Arnold’s helicopter parents, I’m pulling him from school now and connecting with the folks at North Texas regarding guarantees for next season. 

[closetojumping 62010]

6 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

blOU defense is legit.  Injuries in OL and at WR along with poor play by Arnold hurting blOU.   Their bye week before Texas couldn't come at a better time...

An off week is still after Auburn and won’t be fixing season ending injuries. 

People claiming the “OU defense is legit” didn’t pay any attention to what Heupel decided to do last night. 

[Pdawg88 1107]

Our defense is good, not great. 

[Elmer_Fudd 22021]

16 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

-Terry has a vagina and has now been helped off the field more times this season than they’ve played games. It’s hilarious. 

Took notes from Walter Nolan I see.

[speed817 18919]

 

[LTtxfan 48722]

⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆

 

Thanks for this @ajax

 

 

 

[D3zii 3614]

Hawkins is going to be good. Poor mans Kyler Murray minus the deep ball. But they won’t do much due to the offensive line. They have good pieces though. 

Im happy people see Arnold is not that good. They really thought he was better than Arch and on the same level as Ewers

OU’s defense is good! I do believe Josh Heupel did not want to blow OU out cause I believe Tennessee could have won by more. 

I think Tennessee can play with Georgia. They are physical and fast. Say what you want but they can play with the Georgia team I seen against Kentucky. I don’t think Nico as of now can beat them though but that will be a great game. 

Edited September 22 by D3zii

[Cajun 11659]

Arnold = it's piss

[Mitch Cumsteen 18351]

5 minutes ago, D3zii said:

Hawkins is going to be good. Poor mans Kyler Murray minus the deep ball. But they won’t do much due to the offensive line. They have good pieces though. 

Im happy people see Arnold is not that good. They really thought he was better than Arch and on the same level as Ewers

OU’s defense is good! I do believe Josh Heupel did not want to blow OU out cause I believe Tennessee could have won by more. 

I think Tennessee can play with Georgia. They are physical and fast. Say what you want but they can play with the Georgia team I seen against Kentucky. I don’t think Nico as of now can beat them though but that will be a great game. 

Good pieces? Where? Certainly not on offense. Atrocious line, a dearth of game breakers at rb or wr, and they don’t even have their typical versatile H or TE that they move around. Tennessee got up two scores and the game was over. 

That offense isn’t getting fixed anytime soon.

[ChiTownDoc 20891]

Was in and out falling a sleep watching.  Miami will do that to you.  Glad OU benched Jackson.  He looked lost vs trash teams and obviously much worse vs what looks like a top 5 team.  

Hawkins will be better but thats not saying much.  If he was in and OU scores from the 5 it may be a game.  It definitely wasn’t after dipshit turns it over there and on first play after next turnover too.  

Crushed with injuries.  Not sure what is season ending but the D is good, not saying great.  

Bye week will be much needed but Texas will be mission impossible from what it looks like now.  

Definitely need to win at Barn but this team is as banged up as any OU squad I have seen the last couple decades.  

edit:  went about what I predicted here.  Someone said OU scoring 30ish.  I think I said 21 would be amazing and if they left Arnold in they likely have zero TD’s. 
 

Edited September 22 by ChiTownDoc

[D3zii 3614]

4 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Good pieces? Where? Certainly not on offense. Atrocious line, a dearth of game breakers at rb or wr, and they don’t even have their typical versatile H or TE that they move around. Tennessee got up two scores and the game was over. 

That offense isn’t getting fixed anytime soon.

That defense has good players. Did we not watch the same game?!?

[closetojumping 62010]

6 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Was in and out falling a sleep watching.  Miami will do that to you.  Glad OU benched Jackson.  He looked lost vs trash teams and obviously much worse vs what looks like a top 5 team.  

Hawkins will be better but thats not saying much.  If he was in and OU scores from the 5 it may be a game.  It definitely wasn’t after dipshit turns it over there and on first play after next turnover too.  

Crushed with injuries.  Not sure what is season ending but the D is good, not saying great.  

Bye week will be much needed but Texas will be mission impossible from what it looks like now.  

Definitely need to win at Barn but this team is as banged up as any OU squad I have seen the last couple decades.  

 

Auburn’s penchant for turning the ball over and OU’s penchant for creating turnovers is not a good combo for Auburn. I expect the OU mash unit to win comfortably on the road. Hugh Freeze is just a dick with ears in the era of NIL and the portal when he’s forced to run a program in a real conference. 

2 minutes ago, D3zii said:

That defense has good players. Did we not watch the same game?!?

It read like you were claiming the offense had pieces, and I had the same thoughts as Mitch, frankly. 

[Newy25 7590]

They forced Gabriel out to make room for a guy they bench four games into the year. That’s some Charlie Strong level QB roster management. This is not going to end well. 

[D3zii 3614]

18 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

It read like you were claiming the offense had pieces, and I had the same thoughts as Mitch, frankly. 

Understood. No, Other than Burks that offense is not good. 
The defense did look good and fast and played physical, they have pieces there. 

[lilMAC25 3773]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

OU has absurd injury issues at this point. 

-They lost Dolby (cheetah starter, kind of like a bad version of Barron) for the season and maybe ever with a dislocated ankle.

-Burks left the game and is rumored on their 247 board to have a season ending issue. No idea if valid but the dude is hurt with a lower leg injury and that nullifies his overrated value. 

-Anderson severely reinjured his quad and may be done for the year. 

-Anthony isn’t playable because he’s a shadow of his former self. 

-Tatum has a neck injury or concussion or both. 

-Terry has a vagina and has now been helped off the field more times this season than they’ve played games. It’s hilarious. 

-Jayden Jackson has a shoulder injury. 

-Danny Stutsman has a weird head injury that causes him to disappear from within 5 yards of the LOS in big games. Dude had 3 tackles last night and Tennessee literally ran the ball 50 times. 

-Oh and now they’ve sunsetted their previously perceived savior at QB for a true freshman who looks like an Alex Orji starter kit. Venables wouldn’t commit to either QB in the postgame press conference and might be cooking up a divisive QB controversy if we’re really lucky.  If I’m Arnold’s helicopter parents, I’m pulling him from school now and connecting with the folks at North Texas regarding guarantees for next season. 

[BigSwingingD 719]

This guy gets it. Credit @Longhornfrenzy

[LTtxfan 48722]

Not happy...

How did No. 15 Oklahoma miss so badly on 5-star QB Jackson Arnold? 

 

[Hookem10 580]

1 hour ago, D3zii said:

Hawkins is going to be good. Poor mans Kyler Murray minus the deep ball. But they won’t do much due to the offensive line. They have good pieces though. 

Im happy people see Arnold is not that good. They really thought he was better than Arch and on the same level as Ewers

OU’s defense is good! I do believe Josh Heupel did not want to blow OU out cause I believe Tennessee could have won by more. 

I think Tennessee can play with Georgia. They are physical and fast. Say what you want but they can play with the Georgia team I seen against Kentucky. I don’t think Nico as of now can beat them though but that will be a great game. 

heupel did what sark did at Michigan. only way we lose is bad turnovers, so go conservative because ou offense isn't beating us. 

[Hagbard Celine 10544]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

ctj rundown on 0u list of current pain and suffering

couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people

[Hank Kingsley 20115]

Just did a quick re-watch of this game. It was even uglier on second viewing.

OU defense swarmed, I give them credit. Their secondary was not tested at all on intermediary routes. 

Arnold is a joke, but Littrell might be worse. 3rd and longs rolling out left. False start on their own 4 before a straight handoff out of shotgun that ended up as a TFL and safety. Really fucking stupid play by Arnold on that 3rd turnover, but I don't think that was a backwards pass and they got screwed by the ref's call on the field. 

Tennessee had some huge chunk plays, but Nico is still very raw. A better team makes them pay for those 2 sack fumbles. Heupel was incredibly conservative because he could be. 

Hawkins made some nice plays, but he is tiny. Fluky hands to the face on 4th down on their last drive gave them that trash touchdown and made his night look better. 

[FreeHorn 1307]

Hawkins may be better than Arnold but he still won’t fix the offense. The QB has to have a quality deep ball for the offense to run as it’s supposed to run. Hawkins doesn’t have a great arm and their WR core isn’t scaring anybody. 
 

They also have a million dollar problem. Between this season and last, Arnold will be closing in on 7 figures. How much will that play a role in his playing time?

[Hagbard Celine 10544]

2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

An off week is still after Auburn and won’t be fixing season ending injuries. 

People claiming the “OU defense is legit” didn’t pay any attention to what Heupel decided to do last night. 

52 for 151 for 2.9 ypc

just to confirm, your point is clock control, grind them down, etc.?

[LTtxfan 48722]

But... butt... butt "our punter had over 350yds"

Rapid Reaction: OU falls... but is there hope with Hawkins? 

[Gatorubet 29678]

25 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

heupel did what sark did at Michigan. only way we lose is bad turnovers, so go conservative because ou offense isn't beating us. 

Yes, he definitely took his foot off the gas in that game.  

[Hagbard Celine 10544]

31 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

heupel did what sark did at Michigan. only way we lose is bad turnovers, so go conservative because ou offense isn't beating us. 

sark went conservative at meatchicken?

[Thiefery 4940]

Hope they talk of how good the ou defense is keeps going.. Going to make us look even better after we take that defense into the woodshed in 3 weeks.

[Hank Kingsley 20115]

1 minute ago, Thiefery said:

Hope they talk of how good the ou defense is keeps going.. Going to make us look even better after we take that defense into the woodshed in 3 weeks.

OU defense really benefitted from being familiar with Tenn's offense and the uptempo. 

What Sark runs is almost a different sport. Not sure I saw a guy in motion last night . 

 

[LTtxfan 48722]

Disappointed Drumm & Thune are fun  😋

POSTGAME POD... Can Hawkins Rejuvenate OU's Floundering Offense? | Under the Visor Podcast

[closetojumping 62010]

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

52 for 151 for 2.9 ypc

just to confirm, your point is clock control, grind them down, etc.?

Yes. Heupel confirmed that he went fully conservative in the post game. He had a multi-score lead against a terrible offense and chose to grind the defense with his power and depth. Which he did. 

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

sark went conservative at meatchicken?

Is this some sort of meme for folks here? I feel like I’ve seen that notion challenged on here a few times. What in the fuck are you guys watching if you didn’t see that Texas decided to comfortably get out of Ann Arbor with a win and just play keep away in the second half of that game?

[thunderlounge 7637]

2 hours ago, Newy25 said:

They forced Gabriel out to make room for a guy they bench four games into the year. That’s some Charlie Strong level QB roster management. This is not going to end well. 

 

[Duane Moore 5236]

1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

OU defense really benefitted from being familiar with Tenn's offense and the uptempo. 

What Sark runs is almost a different sport. Not sure I saw a guy in motion last night . 

 

Yes, and Quinn is going to be a lot less confused by all the looks Venables will throw at him than a redshirt freshman starting his first road game. 

[BurgleBro 752]

OUs defense looked pretty damn good, aggressive, forcing TOs.  But they get so vulnerable in the second half bc they can't maintain that level of intensity the whole game.  

Tenn easily could have dropped 60 on them if they needed to. 

Was great to watch OU get the usual black magic circus shit go their way as always and it still was nowhere near enough. 

[Mittens 8027]

 

[lilMAC25 3773]

10 minutes ago, Mittens said:

 

Seth seems like a stupid fuck

[A’Dam Psycho 1436]

10 minutes ago, Mittens said:

 

This dude also said Drake Stoops would be drafted higher than Xavier Worthy

[Surly Bevo 24575]

7 minutes ago, A’Dam Psycho said:

This dude also said Drake Stoops would be drafted higher than Xavier Worthy

It's funny both because of how stupid that statement it is, but also how obvious it is that OU misses the fuck out of Drake Stoops right now

[Hagbard Celine 10544]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Yes. Heupel confirmed that he went fully conservative in the post game. He had a multi-score lead against a terrible offense and chose to grind the defense with his power and depth. Which he did. 

Is this some sort of meme for folks here? I feel like I’ve seen that notion challenged on here a few times. What in the fuck are you guys watching if you didn’t see that Texas decided to comfortably get out of Ann Arbor with a win and just play keep away in the second half of that game?

the first half was the full offense executed with surgical precision that left the entire michigan coaching staff befuddled with hangdog faces literally mumbling to themselves "WTF?"

2nd half absolutely agree; i read the "sark was conservative" comments to mean the first half too, i.e. the whole game

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

5 hours ago, speed817 said:

 

Exactly. The Arnold is better than Arch bullshit was a completely unsolicited argument  that came from the bowels of the SoonerScoop ego chamber. Their mods wrote clickbaity articles, and within a few days their entire fanbase accepted it as Gospel. The last couple weeks must have been unpleasant for them. 

[LTtxfan 48722]

49 minutes ago, Mittens said:

 

 

Brent Venables Postgame Press Conference | Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15

[ChiTownDoc 20891]

1 minute ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Exactly. The Arnold is better than Arch bullshit was a completely unsolicited argument  that came from the bowels of the SoonerScoop ego chamber. Their mods wrote clickbaity articles, and within a few days their entire fanbase accepted it as Gospel. The last couple weeks must have been unpleasant for them. 

Mostly for blowhards who listen to the 9.95 clowns.  Lots of fans were like wtf letting Dillon walk - for this guy.  Yeah if you have UT QB room let him walk but not many ‘normal’ fans thought that.  Agree that the clickbait crew dove all in.  
I haven’t gone to an OU game except for OU Texas in years just because it becomes a beating listening to the mouth breathing die hards who actually think they know more because they listen to the 9.95ers.  You know much less if you buy into what those dorks say.  
Oh and I also attend no games because it means going back to OK or a variety of other usually shitty locales.  No thanks.  

[honolulu horn 6145]

7 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Exactly. The Arnold is better than Arch bullshit was a completely unsolicited argument  that came from the bowels of the SoonerScoop ego chamber. Their mods wrote clickbaity articles, and within a few days their entire fanbase accepted it as Gospel. The last couple weeks must have been unpleasant for them. 

 

4 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Brent Venables Postgame Press Conference | Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15

BB is such a strange guy. He looks like a shiny, lip licking Skeletor. 

[LTtxfan 48722]

Sark needs to kick the shit out of blOU this year...  🤘

[BigHornedLurker 1883]

Am I the only one that sees what's happening at ATM and OU to be almost identical ?

 

Fresh HC over his head , fan bases clamoring for more , QB and offensive issues galore.

Good maybe great defenses 

It's almost the exact same story 

[ClubWhatever 12066]

9 minutes ago, BigHornedLurker said:

Am I the only one that sees what's happening at ATM and OU to be almost identical ?

 

Fresh HC over his head , fan bases clamoring for more , QB and offensive issues galore.

Good maybe great defenses 

It's almost the exact same story 

But the future will likely play out very different.   OU will not hesitate to jettison Venables post haste.  Mediocrity will not be tolerated there for more than a couple of minutes.  

[pacman 7238]

33 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Exactly. The Arnold is better than Arch bullshit was a completely unsolicited argument  that came from the bowels of the SoonerScoop ego chamber. Their mods wrote clickbaity articles, and within a few days their entire fanbase accepted it as Gospel. The last couple weeks must have been unpleasant for them. 

That PR after his commitment to OU led to his quick rise from barely top 150 recruit to number 8 overall, 5th star. I recall many here called bs.

Edited September 22 by pacman

[Nueces River Rat 5500]

33 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Mostly for blowhards who listen to the 9.95 clowns.  Lots of fans were like wtf letting Dillon walk - for this guy.  Yeah if you have UT QB room let him walk but not many ‘normal’ fans thought that.  Agree that the clickbait crew dove all in.  
I haven’t gone to an OU game except for OU Texas in years just because it becomes a beating listening to the mouth breathing die hards who actually think they know more because they listen to the 9.95ers.  You know much less if you buy into what those dorks say.  
Oh and I also attend no games because it means going back to OK or a variety of other usually shitty locales.  No thanks.  

Do you want to take Fuck Chip Brown off our hands?

[Gidnik 3246]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oklahoma-clearly-behind-the-curve-in-sec-and-now-it-has-major-qb-problems-after-jackson-arnolds-benching/

thats a pretty damning article lol

Quote

After Oklahoma turned in one of its worst offensive showings of the 21st century, get ready for a testy week in Norman as coach Brent Venables navigates an unexpected QB dilemma

NORMAN, Okla. – An exasperated Brent Venables didn't waste anyone's time late Saturday night. His starting quarterback might have cost him the game.

There was no need for the assembled media following No. 15 Oklahoma's 25-15 loss to No. 6 Tennessee to even ask what was next after a poor performance by sophomore Jackson Arnold helped ruin Oklahoma's first game in the SEC.

The quarterback job is wide open at Oklahoma. The way things played out, it's now fair to say: Let the less-bad man win.

"We'll figure out who the best guy is to help us get to No. 4, find our fourth win," Venables said following what was only Oklahoma's 14th home loss since 1999.

This one hurt so badly for OU because of what it portended. In a league filled with difference-making quarterbacks, Oklahoma suddenly doesn't have one.

In a game that was billed as one of the biggest in OU history, the team, the program, and maybe even the state fell flat. Arnold, a celebrated five-star, crippled the effort with an interception and two fumbles in the first half that led to 10 Tennessee points.

Freshman Michael Hawkins Jr., a three-star backup, replaced Arnold late in the first half and provided a spark. But there's a reason Hawkins didn't start and a reason Arnold seemingly can't hold onto the job. 

Venables, at times, barely contained himself.

"Just some bad football," he said. "Guys getting whooped and beat and not winning their matchups. don't like that at all."

Oklahoma plays at Auburn next week, then has a bye week before the Red River Rivalry against Texas. What Venables does with Arnold is perhaps the top college football subplot of this week. 

We already assumed Tennessee wouldn't stroll into Memorial Stadium and win by 59 points, its average over the first three games against inferior competition. OU's defense was too stiff and indeed held Tennessee well below its projected points total of 32 (per Vegas). 

There was only one real bust for the unit all night. Tennessee's own celebrated five-star quarterback from the same 2023 class as Arnold, Nico Iamaleava, zipped a 66-yard pass to Dont'e Thornton Jr. to make it 10-3 after the first quarter.

We also knew there would be some SEC settling in for the Sooners. For the entire offseason, the obvious comparison was arch-rival Texas, which, it turns out, is fortunate to have Arch -- also from the same class of 2023 as Arnold. At this point, the Sooners don't have much of anything at the position.

The Horns are No. 1. Offensively, the Sooners played like number two at times on Saturday.

Dillon Gabriel, the offensive motor behind last year's 10-win season, was allowed to walk to Oregon so Oklahoma could begin the Arnold era (the math there was multiple years of Arnold, versus one more year of Gabriel). That's how it works in college football now. Gabriel got a great NIL deal in Oregon and is sitting pretty. Arnold, a former Elite 11 MVP, showed promise in last year's Alamo Bowl, throwing three touchdowns in a loss to Arizona.

Arnold also threw three interceptions that night. Those turnovers turned out to be foreshadowing.

In five career starts, Arnold has now committed nine turnovers -- six picks and three fumbles -- that have led to 37 opposition points. Even before the Tennessee game, there were signs Arnold was struggling. In a re-rank of class of 2023 QBs, 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins moved Arnold from the fourth quarterback down to sixth. 

Arnold was actually booed by what was left of the 84,071 when he entered for one play late in the game on OU's last touchdown drive for a handoff. 

The damage was done. In the first half, Arnold twice fumbled the ball away on the next play after Iamaleava had turned it over himself. Afterward, Venables was still fuming over the second fumble, a backward lateral thrown halfway across the field that bounced at the ankles of the receiver and was recovered by the Vols.

Venables said not only was the read bad -- Arnold was supposed to hand off -- but the pass behind the line was a brain fart too.

"The read is, run it all day …," OU's coach said. "We don't have any backward RPOs."

Which was part of the football tragedy on a historic day. Everywhere you looked in this quaint college town, there were reminders that times had changed. The SEC logo was stamped on everything except the scrambled eggs at Neighborhood JAM, the town's hottest breakfast place.

Different conference. Same goals. Tennessee was just another shade of orange to hate for those throwing the "Horns down." In Saturday's slickly produced pregame video presentation at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, OU trotted out every celebrity this side of Oprah to let the world know it had taken a step up in degree of difficulty.

"It's time to show the Southeast there's only one …," veteran actor and OU alum Ed Harris crowed from the video board, his voice hanging with anticipation moments before kickoff.

The correct answer to Harris' unfinished sentence is, of course, "Oklahoma!"

Shortly after, that's where the weekend-long pep rally ended in these parts.

The Southeast was shown something all right. Something it already knew. Tennessee might be good enough to compete for an SEC title in Iamaleava's first season as a starter.

But there was also something Oklahoma fans didn't want to admit. Make that, feared. Their Sooners have miles to go before competing in the game's toughest conference. They are not as far along as Venables hoped they'd be this summer, though the warning signs were there after they replaced all five offensive line starters. 

This is what Oklahoma wanted when it switched conferences: prime time on ESPN against the likes of Tennessee instead of another 11 a.m. start in the September heat against, say, Iowa State.

Instead, OU was backhanded back to reminders of the Big 12 days. That would be the conference the Sooners hadn't won since 2020, the season before Lincoln Riley bolted for USC.

Venables still has some work to do in his third season. We knew some of that already when graduation and the transfer portal had ravaged his offensive line. We knew he was plugging in the promising Arnold.

We also knew there would be a learning curve. We also knew the SEC was coming in off the top rope for those not prepared. Count Oklahoma enlightened, if not also injured.

Tennessee's defense completed the smothering, having piled up 19 straight consecutive quarters without giving up an offensive touchdown before the Sooners scored twice in the fourth quarter.

By that time, the Vols defense had 11 tackles for loss by 10 different players. Oklahoma went a stretch of seven consecutive possessions running no more than three plays. Spanning the second and third quarters, OU's offense netted mins-four yards.

During one dreadful first-half stretch, OU ran 10 consecutive plays of no or negative yards.

Tennessee drove for its second touchdown in the second quarter, missing two starting offensive linemen. One, 340-pound left tackle Lance Heard, missed his second consecutive game. Another starter was hurt on that drive.

No problem. Tailback Dylan Sampson ran it eight straight plays on a drive that resulted in his 10th touchdown this season.

The last highlight during the pregame introduction showed Josh Heupel, as Oklahoma's quarterback, taking a knee in the 2001 Orange Bowl. That clinched the Sooners' last national championship.

That was the same Heupel who, as Tennessee's coach, set foot in the stadium where he became a star as a player for the first time since being fired as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator after the 2014 season. 

Iamaleava closed the circle, in a sense, kneeling down to seal Tennessee's first SEC win of the season in a marathon that lasted almost four hours.

The Vols didn't look like they were done. Meanwhile, the Sooners can't seem to get started.