O’Gara: The obvious (and maybe not as obvious) observations from Oklahoma’s first game as an SEC team
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It was Temple. I know.
If someone watched Oklahoma dominate its first game as an SEC team and became convinced that it would navigate a daunting 2024 slate, don’t take it as gospel because again, it was Temple (pun intended).
Having said that, yes, you could observe a thing or 2 on Friday night about the 2024 version of Oklahoma, which in case you haven’t heard, is in a new conference.
Here were some of those noteworthy observations:
Remember what wasn’t available for Jackson Arnold in a fine, but not great 2024 debut
Let’s start with the man of the hour. Arnold was about what I’d expect for someone making his second career start and first career start at home. Spend 5 minutes talking to him and you’ll see that he oozes confidence, which is evident in how he steps into throws. He’ll have more efficient days than he had on Friday night (5.6 yards/attempt).
He’ll hopefully have a healthier group of pass-catchers than what was available. In addition to Andrel Anthony still working his way back to full strength, it didn’t help that Jalil Farooq limped to the locker room after he hauled in a 47-yard grab. Mind you, that was with the Sooners’ top home-run threat Nic Anderson kept out of the opener as a precaution and promising underclassman Jayden Gibson suffered a season-ending knee injury in fall camp.
This Oklahoma receiver room, at full strength, should be one of the SEC’s best. It isn’t there yet, and it showed. Arnold was working with a lot of new pieces. Just in case it wasn’t enough that it wasn’t his first start in Norman, Arnold’s center, Branson Hickman went down on the second possession of the night. That showed, too. The push was lacking and it didn’t feel like Gavin Sawchuk had inside running lanes available.
That’s also not ideal for a veteran quarterback, much less a 19-year-old who already had an overhauled offensive line while working with a new coordinator in Seth Littrell.
A new-look first-team offense going 0-for-10 on third down wasn’t stunning, though it was certainly noteworthy. It almost felt like Brent Venables left Arnold in the game for an extra possession just to figure that out, only to go 3-and-out. That’ll be the No. 1 priority to clean up before SEC play for the new Oklahoma pieces.
But one of those other new pieces was the star of the show.
Deion Burks is going to be a problem in the SEC
If you’re an SEC fan and you don’t know Burks, hopefully you tuned in on Friday night. If you did, you saw the Purdue transfer become the first receiver in Oklahoma history to have 3 receiving touchdowns in his debut, which he had in the first half. You saw several situations in which Arnold could look over, see Burks lined up in man coverage in the slot and make him his first (and only) read.
Jackson Arnold to Deion Burks is going to be one of the most lethal QB-WR duos in the country this season pic.twitter.com/UMFesLFjI1
— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) August 31, 2024
The freakish Burks — he benches 400 pounds and squats 540 pounds (H/T Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List) — has potential to be the 2024 version of what Luther Burden III was last year. He probably won’t be targeted downfield quite like Burden, but the versatility and ability to be a matchup nightmare out of the slot will be evident. He’s an integral weapon for Arnold as he learns the ropes of reading defenses. Their rapport was evident throughout spring, and it felt like a carryover that Burks was his primary target on Friday.
Burks is on pace for 36 touchdowns. My guess? He won’t quite hit that. A more accurate guess? He’s got more multi-TD days in his future.
A Year 3 Brent Venables defense, this is.
If you’re wondering why this game was so lopsided even though Oklahoma was still working out its offensive kinks, well, look no further than Venables’ defense. That unit forced 5 turnovers and the Sooners scored 26 points off those turnovers (there was also a Temple punt return fumble that Oklahoma returned for a touchdown).
Ball-hawking safety Billy Bowman Jr. appeared to have another interception on an acrobatic grab wherein it looked like the ground caused the incompletion, but the officials swallowed their whistles. That led to Temple’s only points of the night on a field goal.
At one point, OU legend Brian Bosworth was being interviewed on the sideline and he talked about how rare it’s been to have a generational linebacker like Danny Stutsman in Norman. He’s right. Stutsman and Bowman are at the heart of why Oklahoma’s defensive optimism under Venables feels different than at any point with his predecessor.
Venables is the guy who had nothing but top-25 scoring defenses in his final 9 seasons as Clemson’s defensive coordinator. He built elite defensive lines, which remains the biggest question mark on that side of the ball for Oklahoma’s SEC transition. Temple didn’t silence that, though it was a promising early sign that it was held to 1.9 yards/carry.
The competition didn’t change that it looked like a group that was loaded with guys who were entering Year 3 in his defense. They were in the right spot all night.
Will that be the case in a few weeks in the Josh Heupel reunion? TBD. All we know is that nothing from Friday night suggested that the Sooners will be a defensive liability.
It was Temple, but don’t overlook the alternative
Once again, I know. It was Temple. Like, the team that was picked to finish last in the AAC.
But if Oklahoma had been holding tight to a 17-10 lead in the third quarter, you already know what that chatter would’ve looked like.
“Oklahoma can’t even handle Temple and people think it’ll handle the SEC???”
The Sooners were the lone SEC team in action during their debut. They could’ve been a punching bag. Instead, the defense did the heavy lifting early and often to prevent any notion of a competitive second half. Arnold never went into panic mode, and while the offensive line and pass-catchers being healthy could’ve made it a more satisfying offensive night, Oklahoma still cruised.
The Sooners are on the board in the SEC.
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Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
