Editor's Note: This addition to OU Insider VIP is in Year 3 and is set to be the best series yet! Each week I put a bow on the previous game then transition to the upcoming game. Per usual, there will be “bold predictions” at the bottom and I implore you to add your own in the message board replies.

Each year the comments immediate ask “Where are the recipes, Grill Boy??”. Well, this year I am giving you just that! Each week I will be filming a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a dish that coordinates with the opponent for that week. This will live on the OUInsider YouTube Channel.

1. This leadoff is going to go from an offensive line point to a general blocking point. Early in the season people were asking why Taylor Tatum wasn’t getting more run. They were also asking why the run game in general wasn’t producing any explosive plays. The simple answer to both comes down to blocking. Tatum struggled with pass protection early, and has improved. The injuries at wide receiver thrusted a bunch of talented true freshmen onto the field. They did not block well so far too often their man would be factor in the run game. They also improved. The inexperienced offensive line had struggled to pick up blitzes and move bodies in the run game. A failed blitz pickup seemingly by Heath Ozaeta in this game led to Jackson’s potentially fatal pick six.

Here are four key plays where I saw young guys make an impact with their blocking.

First touchdown? Zion Ragins erases defender.

Jackson’s big second quarter run? Zion Kearney erases defender.

Jackson’s big third quarter run? Zion Ragins erases defender.

Final big touchdown run? Heath Ozaeta picks up a blitzing linebacker,Taylor Tatum picks up a blitzing linebacker, and Jackson finds a lane the end zone.

2. Last week I brought forth Tulane HC Jon Sumrall’s words about Oklahoma’s defense from his press conference. If you recall, he said “Good scheme and good players usually make for good football and they’re really well coached with great players.” What started as pregame respect turned into postgame flowers being thrown at first year Sooner DC Zac Alley’s defense. In his postgame comments, Sumrall said of the Oklahoma defense, “I think it’s a very legitimate SEC outfit defensively," and, “the interior d-line and their linebacker group I think’s elite, just watchin’ ‘em. I recruited 28 (Danny Stutsman) when I was at Kentucky. He’s a dude. He plays like a grown man.” And, “I felt 32 (R Mason Thomas) a lot today, their edge guy, I felt him a lot there at the end of the game.” And then finished with, “I watched their defensive backs pre-snap communicate and they did it at an elite level. I was very impressed with their pre-snap communication on recognizing splits, spacing, and what routes were going to come off of it. Credit to them, I think they’re really well coached.”

3. Tulane HC was also asked postgame about how Oklahoma’s offense had differed from what he saw on tape. “I saw Seth after the game and I told him they were more efficient on first down during the game. What made them more successful early in the game on third down than what they had been was that they were in third and two and third and three not third and eight or third and nine.” He jokingly added “They were more first and second down efficient. I don’t have a lot of great third and two or third and three calls for our defensive staff. Third and nine I can call a lot of good defenses.”

4. Last week in the four hole I discussed the possibilities of replacing Jackson Arnold with Michael Hawkins and suggested that it might be wise to wait until Arnold is given a full complement of weapons, intentional playcalling, and protection. The main argument for Hawkins (despite him having a great arm) is what he brings with his legs. Well, Jackson spent all Saturday afternoon reminding everyone that he was a dual threat recruit as he led the Sooners in rushing yards by a wide margin while adding two scores with his legs. These were not touchdowns of the tush-push variety. Both required speed, power, and dare I say a little bit of “wiggle” to get the job done.

Seth Littrell said postgame that the quarterback run game was not something he was wanting to get into this early in the season. I think that’s an interesting thing to admit because it confirms that he’s been holding things back intentionally. It has to make you wonder what else he has up his sleeve and what we might see in SEC play. This feels like another good reason to withhold judgement.

5. On February 2nd, 2022 R Mason Thomas flipped from Iowa State to Oklahoma. This was Miguel Chavis’s first real splash as a recruiter. A quality late eval flip on a high ceiling prospect just before signing day? That’s what BV sold us when he made Chavis one of the highest paid edge coaches in America despite him never having been a position coach. Now, we can cuss and discuss if his room has lived up to those expectations from a production standpoint, but that felt like a win considering the uncertainly lingering from Riley’s departure.

Who was the first true freshman to see the field in 2022? It was R Mason Thomas subbing in for Ethan Downs on a third down in Week 1 against UTEP. Since then all we’ve heard is how he’s been the best edge rusher in camp and practice, but we haven’t seen it in the production. In 2023, Venables said that RMT was the best defensive in fall camp until he got a high ankle sprain. He’d actually injured both ankles. Fast forward to Tuesday, September 17th, 2024 and R Mason Thomas has been named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his Herculean efforts against the Green Wave. In the words of the second greatest basketball player of all time, “It’s about damn time.”

1. On July 21st, 2021, Brent Zwerneman of The Houston Chronicle reported that Oklahoma and Texas were in talks with SEC Officials about leaving the Big 12. Joe Castiglione denied the rumors. Late that evening Jason Whitely of WFAA Dallas tweeted that Oklahoma and Texas would be sending a letter to the Big 12 stating that neither school will renew their media contracts when they expire in 2025.1,158 days later, Oklahoma will host Tennessee in an SEC conference game.I’m not sure if you remember where you were on that Wednesday afternoon, but that day changed the way the sport would operate for likely the rest of our lives. That one change toppled the first domino towards the death of the Pac-12, regionality being thrown out the window, and a brand new playoff structure.

2. Tennessee’s offense is incredible. But so much of their gameplan though the first three games against wildly overmatched opponents can be summed up in one word: pace. Sure, the analytics barely have the Volunteers in the top fifty when it comes to time between snaps. But that’s HEAVILY skewed by them running second half clock in blowouts. I rewatched some Tennessee first quarter drives from this season and found whole drives where they didn’t let the playback get below twenty seven seconds. That is blistering. Oklahoma should be able to call back to the Lebby system and use that to scout Tennessee, but that presents two problems. One, you cannot truly replicate Heupel’s pace, which outran even Lebby’s. Two, Jimmy Greenbeans ain’t no Nico Iamaleava. You simply cannot scout for that kind of quarterback. Luckily Venables has had success against Heupel in the past (Venables’s Clemson defense held Heupel’s Oklahoma offense to six points and Josh was fired a week later). But 2014 was a long time ago and Heupel has gotten much better. As far as the preparation goes, it wouldn’t shock me if part of the staff has been prepping for Tennessee and Texas all year. It wouldn’t be the first time a program has had a sect of the coaching staff prepare for specific performances. Gary Patterson joined the Texas staff as an analyst and (reportedly) spent the year preparing for TCU and Oklahoma.

3. I supposed it’s a good sign when postgame discussion amongst the fans feature everything from the student section departure to the playing surface looking a bit browner than usual. I have no doubt that the students and everybody else will have their hair on fire for this one. I posed the question on Twitter, but this game is the biggest game in Norman since when? Sure, its just a regular season game with no immediate postseason implications, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t massive. College Gameday will be there. Pate, SEC Mike, and other national media will be there. The entire southeastern part of the United States will be watching to see what Oklahoma is all about. The impact of what happens Saturday will be felt for years. Does that feel dramatic? Maybe so. But I don’t feel that I’m overstating the importance of this moment.

4. If Oklahoma is going to stand a chance in this game. It’ll need to stop the highest scoring offense in America. They’ll have to do that by doing what they’ve done all season long. The Sooners rank tenth nationally and second in the SEC with eleven sacks. They rank third in the SEC in tackles for loss. They lead the nation in turnovers while having the second best turnover margin. The next best SEC team? Ole Miss at nineteenth. Now, I can already hear the rebuttals as I type this. “But we haven’t played anybody!” That may be true, but the rest of the country hasn’t played their early schedule against the NFC South. Tennessee may have played the worst nonconference schedule in America. They can suffocate teams like Chattanooga and Kent State. Their lone “good” opponent is a NC State team that looked pedestrian against Western Carolina and LaTech. Many have said this is the best offense and best defense that Oklahoma has seen. I believe this is also the best offense and best defense that Tennessee has seen.

5. If we don’t see Nic Anderson, Troy Everett, and Branson Hickman, I’m going to have to ask Brent Venables for exact definition of the word “soon”. Because it’s starting to sound eerily similar to Lincoln Riley’s definition of the work “close”. In addition to the aforementioned trio, Kendel Dolby, Gentry Williams, Dasan McCullough, and Andrel Anthony’s services could sure be useful in containing the Vols. I cannot imagine what adding nearly a third of your starters back into the fold could do. Will there be rust? Are they healthy enough to return to form? Are they risking reinjury? Am I asking too many questions? Those are all important questions and tough ones that Brent Venables will have to hope he answers correctly. But it’s do or die time in Norman.

Thank God nobody got the score prediction last week correct. That would’ve been upsetting to be correct about.

My prediction:

OU 35, Tennessee 31

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.

Best predictions from last week:

@C_Ray33 correctly predicted “Defense will have 2+ takeaways”. This is getting less bold by the week for the team that leads the nation in turnovers.

@Chiefgelanta correctly predicted “Sooners win TOP” - this feels like a bolder take than most considering our inability to extend drives this year while forcing opposing offenses off the field.

My predictions for Saturday:

1. Anderson plays, and scores twice. I feel like his “welcome to 2024” moment will be loud.

2. Nico is sacked four times. I feel the Tennessee offensive line looked a bit porous against NC State and it seems Halton and RMT have both found their footing.