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Oklahoma football: Seven things Sooner fans should know ahead of season opener

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 25: A general view of the stadium during the West Virginia Mountaineers vs. the Oklahoma Sooners game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 25: A general view of the stadium during the West Virginia Mountaineers vs. the Oklahoma Sooners game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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The 128th season of Oklahoma football kicks off on Saturday with a home game at Gaylord Family– Oklahoma Memorial Stadium against the University of Texas-El Paso Miners.

The game will be broadcast on FOX, starting at 2:30 p.m. CT, with Jason Benetti and Brock Huard doing the announcing.

The Sooners are 98-23-6 all-time in season openers and are 79-15-4 in home season openers at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. This is the 100th season at the site of their current stadium, which opened in 1923.

Oklahoma is ranked No. 9 to start the season in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. This is the 23rd consecutive season the Sooners have been ranked in the preseason AP Top-25 poll, and they have been ranked 10th or better in 20 of the last 22 preseason polls.

Here’s something else that is very interesting about Oklahoma’s all-time preseason ranking: The Sooners’ average preseason ranking, since the first AP preseason ranking came out in 1950, is 6.6. That is the best in the country. Alabama ranks second at 7.2.

Since the 2000 season, Oklahoma is the only team in the country that has not had a losing record in any season.

Turning now to this week’s main even, here are seven things for Sooner fans to know ahead of Saturday’s showdown at the Palace on the Prairie between OU and UTEP:

  • Saturday, of course, marks the head-coaching debut of Oklahoma’s Brent Venables. In 26 seasons as a full-time assistant (three at Kansas State, 13 at Oklahoma and 10 at Clemson), Venables’ teams have compiled an overall record of 291-57 (.836) and a winning record in all 26 seasons. The first-year OU head coach knows a thing or two about coaching in big games. He has been on the sidelines for eight national championship games (four at Oklahoma and four at Clemson) and won three national championships. His teams have won 13 conference titles and been to 30 postseason bowl games (including CFP appearances).
  • Oklahoma is 4-0 all-time against UTEP. The average score of those four games is 51-7.
  • The Sooners have won 130 of 141 games played at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the beginning of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops’ first season at OU and with Venables on the staff as co-defensive coordinator).
  • UTEP is 4-56 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
  • UTEP has amassed more than 300 yards of total offense in 15 consecutive games and gone over 400 yard in each of its last two (including a 31-13 loss to North Texas last weekend).
  • Oklahoma is 81-5 over the last 10 seasons when scoring 35 or more points. The Sooners are 70-3 when they score at least 40 points. OU is a 31.5-point favorite over UTEP.
  • OU has lost three season openers since the Bob Stoops era began in 1999 (2005 at home to TCU; 2009 to BYU on a neutral field; and 2016 at No. 15 Houston).
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