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Oklahoma-LSU GameDay Preview: X-Factors

These are some of the the X-Factors if the Sooners are going to upset LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and running back Xavier Robinson
Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and running back Xavier Robinson / William Purnell-Imagn Images
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Road Map

In their three SEC road games this season, the Sooners have played three vastly different games. Auburn was a fast start and a fourth-quarter comeback. Ole Miss was a strong first half and a lousy second half. Missouri was mostly OK until an abject collapse in the final two minutes. Now Oklahoma must navigate one of the sport’s real snake pits, and more than 102,000 LSU fans will be lying in wait. How will the Sooners respond? Can they play their first complete road game of the season? Will they be focused enough early and determined enough late?

— John E. Hoover

Ride the Wave

Tiger Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in all of college football, there’s no disputing that. But a frustrating season has manifested in some uneasy moments for LSU head coach Brian Kelly in front of his home fans. Oklahoma showed it could power through an early fumble and dropped touchdown pass against Alabama. If the Sooners can ride the waves of momentum on Saturday night and get ahead, OU can try and salt the clock away on the ground and usher a nervous energy across the crowd at Death Valley.

— Ryan Chapman 

Run, Sooners, Run!

Let me try out my best Mike Gundy impression in saying that society today tells us a football team has to pass the ball to win games. Hopefully Joe Jon Finley doesn't give into society. OU had a season-low 68 passing yards last week, yet still took down mighty No. 7-ranked Alabama. The Sooners controlled the game by running the ball and putting their defense in a good position to do what it does. OU can at least hang with, if not beat, anyone in the country if that game plan is executed the way it was against Bama, including LSU. 

— Dekota Gregory

Easy Passes

Last week against Alabama, the Sooners completed 9-of-12 total passes. Jackson Arnold and the Oklahoma passing attack was held well under 100 yards — but they didn’t need to pass the ball. Oklahoma established the run early and never had to change course. It was the offensive line’s best game of the season and the Sooners ran for 257 yards on two touchdowns. If that’s the game plan, and it’s working again in Baton Rouge, by all means keep pounding the rock. But you’d have to imagine LSU watched last week’s game in Norman and have planned accordingly. Arnold will have to complete some big passes to move the sticks, and Oklahoma’s offense will need to play complimentary football. The rushing game will be important, but mainly to set up the pass. Something tells me the Sooners will have to throw the ball more than 11 times to leave Tiger Stadium with a win.

— Ross Lovelace

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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