Despite Auburn's Struggles, Oklahoma's Brent Venables not Taking Tigers Lightly

Oklahoma Sooners coach Brent Venables knows an Auburn Tigers team is wounded from too many self-inflicted wounds.

Oklahoma Sooners coach Brent Venables knows the Auburn Tigers can be a dangerous opponent if they'd stop the self-inflicted wounds. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Auburn Tigers will aim to get back on track this week against the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners.
The Sooners come into this game off a loss as well, falling 25-15 to No. 6 Tennessee on the road.

Despite Auburn's loss to Arkansas, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is confident in Auburn’s ability to play his team competitively.

“We’ve got a great opponent,” Venables said. “Great history and tradition in Auburn University and what Coach (Hugh) Freeze has been able to do throughout his career. Obviously he’s cut his teeth on really good offenses, and they’ve actually played really well other than turning the ball over. 

Auburn is last in the nation with 14 turnovers in four games, and quarterback Payton Thorne and Hank Brown have combined for eight interceptions in their two losses. But, other than that.

Venables and the Sooners will be playing their first SEC road game this week and starting a true freshman quarterback. Michael Hawkins was ranked the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the country by Rivals last year, and he'll get the nod against Auburn on Saturday.

“We as coaches have got to be the headlights for our players,” Venables said. “You try to paint an adequate picture, you pump in the crowd noise, and you tell him to control the things he can control.”

Venables is preparing his defense to take on what he believes to be a highly-skilled Auburn offense despite the mistakes that have led to losses against Cal and Arkansas.

“They’ve got excellent backs,” Venables said. “They’ve got three starters back from a year ago up front. (Jarquez) Hunter is a really good football player. A year ago they didn’t have the receivers they have now so they’re trying to get into rhythm.”

Venables believes Auburn is similar to Tennessee, a team Oklahoma struggled against offensively, on the defensive side of the ball. The Sooners managed just 222 yards of offense last week against the Vols and just 36 yards on the ground.

“On defense they’re very similar to what we saw at Tennessee,” Venables said. “They’re big, they’re strong, they got a great front. They’ve got guys in the back end who can cover. They’re multiple. They're more multiple than Tennessee was.”

With both teams struggling at quarterback, it's not overly surprising to see the over/under on this game at 45.5. For context, Oklahoma averaged nearly that many points-per-game (39.1) in 2021.

Kickoff between Auburn and Oklahoma is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The television broadcast will be carried by ABC and ESPN+.