Oklahoma-Tennessee: Everything You Need to Know

It was a rough SEC debut for Oklahoma, but here are the Sooners' Star of the Game, Play of the Game, Sooner Stock Report, Injury Report and more.

Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (1) scores a touchdown in front of Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Kani Walker (26) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN – So this is why Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and president Joe Harroz and the OU Board of Regents chose to leave the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.

Well, this and all those morning kickoffs in the Big 12 – that “Game of the Century” anniversary game in 2021 being the backbreaker.

Saturday’s game between No. 15 OU and No. 6 Tennessee ended up like a lot of people thought it might: Vols in a near blowout, 25-15.

Oklahoma’s defense looks very definitively SEC ready, but the Sooners’ offense is officially bad – bad enough to get 5-star quarterback recruit Jackson Arnold benched in the first half of his first conference start. Arnold committed three first-half turnovers and got the hook in favor of freshman Michael Hawkins.

Hawkins fumbled his first snap and scrambled out of trouble on his next two plays, but the OU offense could never dig out of a 19-3 halftime hole.

Still, the wheels are now in motion as Brent Venables tries to bring a spark to Seth Littrell’s offense.

Saturday was a loss, and a tough one for this program to swallow.

Because in the big picture, Saturday was also the culmination of a lot of work, a lot of anticipation, and a lot of angst. It’s been three years – 1,158 days – since OU and Texas formally announced their intentions to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC.

And this was the outcome.

Simply put, Norman has crackled with electricity all weekend. ESPN’s “College GameDay” built their set on Friday and then kicked off the weekend early Saturday morning. OU royalty mingled with the show’s cast, and orange-clad Tennessee fans mingled throughout the town all day. The game itself, a national telecast on ABC, was the crown jewel of a years-long process that injected new life into the program and new energy to the fan base.

Sooner Nation did its part. They were early, loud and lively, and showed up 84,071 strong, but they couldn’t overcome the product on the field.

Here’s the thing: It’s been since at least 2008 that Oklahoma hosted a game this big – probably since 2000, going back to the Nebraska shocker that ended OU’s “Red October” and officially launched the program’s last national championship run. The Sooners would typically go years between major league home games like this one.

In 2024, with Tennessee and Alabama, there are two of these gems this season alone.

A horde of Tennessee fans wandered Norman and stared in awe at Heisman Park and then filled pockets of Memorial Stadium’s seats. Many of them came a day or two early. The same will happen when the Crimson Tide come to town in November.

Moreover, when the Sooners go on the road this year to Auburn (next week), Ole Miss (October) and Missouri and LSU (November), their novelty in the new conference will be high. And you can bet Sooner Nation – for years longing for football beyond Waco and Manhattan and Ames and Stillwater and Lubbock and Lawrence – will descend upon those SEC townships en masse.

The SEC is finally here, and Saturday showed that yes, the Sooners are only partially SEC ready.

Here are three things, a quick postgame injury report and one crazy stat you need to know about the Sooners’ game with Tennessee.

Tonight’s Star

Robert Spears-Jennings was the best defensive back on the field for either team. The junior from Broken Arrow, OK, had 13 tackles – 11 by halftime – and finished with a quarterback sack that forced a fumble at the Tennessee 5-yard line and set up the offense with a golden opportunity.

Play of the Game

After Spears-Jennings sacked Nico Iamaleava and Ethan Downs recovered, Jackson Arnold immediately gave the football back to the Vols when he eschewed a pitch to Jovantae Barnes on what was supposed to be a toss sweep and instead kept the football and drove himself into the pileup. The ball was dislodged immediately and an easy scoring chance was wasted. The Vols got off the goal line, got a 57-yard punt to the OU 4, then tackled Barnes in the end zone for a safety that made it 12-3. After Arnold’s bad throw to Barnes hit the ground well wide of its target, it was ruled a lateral and was recovered by Tennessee for a 21-yard loss, the Vols drove 46 yards for another touchdown that made it 19-3.

Stock Report

Jackson Arnold: Down, down, down, then trading paused due to volatility. Three turnovers in the first half, coupled with three three-and-out possessions and a safety resulted in a 19-3 deficit at halftime. He was replaced by Michael Hawkins on the final possession of the first half.

Perhaps this is a temporary setup, kind of like when Spencer Rattler got pulled against Texas (the first time) but was allowed to come back in. Or perhaps this is more permanent, kind of like when Rattler got pulled against Texas (the second time) and the job was taken over by Caleb Williams.

Michael Hawkins: Volatile, but closed up. Hawkins dropped a snap and ran out of bounds short of the first-down marker on third down. But he delivered some nice throws, scrambled out of trouble a handful of times and largely had no chance to rally his team. Late in the third quarter, he was dropped for a 16-yard loss with three Tennessee pass rushers bringing him down.

After Arnold completed 7-of-16 passes for 54 yards with three turnovers, Hawkins came in and went 11-of-18 for 132 yards with a touchdown pass to Jovantae Barnes, a 46-yard catch-and-run to Jaquaize Pettaway, an exciting touchdown run with 78 seconds to play (that was somehow overturned by replay) and zero turnovers. It was Hawkins who finally breathed life into the OU offense though it was too little, too late.

The Running Backs: Still going down. Barnes had a touchdown but finished with nine touches for 11 yards. Taylor Tatum had three carries for 14 yards. And Gavin Sawchuk had two carries for minus-2 yards.

In all, OU finished with 36 rushing yards and averaged 1.1 yards per rush. Hard to fault those guys, however, when there's no space to run.

Offensive line: Down, even though it was already pretty low. The Vols are good up front. Great even. Arguably the best d-line in the country. But they showed unequivocally that the Sooner o-line, in any iteration, simply isn’t ready for this stage.

Center Branson Hickman returned, but he hadn’t played since the second series of the season opener. Michael Tarquin was back at right tackle as Jacob Sexton stepped out to left tackle. Heath Ozaeta made his first career start at left guard and struggled as expected.

Robert Spears-Jennings: Up. After splitting time with Peyton Bowen at safety, Spears-Jennings was the Sooners’ best player against the Vols.

Deion Burks: No change. Bubble screens, quick slants. Nothing downfield. Not his fault.

Kani Walker: Down. He gave up a 66-yard touchdown pass to Dont’e Thornton in the first quarter that gave Tennessee a 10-3 lead, then allowed a 35-yard completion to Bru McCoy. Walker has been beaten deep a handful of times in the last two seasons. He got nothing but blowing reports in training camp, but did lose his man a couple of times in non-conference play. This time, it hung six on the scoreboard.

Woodi Washington: Down. After playing last week at cheetah, Washington, a four-year starter, was back at corner Saturday and gave up a deep ball to McCoy for a 42-yard completion in the third quarter that led to a 41-yard field goal for  22-3 Tennessee lead.

Trace Ford: Up. Ford had three tackles, two tackles for loss, a quarterback sack and a forced fumble in the first half alone. He looked more explosive and violent than he did at any time last year and may finally be over his knee injury at OSU.

Bauer Sharp: Volatile. Made a nice play to convert one third down, and started a promising drive in the third quarter when he turned to haul in a grab from Hawkins. But he could have helped Arnold immensely when he dropped an easy catch on a third-and-long.

Injury Report

Nickel/cheetah Kendel Dolby was back in the lineup after missing last week with a concussion, but he went down near the goal line with what looked like a gruesome right ankle injury and would seem to be done for the year.

WR Nic Anderson was finally back – his first game of the season – and actually started, but was targeted once and immediately left for the locker room and didn’t return.

CB Gentry Williams (shoulder) did not suit up. Linebacker Dasan McCullough suited up and stretched, but he was not wearing cleats and didn’t seem available to play.

Center Branson Hickman was a game-time decision and returned to the starting lineup to play pretty much the whole game.

Right tackle Jake Taylor also was a game-time decision and went through warmups but did not play.

Crazy Stat

Jackson Arnold now has committed nine turnovers in his five career starts, leading directly to 37 points.

Crazy Stat 2

Nico Iamaleava completed four passes for 196 yards, and nine others for minus-2 yards.