Lou Brown, the manager in the movie Major League, had to famously explain to his baseball team what a winning streak is.
"We won a game yesterday. And if we win one today, that's two in a row. We win one tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before," James Gammon's character quipped.
Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables might need to steal that same line on Saturday night.
The Sooners, at 4-3, have yet to win back-to-back games this season. Every time it seems like they might have turned a corner, they run into another wall. They have another chance to finally end that trend against South Carolina, also 4-3, on Saturday at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Here's my prediction if I believe OU will finally notch two in a row to start that winning streak, plus three more predictions I see unfolding this weekend.
1. Isaiah Sategna surpasses 100 receiving yards again
OU top wideout Isaiah Sategna III just hit the century mark for the second time this season last week against Mississippi State. He led the Sooners with a career-high 164 receiving yards on eight catches that included a 36-yard touchdown. OU even used Sategna to bolster the ground attack, with three carries for 24 yards.
It's clear offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle wants to take advantage of his greatest weapon on offense.
Quarterback John Mateer was also able to find Sategna more often last week while comfortable in the pocket, which could be the result of having starting left tackle Michael Fasusi back. Mateer having more time means Sategna is more likely to break away deep to get chunks of yardage in the blink of an eye.
South Carolina doesn't have a bad secondary, but it's also not great. That doesn't matter, though, because Sategna is a centerpiece of the offense no matter who's across from him and will still put up big numbers on a weekly basis from here on out.
2. OU holds LaNorris Sellers for less than 50 rushing yards
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers just exploded for 96 rushing yards in the Gamecocks' upset of Tennessee last week. That will have to be a vital part of their offense again against OU to succeed, but that doesn't mean Sellers will see the same results.
Unfortunately for Sellers, sacks count against his rushing total, and the Sooners will get to him a few times. That interior defensive line and veterans on the edge will also do a solid job of keeping Sellers in check throughout the game, even on designed runs.
Sellers has averaged 72.4 rushing yards per game this season and has been held under 50 only twice, but the Sooners create an outlier on Saturday. If there's any doubt about whether the Sooners can really pull it off, they shut down Sellers to -9 yards a year ago.
3. Tate Sandell gets back on track with 2+ made field goals
Tate Sandell had to split his practice time this week to basically prove he still deserves to be OU's starting kicker. He was 3-for-6 on his field-goal attempts last week and has been 10-for-16 on the season. Not exactly reliable.
But this is still the same guy who was deemed the best kicker in college football less than a year ago as the Lou Groza Award winner. That player is still in there, and after some competition at practice, I have more faith in Sandell to become nails again than not. If not, though, it might be time to look at another option this late in the season.
Final score prediction: Oklahoma 20, South Carolina 17
South Carolina has proven it can put up a lot of points, while the Sooners, well, haven't. Something has to give on Saturday, and it comes down to OU's defense being better than the Gamecocks' offense, even if it has been able to score against everyone else.
Arbuckle finally conjured up a winning game plan last week, and he should follow the same model again. That will create a rock fight, and as long as Mateer doesn't throw one of those rocks to the other team, the Sooners can do enough to start sniffing a winning streak.
In true Halloween fashion, though, this win won't come without a scary few hours in what will be a close game that comes down to Sandell hitting a clutch field goal.
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