It’s a great weekend of college football in Week 4 with a handful of Top 25 matchups led by No. 6 Tennessee visiting No. 15 Oklahoma in the Sooners’ first-ever SEC game, and ESPN GameDay will be on campus.
The Vols are solid road favorites on the NCAAF odds.
| Opening NCAAF Lines Subject to Change: Tennessee -7 (total 57.5) Expert Prediction in Week 3: Tennessee 30, Oklahoma 27 |
Tennessee Volunteers -280
Tennessee (3-0) has looked as good as anyone in the early going with three straight blowout wins, with the Vols crushing Kent State 71-0 on Saturday. It could have been much worse, but the Vols only outscored KSU 6-0 in the second half by pulling way back and resting starters.
Dylan Sampson
Sampson ran for four first-half touchdowns to lead Tennessee, which led 37-0 after a quarter. The Vols surpassed their previous scoring standard in a quarter (35), which was set in an opening period at home vs. Arkansas on Nov. 11, 2000. They proceeded to produce a modern era (1937-present) scoring best in a half as well, rolling up 65 points in the opening 30 minutes to topple the previous pinnacle of 52 in the first half vs. UT Martin on Oct. 22, 2022. Their final point total also was a modern-day best, replacing the old mark from a 70-3 win over the University of Louisiana Monroe on Sept. 23, 2000, and it stands as the most generated by the squad from Rocky Top since 1929.
Saturday was also the first time since 1913 and only the second time in program annals that the Big Orange tallied 50 points in each of its first three games. UT put 69 and 51 on the scoreboard in its first two outings this season vs. Chattanooga and NC State.
Sampson rushed for 66 yards and three scores in the first 15 minutes and finished with 101 yards and four TDs on 13 attempts. He became the first Vol in the modern era with four rushing touchdowns in a half, and tied the modern-day school single-game record with that total. DeSean Bishop joined Sampson with a 100-yard day of his own, carding his first effort above the century mark as a Vol with 120 yards and a career-high two touchdowns on only seven carries.
Nico Iamaleava
The quarterback finished 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards and a long touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell II in the first quarter. The signal-caller helped the Vols to a 541 to 23 differential in total yardage in the first half, including a 21-3 advantage in first downs. Tennessee finished with a 740 to 112 edge, with the Vols’ offensive production setting a program record and tying as the 10th best in SEC history. Its 456 yards rushing ranks as the fourth highest in the school record book.
offense 🤝 defense#GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/GN9tKEnVuc
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 17, 2024
Josh Heupel
Defensively, Tennessee limited the Golden Flashes to an opponent’s lowest total yardage of the Heupel era with that 112 mark. The previous low of 143 came last Saturday night vs. NC State. UT also extended its streak of not allowing an offensive touchdown to 16 straight quarters.
“There’s some hurdles we have to take out, but all-in-all good performance defensively, controlled the line of scrimmage, got off of the field on third down. Offensively, we were able to run the football and create some big plays as well. Special teams was a solid performance,” Heupel said.
He became the quickest Vol coach to reach 30 wins (42 games) since Phillip Fulmer did in his 38th game on Nov. 18, 1995, at Kentucky (34-31). A total of 24 of Heupel’s 30 victories have been of the double-digit variety. Tennessee has outscored its opponents 191-13 through the first three games of the 2024 campaign. That +178 point differential through three games is the largest in SEC history and second-most by any FBS team in the AP Poll era (since 1936).
Heupel will be returning to his alma mater for the first time as a head coach after helping lead the Sooners to a national championship in 2000 and spending 11 seasons as an assistant coach for the program from 2003 to 2014. Tennessee is 9-8 vs. Top 25 teams under Josh Heupel. The nine ranked wins since 2021 are tied for the fourth-most in the FBS over that span. Excluding the 2020 COVID-shortened season, this is the first time that Tennessee opens SEC play against an opponent not named Florida since it lost at Georgia on Sept. 27, 2014.
In the FBS this season, the Vols are second in the nation in both total defense (160.7) and total offense (639.3). Tennessee is tops in the nation in scoring offense (63.7) and third in scoring defense (4.3). The Vols are one of only three FBS programs to not allow an offensive TD this season, joining Georgia and Ohio State.
^Oklahoma Sooners +218
Oklahoma (3-0) beat Tulane 34-19 on Saturday to stay unbeaten. The Green Wave kept fighting and got to within one score, 24-19, as Tyler Grubbs recorded an interception and returned it for a 22-yard touchdown with 14:20 remaining in the game. After a Tulane interception caused a short field, Oklahoma took advantage as Jackson Arnold rushed it in from 24-yard out to put the lead at two scores, 31-19, with 6:05 remaining. The Sooners added one more field goal to make the final score 34-19. Oklahoma held Tulane to 279 yards and ended the Green Wave’s 10-game road win streak.
“Very disappointed in the outcome today,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “Frustrated with a lot of things I think we could have done better. Hat’s off to a good opponent. They’re a quality football team. They’re very talented in a lot of spots and they’re well coached.”
Jackson Arnold
Arnold completed 18 of 29 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown (one interception) and rushed 14 times for a game- and career-high 97 yards and two TDs. He now has two rushing TDs this season and three in his career. Arnold’s 47-yard second-quarter rush that led to OU’s third touchdown of the game was the Sooners’ longest rushing play of the season and tied for the longest overall play of the season. It was the longest rush by an OU QB since Dillon Gabriel’s 61-yard TD at Nebraska in 2021. The last time an OU quarterback rushed for at least two TDs and passed for at least one TD was Gabriel in the 2023 season opener vs. Arkansas State.
Look at Jackson Arnold’s 47-yard run.
— Stoolies🏴☠️ (@SpacesStoolies) September 14, 2024
Oklahoma Leads 21-6 at the half.
pic.twitter.com/60Fp7CskjR
R. Mason Thomas
Defensive end Thomas dominated down the stretch. In a little more than four minutes late in the game, he had three sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. His biggest play was his last one — he sacked Green Wave QB Darian Mensah, stripped the ball and recovered it to shut down Tulane’s final threat with 1:40 remaining.
Sooners’ Stats
Oklahoma had two takeaways in the game (one interception and one fumble recovery) and one turnover (an interception). The Sooners are now +8 in turnover margin through three games this season. The Sooners now have six fumble recoveries in three games this season. OU had six fumble recoveries all of last season. Oklahoma recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss, and now has 11 sacks and 23 TFLs through three games. The Sooners have registered an interception in nine straight games and in 25 of 29 contests during the Brent Venables era.
The Sooners have won 10 straight home games and own the nation’s best home winning percentage since the start of the 1999 campaign (143-13 [.917]). Tennessee is Oklahoma’s first AP top-10 opponent in Norman since 2017 when the No. 5 Sooners beat No. 8 TCU 38-20. OU is 5-3 at home vs. AP top-10 competition since the start of the 2000 season. The No. 6 Volunteers are the highest-rated opponent in the AP poll to come to Norman since No. 3 Ohio State beat the 14th-ranked Sooners 45-24 in the third game of the 2016 season.
ESPN College Game Day will originate from Norman on Saturday for the ninth time and first since 2020. It will mark OU’s 41st appearance on the show, fourth most nationally (the Sooners are 27-13).
^Tennessee at Oklahoma NCAA Football Info
When: Saturday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Memorial Stadium
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Tennessee vs Oklahoma Series History
Oklahoma leads 3-1 and won the last meeting 31-24 in double overtime in Knoxville early in the 2015 season. This is UT’s second all-time trip to Norman, losing there 34-10 in 2014. The other two matchups were at neutral sites.
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