How to Watch No. 15 Oklahoma vs. Tulane

The Oklahoma Sooners host the Tulane Green Wave in OU's final tune-up before SEC play begins.

The Sooner Schooner takes the field during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s early in the season to evoke the “survive and advance” mantra, but that’s exactly what Oklahoma had to do on Saturday night. 

Brent Venables’ defense put on another show, and the No. 15-ranked Sooners needed every bit of it to move to 2-0 in 2024. 

A late safety by OU defensive tackle Gracen Halton sealed an abysmal 16-12 victory over the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, leaving many with more questions than answers after an odd 51-3 win over Temple in Week 1. 

Offensive coordinator Seth Littrell has struggled to find many positives through two weeks. 

Houston held OU to 249 yards of total offense, and sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold struggled to overcome the inconsistencies around him on Saturday. 

He completed 19-of-32 passes for 174 yards, a pair of touchdowns and an interception. 

Arnold wasn’t helped at all by the ground game either. Oklahoma averaged 2.6 yards per carry and only posted 75 rushing yards one week after the Cougar defense allowed UNLV to notch 195 yards on the ground. 

The Sooners couldn’t even properly run out the clock after center Joshua Bates inexplicably took his helmet off which prompted an easy penalty to stop the clock and force OU to punt the ball away. 

Venables and Zac Alley’s defense got the final stop necessary to end the game, but Oklahoma has plenty to clean up across the board at practice this week. 

“I appreciate our players, their strain and their fight in the end to figure out a way to win,” Venables said after the game. “I’m disappointed in a lot of things that we did today. Did enough things wrong to where we deserved to lose, and (we’re) fortunate to find a way to win.”

If Oklahoma doesn’t play clean next Saturday, it’ll find itself in the middle of a dogfight yet again. 

Tulane pushed No. 14 Kansas State last week in New Orleans. 

The Green Wave took a 20-10 lead into halftime, but the Wildcats outscored the hosts 24-7 in the second half to erase the deficit and beat Tulane 34-27.

Kansas State’s offense shook off a slow first half to have a nice day against the Green Wave defense. 

The Wildcats rushed for 6.5 yards per carry, ending the afternoon with 215 rushing yards, and Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson was able to complete 15-of-23 passes for 181 yards and two scores through the air. 

Oklahoma’s offense is rapidly running out of time to get its act together. 

The No. 7-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are waiting in the wings after Tulane, so Saturday’s contest against the Green Wave is the last chance for Arnold and the offense to build confidence before the SEC gauntlet begins in Norman. 

“We’re just looking to get better overall as a unit,” Arnold said after beating Houston. “As a team, I love the way we battled through adversity tonight. Other than that, we really have to focus on ourselves, what we can do to improve and just overall our scheme, too.”

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How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Tulane:

• Location: Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
• Date: Saturday, Sept. 14
• Time: 2:30 p.m.
• Channel: ESPN
• Broadcast Crew: Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek and Taylor McGregor
• Radio Broadcast: 107.7 FM The Franchise
• Weather Forecast: Sunny with a high of 95 degrees