Ad Disclosure
Oklahoma defeated Temple 51-3 on Friday night in Norman.
Oklahoma forced 6 turnovers in the win, which was the most for an OU defense in a single game since its 65-13 win over Texas in 2003.
Jackson Arnold made his home debut on Friday night as well and threw 4 touchdown passes in the win. Several other Sooners also made successful first appearances at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Here are 3 takeaways from Oklahoma’s victory over Temple:
Oklahoma’s defense was dominant
First, the good news. Oklahoma’s defense looked SEC-ready in just about every facet against Temple. The Sooners forced 4 first-half turnovers (which they converted into 20 points) and then added a couple more takeaways in the second half. The 5th turnover of the game resulted in a scoop-and-score by linebacker Jared Kanak on a punt return.
Oklahoma held Temple to just 3.2 yards per play on the night. Even when the Owls weren’t turning it over, they weren’t doing anything too threatening against the Sooners.
In addition to the turnovers, Oklahoma’s defense registered 6 sacks and 9 tackles for loss.
Good start for Jackson Arnold, Deion Burks
Arnold made the first home start of his career and looked very good, even considering the quality of competition. Arnold completed 17-of-25 passes for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Oklahoma will hope that his yards-per-attempt number rises in the future, but that may have been a function of a toned-down offensive game plan for this week. Arnold did flash plenty of arm strength and showed a willingness to throw the ball into 1-on-1 coverage downfield in certain spots.
Three of Arnold’s 4 touchdown passes went to new OU receiver Deion Burks, who transferred in from Purdue this offseason. It was an excellent debut for Burks, who led the team with 6 catches.
Tight end Bauer Sharp was also making his Oklahoma debut and stood out in a big way. He caught 5 passes for 47 yards — which was tied for the team-high — and snagged the first TD of the night.
Oklahoma’s offensive line struggled
Oklahoma struggled in the run game in this one, particularly early in the contest. OU replaced all 5 offensive linemen this offseason, and their lack of consistency showed up at times in this contest.
OU started the game a remarkable 0-for-11 on 3rd down before finally converting on its final attempt of the game. A lot of those failures came in short yardage situations.
Oklahoma did find some explosive runs in the 4th quarter from Taylor Tatum and Troy Franklin, which helped boost its overall rushing total to 217 yards on the night. But this is certainly something to watch in the future as OU will face stiffer competition in the coming weeks.
It’s also worth noting that Oklahoma suffered a key injury on the offensive line in this game. Center Branson Hickman went down early with an apparent ankle injury and did not return.
Oklahoma will host Houston in Week 2.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
