Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma: Q&A With Sooners On SI Before SEC Football Showdown

Ole Miss On SI and Oklahoma On SI have collaborated some this week. We sat down with the staff in Norman to get their take on Saturday's game.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels and Oklahoma Sooners face an important test on Saturday for very different reasons.

The game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium carries College Football Playoff implications for Ole Miss who will need to win out if it hopes to secure a spot in the field. For the Sooners, Saturday is all about regaining lost momentum on the path to bowl eligibility, especially on offense after some dreadful performances in conference play on that side of the ball.

Ole Miss On SI publisher John Macon Gillespie sat down with Oklahoma On SI publisher John Hoover for a Q&A session this week to give fans an inside look at the Sooner program.

John Macon Gillespie (Ole Miss On SI): It's obviously been a tough couple of weeks for the Sooners. From your perspective, what's the overall feel from the team, staff and fan base as OU comes to Oxford?

John Hoover (Oklahoma On SI): It's different among the fans and the team, for sure. After Brent Venables fired his offensive coordinator this week, the team is approaching the upheaval as a fresh start, or maybe an opportunity to spark change. A new play-caller in Joe Jon Finley and a new voice for the quarterbacks in Kevin Johns is being held up as a turning point.

I think the majority of OU fans, on the other hand, are approaching this game -- and four of the next five -- with a real sense of dread. Oklahoma will be a big underdog in Oxford, Columbia and Baton Rouge, and I'll be shocked if they're not double-digit dogs at home to Alabama. If the odds play out as expected, that will end with a 5-7 season and no bowl game for the first time in 25 years. But even worse than that, this season shows just how far Oklahoma was from being SEC-ready.

OU had three years to prepare for the transition to the SEC, and this was how they stepped to the starting line. That has really agitated this proud fan base.

Gillespie (Ole Miss On SI): The OU quarterback situation is an interesting one to football fans everywhere, not just the Sooner faithful. Jackson Arnold is supposed to take back over this week, but what do you make of the back-and-forth that's happened at that position?

Hoover (Oklahoma On SI): Jackson Arnold's development since he arrived in January 2023 as the Gatorade National Player of the Year and the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the class has been a massive disappointment. As a true freshman behind Dillon Gabriel last year, Jeff Lebby and the OU coaching staff inexplicably used him primarily as a short-yardage runner -- which seldom worked. Then they decided late in the season that they wanted to redshirt him, but then ended up needing him to win a road game at BYU, and that burned his redshirt.

His coaching this year came from Seth Littrell, the OC Venables just fired. But Littrell, who played fullback at OU, had never coached QBs in his career before this year. So two years into his college career, Arnold hasn't come close to reaching his potential because he's not been properly developed. That's why he never got comfortable this year, and why he collapsed so dramatically against Tennessee.

The change to 4-star freshman Michael Hawkins was necessary because the offense was going nowhere with Arnold, but more so because Arnold couldn't quit turning the ball over in crucial situations. Hawkins was good late against the Vols, and was good both early and late to beat Auburn. But playing Texas seemed to speed things up for him, and he was shell-shocked with the three early turnovers against South Carolina. He also hadn't gotten a whole lot of quality position coaching, so when he went in, he was basically just running on ability.

Last week, like the Tennessee game, Venables had to make a move and went back to Arnold, who definitely looked a bit more comfortable against South Carolina even though he had to stand in there and take eight sacks. The truth of the matter is that if OU hadn't so badly botched its offensive line recruiting over the last four years and OL portal acquisitions this year, the offense and the quarterbacks would be way better than they are.

Gillespie (Ole Miss On SI): Vegas has the Sooners as a hefty underdog this week, but if Oklahoma is able to come away with a win, what needs to happen?

Hoover (Oklahoma On SI): I'll make it simple: OU needs to play almost perfect. On offense, that means no turnovers, no drive-killing penalties and just limit Ole Miss to 3-4 sacks. On defense, that means no major busts or breakdowns in the secondary, and get Ole Miss ball carriers on the ground on the first try.

That's asking a lot, especially against an Ole Miss team that's this talented. Which is why I don't think this game is going to be close -- because other than a strong run defense, the Sooners have not shown the ability to do any of those things with any consistency this year. And I wouldn't count on Lake Kiffin going conservative in the second half like Josh Heupel, Steve Sarkisian and Shane Beamer did.

Gillespie (Ole Miss On SI): What do you view as Oklahoma's biggest strength and weakness roster-wise so far this season?

Hoover (Oklahoma On SI): The four best wide receivers returning from last year, plus the best transfer wideout in the portal, have all missed significant time this year. Currently, all five guys have been out since the Tennessee game. There are some talented young wideouts, but they don't have much game experience. The best guy in the WR room might be a true freshman walk on. But the real liability all season has been the offensive line. Recruiting misses (and not signing enough scholarship guys) have crushed any measurable depth. So when they lost all five starters from last season, they tried to replace them with five portal guys, but the result has been a disaster. The guys they have aren't physical, don't create any movement and can't stay in front of even a moderately talented edge rusher. They not only have given up 29 QB sacks (that's 132nd in the country, ahead of only South Carolina), but they only average 3.1 yards per rush. 

OU's biggest strength without a doubt is its run defense, 111 yards per game, which ranks 26th. Those numbers would be top 10 if the Oklahoma offense could generate first downs and points. Linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman came back for their senior year and were preseason All-SEC and have been very good this year. But it's been the front four (sometimes three) who have surprised people. Former Tennessee transfer Da'Jon Terry and TCU transfer Damonic Williams are disruptive and hard to move. Jayden Jackson is a 4-star freshman who's started since Day 1 and even against South Carolina was the team's best interior lineman. Gracen Halton has provided high-impact plays all year and continues to be disruptive. And 5-star DT David Stone is healthy now and clearly is getting better and better. At d-end, R Mason Thomas and Trace Ford have emerged big-time playmakers.

Gillespie (Ole Miss On SI): Who are some players that Ole Miss fans should watch? Especially those who may be under-the-radar.

Hoover (Oklahoma On SI): Jacob Jordan came off the bench last week against South Carolina -- his first game of the year -- and, relatively speaking, torched the Gamecocks for 86 yards on six catches. He's the true-freshman walk-on from Dallas who delivered the team's top performance as a wideout so far this season.

Eli Bowen is the younger brother of two-year starting safety Peyton Bowen, and as a true freshman from the Dallas area has emerged as the Sooners' best cornerback. Saturday should be his third career start. He's a good tackler and is fearless in coverage.

Running back Jovantae Barnes is back from a foot injury last year and is fun to watch because he runs super hard, although he would do well to try to make someone miss. Taylor Tatum was the No. 1 running back recruit in the nation last year and has certainly flashed, but he's still figuring out pass protections.

Jayden Jackson plays d-tackle with an incredibly high motor and has exceptional fundamentals that allow him to maximize his hand placement and footwork and defeat blocks in the trenches.

Danny Stutsman is a three-year starter at linebacker with more than 300 career tackles and has led the team for three straight seasons. He's all heart and want-to, but he's also got a ton of athletic ability, an indomitable work ethic and uncanny natural instincts.

If No. 25, freshman safety Michael Boganowski, gets into the game, someone needs to tell the Ole Miss receivers to be aware because he hits like a guillotine.

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