Oklahoma-Missouri Preview: One Big Thing — Was it Real?

Was the Sooners' noticeable improvement last week against Maine something that can carry over to this week's clash with the Tigers, or was it just a football mirage?

Mississippi Rebels linebacker Suntarine Perkins (4) sacks Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

COLUMBIA, MO — The Maine game was great. But let’s be honest.

The last time Oklahoma played a Division I team — an SEC team, to be sure — Jackson Arnold was flat on his back six times in a span of nine plays.

That’s how the game at Ole Miss ended. For that matter, it’s how the previous game, at home against South Carolina, began — not for Arnold, but for Michael Hawkins. 

Will it be a common theme in Saturday’s reunion at Missouri?

We thought we saw an improved football team last week when the Black Bears came to Norman, but did we really? Or did we see the all-too-predictable result of an FBS-FCS mismatch?

Beating Maine 59-14 was good for the Sooners’ soul. It ended a three-game losing streak and gave everyone in the Switzer Center something to feel good about heading into the final quarter of the regular season.

“It was good to get to see a dub, it was real fun,” said linebacker Kobie McKinzie. “It was definitely fun to get a win for sure. Cures a lot of things.”

But will anything that happened last week on Owen Field carry over this week on Faurot Field?

OU head coach Brent Venables said wasn’t so much about the scoreboard, bur more about his team making visible improvement.

“The last three weeks, we've been talking about seeing their improvement at the spots where we haven't … at the first part of the season, where we weren't as good,” Venables said, “whether it's on offense — just everywhere on offense. The last three weeks or so, seen guys getting better in practice and (Saturday) was an opportunity to do that against someone else — and do the basics at a high level.”

That has to start with pass blocking. Missouri is only 45th nationally in quarterback sacks and 59th in tackles for loss, so their defensive line play is not only the level of a Tennessee, a South Carolina or an Ole Miss.

But even after allowing zero sacks last week to the Black Bears, Oklahoma still ranks last in the country in quarterback sacks allowed.

Arnold said the coaching staff’s message has been “pretty consistent” over the last several weeks: keep the same approach, don’t get too high or too low. But the winning part — yeah, that was fun.

“I mean, obviously, yeah, there's a little more juice,” Arnold said, “but, I mean, I think for us we're just trying to stay mellow and stay the same and just treat every day as a new day and just attack that day.”

Saturday’s big prize for Oklahoma lies in the W-L column. If the Sooners win — they’re coming into the weekend as a 2 1/2-point favorite after opening as a 4-point underdog — they’ll have reached six wins, and they’ll be eligible for a bowl game. 

The bowl game itself isn’t important, but getting an extra 2-3 weeks of practice is really what this team needs.

Of course, there’s the little task of actually qualifying for a bowl — even a minor one.

“Man, it’s going to be amazing when we do, yes sir,” said defensive lineman Jayden Jackson. “Just gotta carry the momentum. I feel like the win last week is carrying the momentum into this week, yes sir.”