Since it is Week 6, we will discuss Iowa State, preview Texas, and make some bold predictions.

1. Going into the Oklahoma matchup, Iowa State led the Big 12 in Total Defense. I am of the opinion that teams with elite schemes tend to have better total defense statistics and teams with elite players tend to have better scoring defense statistics. At the end of the day, it didn’t seem like Iowa State had either against Oklahoma. Iowa State hadn’t given up over 500 yards since November 13th, 2021 in a shootout with Texas Tech despite playing Clemson and the national runner-up version of TCU during that stretch. OU could’ve put up a much gaudier number if they wanted to on Saturday. The statistics won’t match up to Arkansas State or Tulsa, but I think most people are in agreement that this was Dillon’s best performance in an Oklahoma uniform. It’s about (dime)time for some of his doubters to see a performance like that.

2. Was it the time of the game? Was it the improved tailgating? Was it pre-Texas buzz? Was it something in the air? Who knows? But what I do know is THAT crowd was “SEC Ready." I spent time walking around to about five different tailgates, and the town was buzzing. Campus Corner was absolutely packed. Bars and restaurants were spilling out on to the street. At one point someone asked me “If this if like this now, what happens when thousands of SEC fans come to town?” I think that was the first time in a while that someone thought that we didn’t have enough space on Campus Corner for all of the football fans. That pick-six by Billy Bowman had the crowd the loudest it had been since I don’t know when. I’ll gladly take suggestions from those who were there, but I was already getting messages from people at home that said you could hear the crowd on the TV broadcast. Bravo, Sooner fans.

3. Saturday’s tilt was the first in which Gabriel has rushed for multiple touchdowns since donning the crimson and cream. Dillon led the team in yards per carry and trucked an Iowa State defender for one of his scores. After that play he flexed and jawed a bit more that usual, and it felt like THAT Dillon is the one that needs to show up to the Cotton Bowl. There’s something to be said for a quarterback lowering his shoulder and firing up his team. Can a quarterback fire up himself by going and hitting someone? I sure think so. After the game ISU coach Matt Campbell, who has seen Heisman Trophy winners aplenty come through Norman, said that Dillon is as talented as anybody he's played against. Campbell continued, “We’ve played against some great quarterbacks (at Oklahoma) and some great quarterbacks in this conference. But boy, I just feel like the veteran-ness of a guy that’s been in the system now for a long time and really confident with his playmakers, really confident in the scheme - he played like an elite quarterback tonight.” I think the biggest change for Gabriel is the confidence in his playmakers, and when looking at the plays that guys like Andrel Anthony, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq and Jayden Gibson are making, it's easy to see why.

4. There is a three-way tie for interceptions leader for this Sooner defense. Gentry Williams, Key Lawrence, and Bowman all have a couple. But I want to turn the attention to Gentry. The first-year starter is playing like a guy we might only have for one more year. He’s got good size (no corner taken in the first round last year was below 6’0), world-class speed, and Jay Valai and Jerry Schmidt have been doing some of their best work with the former 918 blue-chipper. Sure, he had a great interception against Iowa State, but it’s his consistent ability to get off blocks and get upfield on bubble screens that’s most impressive to me. He did that again against the ‘Clones for a tackle for loss. Much of our defensive ineptitude under the previous regime can be attributed to poor tackling, which is ironic since we had a linebacker coaching corners. This year? Guys like Gentry, Kendel Dolby, Kani Walker, and Woodi Washington have been stellar. If Xavier Worthy catches a bubble on the outside early in this one like he did in 2021, I’ll be glad we have one of those guys out there this time instead of Latrell “burnt toast” McCutchin.

5. In the postgame presser, Campbell discussed how good OU was on 1st down in the first half as the game got away from them. If you recall, Brent Venables had mentioned “P & 10” being a point of emphasis. P stands for possession in this instance, so it’s abundantly clear that the staff was really stressing the importance of starting drives well. Here is how each of the six offensive drives started in the first half.

P & 10 at OU 25 - Dillon to Andrel for 16 yards

P & 10 at OU 25 - Gavin Sawchuk 7-yard run

P & 10 at OU 25 - Marcus Major run for no gain (next play 54-yard pass to Brenen Thompson)

P & 10 at OU 25 - Dillon to Jalil for 8 yards

P & 10 at OU 42 - Major nearly has his head ripped off for 15 yards

P & 10 at ISU 43 - Drake Stoops run for 13 yards

So, three first downs (one by penalty), two 2nd & shorts, and one for no gain which was followed by the longest offensive gain of the day. I’d say Brent would take that every week.

1. We made it. 5-0 just as we all had hoped. Now? The game that’s been circled for 51 weeks. The social media haymakers have already started. From Texas, you have a bunch of “49-0” and “Y’all haven’t played anybody!”, which is to be expected. The craziest thing I’ve seen, though? Texas fans (and hopefully their players) think that beating Alabama on the road means that they will be invincible the rest of the season. While Wyoming hung around into the 4th quarter in Austin, and Texas has gotten fat on playing the backups of Wyoming, Baylor, and Kansas, the argument could be made that OU has seen the better collective quarterback play between the two. One thing I know for sure? Dillon is the best quarterback that Texas will face in the regular season. I’m not sure we can say that about Quinn Ewers. He looked great against Alabama, but has struggled mightily with consistency against the softer parts of their schedule. Against lowly Rice, Ewers only completed 63% of his passes and repeatedly missed receivers down field (0/7 on passes longer than 20+ yards). Against Wyoming he was even worse, completing only 52.4% of his passes for 131 yards. So Dillon admittedly has been inconsistent by Oklahoma standards, but compared to Quinn Ewers he’s been as steady as a metronome.

2. When considering the classic “strengths vs. weaknesses” mismatch conversation, I couldn’t help but land at the same place no matter how much I watched of each team. Texas’s interior DL has a chance to wreck this game if Oklahoma’s interior OL isn’t up to the task. Knowing this, I expect to see a lot of the offense play calling to avoid the middle. Texas’s ends aren’t nearly as talented and our tackles have the advantage there. Our wide receivers are fantastic blockers. Additionally, if you get the ball moving sideline to sideline with bubble screens and outside runs, those big, lumbering defensive linemen will eventually wear down. I trust Lebby to scheme around Texas’s biggest advantage if the interior is having some trouble early.

3. One thing that is glaringly obvious when watching Texas play is their weakness at corner. Wide receivers have consistently blown by Texas corners on go routes, and any combination of Anderson/Gibson/Andrel/Thompson will require Texas to drop two safeties to help with coverage. Additionally? Much is being made of Jatavion Sanders’s injury, but Ryan Watts’s injury is also key. The 6’3 former Sooner commit didn’t finish the game against Kansas and may be their only answer for the Gibson/Anderson size in the red zone. He has two true freshmen backing him up on the depth chart and Texas is already thin in the secondary. That’ll be something to keep an eye on.

4. Welcome back to this week’s episode of “Who the heck is going to get the running back carries?” We ask that question each week and you can never be sure if your answer is spot on or idiotic. Last week I picked Tawee and he only got 4 carries. For my money this week? Major. I think the key to this game will be getting outside in the run game and the quick pass game. I really like what I’ve seen from him outside, which is odd because his size would suggest that he’d be a handful on the interior. With Jovontae Barnes reportedly fighting to get healthy, and Walker being a between the tackles weapon, I think Major is the right answer.

5. Oklahoma defenders have consistently been in the opposing offense’s backfield throughout the season. I have no clue why but this feels like a coming out party for two of Oklahoma’s youngest defenders. This is the game Adepoju Adebawore and R Mason Thomas become household names. Adebowore has improved each week and Venables has publicly demanded that he plays more snaps. Thomas was many people’s pick for end-of-season sack leader before he got banged up. He played a bit against Iowa State to shake the cobwebs off, but I think they take the bubble wrap off of him this week and turn him loose. I think those two combine for 3-plus sacks in this game, and I feel conservative typing that. The interior of Texas’s line is where their offense is weakest, so our big fresh bodies can make sure Ewers doesn’t escape up the middle. It should be tee-off season for our young guns.

Each week we’ll see if anyone can nail the exact score. If you do, I’ll try and get Parker to send you a can of Olipop or something. (I have not discussed this with him, but I can at least try!)

None hit the Iowa State score, so off we go!

My prediction:

OU 38

Texas 28

Throughout the season we will do bold predictions for each game. I will start us off, and then I will ask the members to give me some bold predictions in the comments. From the member-produced predictions, I’ll add any that came true to the next article.

Most accurate member predictions last week:

@Hoodleehoo — “three receptions of over 20 yards, each by a different receiver.” Gibson, Anderson, Farooq, and Thompson all had catches of 39+. "OU will get a shutout in one of the two halves” Oklahoma allowed zero points and fewer than 90 yards in the second half.

@LesWilson79 — “Oklahoma will score 3 TD’s of over 40 yards” You were close enough on this with a 44 yard pick-six, a 39-yard catch, and a 41-yard catch.

My predictions for Texas:

1. Oklahoma will force Ewers into two turnovers. Ewers has struggled with the deep ball and does not handle pressure well. Methinks some back-foot throws and perhaps some pressure getting home will cause problems for the third-year QB that is still graded on potential for some reason.

2. True freshmen combine for three sacks. Adepoju will likely have to do the heavy lifting here but I might get help from Peyton Bowen on a blitz. (Running this one back)

3. A running back has a 50-plus yard run. I think the outside runs will get going from side to side and somebody plants a foot and gets north/south. I think this is finally when we see a big run, because we have to eventually… right…..? Right guys?

Reminder: Please add your score prediction and bold prediction for the game.

Boomer Sooner!

Beat Texas!