We’ve been waiting on this one for a long time.
It’s finally here. Tennessee will head to Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday night to face the Oklahoma Sooners, officially welcoming them to the Southeastern Conference. It’s the conference opener for both sides, and even though it’s still early in the season, the stakes are high.
The winner of this game will be firmly on the path to the College Football Playoff, while the loser must stare down a loaded SEC schedule to get back in the hunt. We’ve got postseason ramifications, a big time quarterback matchup, and a beloved former player turned fired coach returning to the place where it all began for him. What more could you ask for?
Josh Heupel’s return to Norman
It’s got to be a little strange, doesn’t it? The former Oklahoma quarterback — the guy that led the Sooners to a National Championship — was fired by Bob Stoops 15 years later. Heupel returned to Norman as an assistant coach back in 2004, slowing working his way up the coaching ladder. That eventually led to a co-offensive coordinator position under Stoops.
Following a disappointing 8-5 season in 2014, Stoops made the difficult decision to let go of Heupel. Fast-forward a decade, and here’s Heupel leading his sixth-ranked Volunteers into his old stomping grounds.
“It will be unique,” Heupel said of his return. “I have teammates and friends back there. They hit me up a little bit early. They were starting last week already. It will be unique going back into that stadium. It’s going to be a (different) viewpoint. I am not sure I spent a day on the opposing sideline inside the stadium — not even for scrimmage. It will be different.”
It all worked out in the end. Heupel spent a season at Utah State before becoming the offensive coordinator at Missouri in 2016. That put him on track to land the UCF job, which eventually led him to Knoxville. His work since then has been nothing short of spectacular, quickly turning around a program that was buried for so long.
Heupel will walk into Norman favored to beat his alma mater by a touchdown on Saturday night.
Tennessee’s defensive front vs. Oklahoma’s offensive line
Onto the game. For all the talk about Nico Iamaleava and the offense, it’s been Tennessee’s defense really stealing the show so far this season. Defensive line coach Rodney Garner has gone to work for three years to rebuilt his room, now he’s got a group that can legitimately go 12-deep without any falloff at all.
Tennessee’s depth and ability to stay fresh is a big story here, and you saw that play out two weeks ago in Charlotte against NC State. By the end of that one, the Volunteers were just teeing off on a worn down Wolfpack offensive line. James Pearce, Omari Thomas, Bryson Eason, Dominic Bailey and a host of others all got in on the action in the backfield, powering Tennessee to a 51-10 victory.
On the flipside, Oklahoma’s offensive line has really struggled through three games. The Sooners have allowed a whopping nine sacks to open the season. They’ve also allowed 17 tackles for loss during that span, while averaging just 4.34 yards per rush.
With perhaps the best defensive front in the country coming to town on Saturday night, Oklahoma’s offensive line has a massive challenge ahead of them.
“James Pearce, he might be the best guy in the country on defense,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said this week. “And (Tennessee is) really experienced upfront, very disruptive, very athletic. They’re long, explosive. They’ve got several new guys in the back end, but they’ve got length, they can run sideline to sideline. They’re playing really aggressive. They mix it up. They got good balance to what they do.”
Jackson Arnold vs. Nico Iamaleava
Big time games feature big time players, and it’s tough to get more star-studded than this matchup under center. Two former five-star quarterback prospects will square off on Saturday night, both looking to capitalize with the entire country watching.
Nico Iamaleava was the No. 1 ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, according to On3. Jackson Arnold was the third-ranked signal caller in the cycle. Both players have just four starts under their belt, with each taking over at the end of last season for bowl games. Iamaleava led Tennessee to a 35-0 Citrus Bowl win over Iowa, while Oklahoma dropped the Alamo Bowl to Arizona.
Iamaleava is off to a statistically better start, which kicked off during week one as he set a Tennessee record for most passing yards in a half (314) against Chattanooga. He followed that up with another strong showing against NC State, tossing two touchdowns and running for 65 yards on the ground.
“Man, what talent,” Brent Venables said of Iamaleava. “He was named the Citrus Bowl MVP in his first start against the University of Iowa last year. He’s fun to watch and he’s incredibly talented. Strong arm, great runner. The things he’s been able to do in just such a short amount of time, he’s complete in 72% of his passes and has just been fantastic. And he’s got a great presence to him.”
Arnold is off to a slower start through the air, but help sounds like it’s on the way. Oklahoma should get two of their top receivers back, with Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony listed as probable.
“I think he’s got great command and presence in what they’re doing offensively,” Josh Heupel said of Arnold. “He has the ability to use his feet to make things right. That can be when the pocket breaks down, designed quarterback, run, read game. He’s a really talented young player.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on ABC.