Oklahoma enters Saturday’s home matchup as 16.5-point betting favorites against SMU (5 p.m., ESPN+).

While that means the Sooners are significant favorites for the second-consecutive week, it’s not quite the same as last week’s opener against Arkansas State. The Sooners were nearly 37-point favorites against the Red Wolves, and nearly 90 players saw snaps in their eventual 73-point win.

The Sooners may not have that luxury against the Mustangs, even if they are still heavy favorites to win at Owen Field. That means there could be more conclusions to draw when it comes to the Sooners’ play on the field.

As we look ahead to the Sooners’ Week 2 matchup, here’s a few things that should be interesting to watch:

OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby made it clear on Monday — the coaching staff is still trying to sort out the running back room.

As of now, there’s not a lead running back, and rushing attempts will be divided somewhat evenly.

“As we move forward, there’s going to be something about a guy having a hot hand,” Lebby said. “If a guy is in a rhythm and playing really well, that’s going to play into it. We were very pointed in how we wanted to operate the other day and how we wanted to share carries and workloads. But as we move forward, guys that get in rhythm and have the hot hand will continue to get the rock.”

That seems simple enough. Whoever is having the most success out of the four main running backs — Jovantae Barnes, Gavin Sawchuk, Marcus Major and Tawee Walker — in a particular game will see the most carries.

However, that’s not exactly how it shook out against Arkansas State. Walker got the start and ran the most efficiently, averaging 5.5 yards per carry while adding two touchdowns. But Walker only saw eight carries, while Barnes saw 13 (3.4 YPC) and Major saw nine (3.8 yards per carry). And that doesn’t include Sawchuk, who was held out for cautionary reasons.

Sawchuk is expected to play against the Mustangs, meaning the Sooners will have another running back who needs touches. Will the coaching staff try to find equal playing time for all four players? Will any of the running backs find the “hot hand” and separate themselves from the pack?

Even if the Sooners win comfortably, SMU should pose a greater challenge than Arkansas State. The final box score could be pretty telling when it comes to the running backs.

Farooq saw two targets against Arkansas State and didn’t record a reception. Stogner played 31 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, but didn’t see a single target.

The Sooners didn’t really need either of them against the Red Wolves. 11 different players recorded at least one reception, and the Sooners finished with 422 passing yards and three touchdowns.

The wide receiver room is full of talented players who are capable of making an impact, but Farooq is easily the most experienced wideout outside of Drake Stoops. Stogner also gives the Sooners much-needed experience at tight end, though it appears the coaching staff used last week as an opportunity to play a bunch of players.

“(We) tried to get Stog a couple balls (but it) never ended up working out,” Lebby said. “But he played tough, and he strained and a guy that (we’re) glad that he's here. So got to clean up, got to play better like every one of us do. Blake Smith really did a nice job played a bunch of snaps. Kade McIntyre played a bunch of snaps. Josh (Fanuiel) played. So being able to play all four of those guys for the depth of that room and how we're going to operate moving forward was huge.”

The Sooners may not need Farooq and Stogner to have big games against SMU. But it’ll be interesting to see if the Sooners make an effort to get them involved.

The Sooners’ defense recorded just one sack and six tackles for loss against Arkansas State, leading some to criticize the defensive line. But there weren’t many opportunities to make plays against the Red Wolves, who emphasized quick passing plays and routinely dropped two or three extra players into pass protection.

Venables noted that on Tuesday, but he expects SMU will provide a better test for his defensive line.

“I think (the defensive line) will be tested in a different way,” Venables said. “We saw 50 plays. We only saw a handful of third (down) and medium or short. The ball is coming out quick or they are running the football. They ran on one of the third and longs and on another third and long, we had a bust (in coverage). We didn’t have a chance there. The quarterback literally caught it and threw it in 1.5 seconds. We saw very little dropbacks. It was a three-step (drop) and seven and eight-man protections…”

The SMU game should be a better indicator of how much the defensive line has improved from a year ago. Plus, it should be interesting to see how many defensive lineman see the field. Last week, the starters were Rondell Bothroyd, Jonah Laulu, Da’Jon Terry and Trace Ford. Will it be the same starting group against the Mustangs?