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Oklahoma football: What fans should know about Sooners vs. UCF

By Chip Rouse

Sep 9, 2023; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Marcus Major (24) celebrates with Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Andrel Anthony (5) and Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Andrew Raym (73) after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 9, 2023; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Marcus Major (24) celebrates with Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Andrel Anthony (5) and Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Andrew Raym (73) after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Week 7 on the Oklahoma football calendar features a matchup with the University of Central Florida (UCF) one of the four newcomers to the Big 12 Conference this season.

UCF comes to the Palace on the Prairie this Saturday on homecoming weekend sporting three consecutive Big 12 losses. But don’t let that fool you, the Knights are capable of beating any Big 12 team on any given weekend and they feature the country’s third-best rushing offense and fourth best overall offense.

This is UCF’s first trip to Norman for football. In fact, it will be the first football game ever between the two teams.

UCF is 3-3 overall this season but is still looking for its first Big 12 win. Like the Sooners, the Knights had a bye last week and haven’t played since losing at Kansas on Oct. 7, 51-22. That same day, the Sooners defeated Texas 34-20 in the annual Red River Rivalry game in the Cotton Bowl.

A win on Saturday would give No. 6 Oklahoma its third 7-0 start over the past 18 seasons and the eighth time since 2015 that the Sooners have produced a winning streak of at least seven games.

Saturday’s game also marks a reunion for OU quarterback Dillon Grabriel with his former team. Gabriel started his collegiate career at UCF, where he started 26 games over two full seasons and the beginning of a third before breaking his collarbone in the third game of the 2021 season. Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was at UCF in the same capacity during Gabriel’s freshman season with former OU offensive coordinator and former quarterback Josh Heupel as head coach.

Gus Malzahn, the current head coach of the Knights, was there in Gabriel’s final season at UCF in 2021.

The game on Saturday will be Oklahoma’s third 11 a.m. kickoff in the last four games. The game will be televised by ABC with an announce crew of Dave Pasch, former Oklahoma player Dusty Dvoracek and Tom Luginbill.

What fans should know about UCF

Next to Texas, UCF may be the best offense Oklahoma faces all season. The Knights are averaging 35 points and 517 yards of offense through six games. The bulk of that has come on the ground with UCF averaging 246 rushing yards per contest, third best among FBS teams. UCF’s total offense numbers rank fourth best nationally.

UCF expects to have back starting quarterback John Rhys Plumley on Saturday. Plumlee has missed several games with a knee injury. Plumlee poses a dual threat for the OU defense with his ability to run and mobility outside of the pocket. The Knight running attack is a two-man show with RJ Harvey and Johnny Richardson. The pair have combined for close to 1,000 yards. Harvey averages 5.7 yards per carry and Richardson 8.3.

The UCF offense is keyed by one of the best offensive lines in the country. It is one of the 23 O-lines listed on the midseason honor roll for the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football.

Defensively, UCF is not as strong. The Knights rank 79th in total defense, 114th in third-down conversion percentage defense and 63rd in Red Zone defense.

What fans should know about Oklahoma

Head coach Brent Venables has been emphasizing all week that, while the win over Texas was big, it was only one step toward the team’s overall goals for the season. And with six regular-season games still to be played, there is still much left to be accomplished. Anyone concerned about a post-Texas hangover should know that the Sooners are 23-1 since the start of the 1999 season immediately following their annual rivalry game against Texas.

Dillon Gabriel is on track to have his best college season. He ranks first in the Big 12 in six passing categories (total offense, points responsible per game, pass efficiency rating, passing offense passing TDs and pass completion percentage) and second in another (passing yards per attempt), and he ranks in the top-10 nationally in seven of the eight (he is 11th in passing yards per attempt).

The Sooners will be without leading WR Andrel Anthony for the rest of the season. Anthony suffered a non-contact knee injury in the Texas game. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by redshirt freshman Nic Anderson.

OU’s defensive numbers are dramatically improved over what they were a year ago. The most striking are scoring defense (14.0 points allowed per game, 4th nationally), third-down conversions defense (11th nationally), Red Zone defense (3rd nationally) and turnover margin (1st nationally).

Key matchups

Two key matchups in OU versus UCF are:

  • The Sooner defense against the country’s third-best rushing offense. The Knights are averaging 246 rushing yards per game; OU is allowing an average of 164 rushing yards.
  • Switching sides, Oklahoma ranks fourth nationally in passing yards per game (341 per game). UCF, on the other hand, is allowing just 190 passing yards per contest.

Striking Sooner stat

Oklahoma had held each of its first five opponents this season to 20 points or fewer. The last time the Sooners did that was in 2000, the year OU won its most recent national championship.

Prediction

Everyone expects the Sooners to win this game. In fact, the Las Vegas oddsmakers don’t think it will be close, favoring Oklahoma by 19.0 points. I don’t think it will be one-score close, but I’m not sure the Sooners will cover the spread. Oklahoma wins 49-31.

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