The marquee matchup of the early SEC football schedule and the conference debut for No. 15 Oklahoma comes this weekend as the Sooners welcome No. 6 Tennessee in college football’s Week 4 action on Saturday.
Big Orange has demolished everything in its wake through 3 games, outscoring opponents 191 to 3, ranking 1st nationally with 63.7 points per game on average, 3rd in rushing output, and 3rd in FBS in scoring defense behind one of the nation’s premier front seven alignments.
And while the Vols will face a tougher task against the Sooners, the home side has played some close football the last two weeks against unranked opposition.
Oklahoma slogged through a surprising 16-12 victory against lowly Houston, scoring just 2 points in the second half of that game, and was leading Tulane by 5 in the fourth quarter before scoring 10 unanswered points, including quarterback Jackson Arnold’s 24-yard touchdown run.
OU needs to make a statement here to show the SEC that it belongs, especially when looking forward to what will become an increasingly difficult schedule as the season wears on.
After last week featured just two games between ranked opponents, there are three such matchups this week, including two between teams ranked in the top 15. And both of those games could prove to be crucial at the end of the season.
Saturday afternoon, No. 12 Utah visits No. 14 Oklahoma State in a matchup that could easily happen again in December at the Big 12 championship game. Saturday night, No. 6 Tennessee and its explosive offense visits No. 15 Oklahoma in the first SEC game ever in Norman.
After watching Clemson in Week 1 against Georgia, a line like this would have seemed unfathomable. But the Tigers blew out Appalachian State in Week 2 as the offense rebounded mightily from its struggles against the Bulldogs. Then they were off in Week 3.
NC State is enduring a rough start to the season. After a second-half surge was needed for a Week 1 win over Western Carolina, the Wolfpack were blown out by Tennessee in Week 2 and QB Grayson McCall was injured in a Week 3 comeback win over Louisiana Tech. McCall is out for Saturday’s game and will be replaced by freshman CJ Bailey.
If NC State can pull the shocking upset — the Wolfpack have won two of their last three games against the Tigers — Miami becomes the even bigger team to beat in the ACC. If Clemson is convincing in this one, the Tigers will have every right to think they’re the Hurricanes’ equal atop the conference.
