NORMAN — When Oklahoma kicked off its first game of the 2023 season on Saturday against Arkansas State, the Sooners were listed as a 36-point favorite.
Even line makers couldn't have foreseen the shellacking that would ensue shortly after 11:00 a.m., as OU led 45-0 at halftime and eventually coasted to a 73-0 win.
During the broadcast, ESPN cameras captured Arkansas State head coach Butch Jones kneeling on the sidelines in dismay, as his team was utterly overwhelmed by the Sooners. His comments after the game reflected that, as Jones spoke to the grandeur of his Week 1 opponent.
"Brent [Venables] has done a really good job of really elevating this football team from last year," Jones said in the opening comments of his post-game press conference. "There was a marked difference with the football team from what we saw on video. They're tough. They're physical. I thought they 'out-athleted' us. The speed differential is probably the most glaring I've probably seen in my career.
"When you play a team like Oklahoma, they're a top-25 football team for a reason. You watch the success that they'll have this year. This is a talented football team. They challenge you in so many ways. You have to be disciplined in the details."
The Sooners' offense was firing on all cylinders, as Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold helped lead the Sooners to points in each of their first 11 drives. Defensively, OU controlled the game with equal dominance, shutting out the Red Wolves for the first time since they suffered a 55-0 loss to Georgia in 2019. It was also the first time that the Sooners shut out an FBS opponent since its 55-0 victory over Kansas State in 2015.
All offseason, the Oklahoma coaching staff and the players have preached about having more success on third down, both offensively and defensively. On Saturday, they did just that, holding ASU to 2-12 on third down while converting on 11 of their own 14 third-down tries.
The Sooners' passing offense was particularly sharp too, with Gabriel and Arnold completing 30-33 (90.9%) of their attempts, a single-game school record at Oklahoma.
Oklahoma's defense was as efficient as it's been in years in Week 1, with Arkansas State's 208 total yards being the lowest total an FBS opponent has mustered against the Sooners since they held TCU to 204 yards in 2019.
Now, the question is — how much stock should fans put into Saturday's performance?
Yes, Arkansas State was certainly outmatched in this game, and it would be wise to take everything that transpired on Saturday with a grain of salt. However, anyone who watched yesterday's game could see that the 2023 version of Oklahoma is quite different from the team that played on Owen Field in 2022.
The Sooners imposed their physicality early and often on Saturday, and they exhibited a tenacity and drive that folks in Norman haven't seen for 60 minutes in quite some time. The team was disciplined, and it was clear from the first whistle that they were there to take care of business. This team thoroughly dominated a lesser opponent, which is something it has struggled to do in recent years.
In not so many words, Team 129 mirrored the intensity and focus of its head coach, while Team 128 appeared to have something of an identity crisis after struggling to transition after the previous regime left.
While much of the national narrative this offseason has been doubting in Venables' ability to turn things around after a 6-7 season a year ago, a 73-0 victory over a Sun Belt opponent will certainly help quiet some of that noise out the gate.
If nothing else, they've made a believer out of the first coach they've faced in 2023.
"They're a damn good football team."
