Former starting Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, now with the Auburn Tigers, will return to Norman this week, but the Sooners won't be hospitable hosts.
The No. 11 Sooners will host No. 22 Auburn at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for both teams' SEC openers. The game will be on ABC.
Score prediction for Sooners vs. Tigers
The Sooners went to Auburn last season and beat the Tigers thanks to Kip Lewis' clutch pick-6 to notch their first SEC win in program history as Arnold watched from the sidelines after getting benched for freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. A lot has obviously changed since, with Arnold wearing the other jersey and both fan bases swearing their team is a lot better a year later. And both fan bases would be correct.
Both teams are off to 3-0 starts with wins over Power Four opponents and have made upgrades at the most important position on the field, as Auburn has Arnold and the Sooners brought in Washington State transfer John Mateer, who has emerged as a Heisman Trophy favorite.
The biggest difference, though, is that last season, the Sooners had the disadvantages going on the road in the midst of a QB battle with a freshman leading the offense. On Saturday, the Sooners will have all the advantages in front of Sooner Nation.
OU head coach Brent Venables took over defensive play-calling duties and has the Sooners as a top-5 defense in the country as a defensive guru. Like I've already written, Venables has never been more prepared to face an opposing quarterback than he will be against Arnold as his former player.
Arnold is still the same player he was at OU. He's elite running the ball, but he almost never throws the ball beyond 10 yards. Arnold does more with his legs than his arm, but Venables obviously knows to prepare for that.
Despite leading the entire season, the Sooners are giving up just 84.7 passing yards a game, which is second-best in FBS. If the Sooners shut down Auburn's running game or get ahead early to force the Tigers to rely on their passing attack, this thing could get ugly.
OU could also put points up quick with Mateer, who leads the SEC in passing yards, going up against Auburn's thin secondary that's the third-worst pass defense in the conference. From there, Mateer and the Sooners' host of running backs should be able to take control on the ground.
Prediction: Oklahoma 31, Auburn 13
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