Oklahoma hopes to make it four wins in a row to open the 2025 season when it hosts the Auburn Tigers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Auburn (3-0) is making its first-ever trip to Norman and is one of three SEC teams (Ole Miss and LSU are the others) and five teams overall that will play at Oklahoma this season for the first time. The Tigers come to Oklahoma as the No. 22 team in this week's Associated Press Top 25, the Sooners' second ranked opponent of the season. Oklahoma moved up a couple of spots to No. 11 this week in the AP poll.
Previewing Oklahoma vs. Auburn
Aside from the fact that both teams come into the game on Saturday nationally ranked and undefeated through three game, the principal storyline naturally centers on the return to Norman of Auburn starting quarterback Jackson Arnold. The former five-star recruit and 2022 National Gatorade Player of the Year made 10 starts and appeared in 17 games at Oklahoma over the course of two seasons before entering the Transfer Portal at the end of last season.
Saturday's game will be only the fourth time Oklahoma and Auburn have met in football. The Sooners have won all three previous matchups, including a 27-21 win at Auburn last season. The two other meetings were in the Sugar Bowl in 1971 and 2016.
Both teams have winning margins of at least three-plus touchdowns -- 28 points for Oklahoma and 23 for Auburn -- in their opening three games. Auburn's signature win so far was a 38-24 victory at Baylor to open the season, while Oklahoma knocked off No. 15 Michigan 24-13 in Week 2.
Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be televised by ABC. The announcer crew for the game is Sean McDonough (play by play), Greg McElroy (analyst) and Molly McGrath (sideline reporter).
What to know about Auburn
- The elephant in the room is former Oklahoma starting quarterback and prized recruit Jackson Arnold, who is now the starting quarterback for Auburn. Through three games, Arnold has completed 70% of his passes for 501 yards, four touchdowns and, importantly, no interceptions. In 10 games last season at OU, he completed just 62% of his passes for 1,421 yards, 12 TDs and three interceptions, but also fumbled nine times. It will be interesting to see how Sooner fans react to Arnold's return.
- Auburn is one of the top three rushing teams in the SEC this season, and the Tigers are led in that department by junior running back Jeremiah Cobb, who is averaging 104.7 yards per game and almost seven yards per carry. As a team, the Tigers are averaging 242 yards per game on the ground. As he was at Oklahoma, Arnold is also a threat to run the ball, and he has done so 35 times in the first three games for 192 yards and 5.5 yards per attempt.
- The Tigers have scored 30-plus points in each of their first three games. When Auburn does score 30 or more points under head coach Hugh Freeze, the Tigers are 11-0.
- The Auburn defense is tied for first in the SEC and ranks in the top 15 of FBS teams in tackles for loss this season (26) and rank sixth nationally in sacks (11).
What to know about Oklahoma
- Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer will play in his first SEC game on Saturday. Mateer leads the SEC with 944 passing yards and an average of 314.7 yards per game. The Washington State transfer ranks No. 2 nationally, accounting for 368.3 yards of total offense per game. His performance in the past two weeks has elevated Mateer to a leading candidate for the Heisman this season.
- The Sooners are once again battling injuries on the offensive line. Senior center Troy Everett is out with a season-ending injury, and his backup, Stanford transfer Jake Maikkula, is also banged up. Freshman Michael Fasusi, a five-star recruit, was injured in the Michigan game and didn't play against Temple, but should play on Saturday against Auburn. Left tackle Jacob Sexton was injured in the season opener against Illinois State and hasn't played since.
- Oklahoma leads the SEC in six defensive categories and ranks in the top five nationally in all six: Total defense (181.0 yards allowed per game), passing defense (84.7 yards allowed), scoring defense (6.3), 3rd-down conversion percentage (17.1), passing efficiency rating (76.5) and first downs allowed (9.0 per game).
- The Sooners are one of only three FBS teams with four players who are averaging 50 or more receiving yards per game: TE Jaren Kanak (81.7), WR Deion Burks (75.0), Keontez Lewis (60.3) and Isaiah Sategna III (52.3). Lewis and Sategna are transfer newcomers this season, and Kanak is a converted linebacker.
Key Matchup
Auburn averages 242 rushing yards per game. Oklahoma is allowing an average of 96.3 yards on the ground per game. If the Sooners can stop the Auburn run game and force Jackson Arnold and the Tigers to go to the air more than they want to, Auburn will have to do so against the country's No. 2 pass defense. Oklahoma is allowing just 84.7 passing yards per game through three games.
Numbers to know
O -- Oklahoma is minus-5 in turnover margin (three interceptions and two lost fumbles), but more troublesome than that is the fact that the Sooner defense has no takeaways through three games.
27 -- The Sooners have forced as many punts through three games (27) as they have allowed first downs. The last time OU permitted 27 or fewer first downs through the first three games was in 1985 (16).
84 -- Oklahoma has won its last 84 games when holding the opponent under 21 points.
Prediction
The Auburn defense is a good one, allowing just 14 points a game this season, but Oklahoma's is considerably better and defense will be the deciding factor in this game. Auburn's three-game streak of scoring 30-plus points will end on Owen Field on Saturday.
Oklahoma 34, Auburn 20
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