The Maine game comes at a fantastic time for Oklahoma.

The Sooners (4-4, 1-4) have dropped three straight games by a combined 69 points, with each loss coming by double digits. Now, a non-conference contest that appeared to be an afterthought is now a much-needed opportunity for the Sooners to regroup before a tough three-game stretch to end the season.

However, Saturday (1:30 p.m., ESPN+) is more than just a chance to generate momentum.

The Sooners are a 34.5-point home favorite, and if this game goes as expected it could be decided by halftime. That should give an opportunity for an extended playing time for the young players. But this isn't just a chance to further their development — the Sooners need to see if any of these players can contribute the rest of the way, and see where they can improve heading into next season.

Here's a look at four players who fit that billing perfectly.

The second-year player appeared to have his "moment" against Tennessee. After playing just 22 snaps over the first three weeks, he played a career-high 22 snaps against Tennessee and finished with an 88.8 defensive grade, the fourth-highest grade among linebackers, per Pro Football Focus.

His six tackles included a tackle for loss, which was arguably the highlight of the game.

He appeared to be on his way to a steady, consistent role the rest of the season. Instead, he's played just 21 total snaps since then — one fewer than he played in the entire game against Tennessee.

The Sooners do have a veteran linebacker room with Danny Stutsman, Kip Lewis, Kobie McKinzie and Dasan McCullough. But it's been unexpected to see Carter almost completely out of the rotation. He played just one snap against Ole Miss.

On the season, he has the sixth-highest defensive grade (79.2) and the third-highest run-defense grade (84.6), per PFF. He has 16 tackles and two tackles for loss in 65 snaps. Carter figures to be a heavy part of the rotation next season and should see extended snaps against Maine, and probably the rest of the season, too.

Normally, it'd be beneficial for a true freshman cornerback to watch from the sidelines. The Maine game would simply be an opportunity for rare snaps.

But given how much OU's secondary has struggled, this should be considered an audition for Jordan the rest of the way. Fellow true freshman Eli Bowen has already asserted himself as the best available cornerback, but Dez Malone and Kani Walker haven't done nearly enough to seal up that other cornerback spot. Woodi Washington has been a disappointment this season and has spent a lot of his time at cornerback, and Gentry Williams is out the rest of the year.

That means Jordan should be given a legitimate opportunity.

He's played just 24 snaps this season, but 15 of those came against South Carolina. It's a small sample size, but he has a 65.1 coverage grade this season — five points higher than Walker. He's not the biggest cornerback (5-foot-11), and of course it's risky to play two true freshmen at cornerback, but that's where things are at with the Sooners.

Jordan has appeared in three games this season, and two more appearances would make him ineligible for a redshirt. But the coaching staff cant really afford to worry about that too much.

Autry-Dent has been a huge topic of discussion this week. Venables lauded his growth the last couple of weeks, and he's been elevated off the scout team and will be on the two-deep depth chart this weekend.

Autry-Dent will almost certainly play. The question now is, how much?

The Sooners will almost certainly be without Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor, who've both soaked up a ton of reps at tackle. Without those two, the Sooners' options are limited. Logan Howland showed last week he's still very much a work in progress.

Given how much the offensive line has struggled this season — 39 sacks allowed, the most in the FBS — there was already an argument that the Sooners needed to play the younger guys. But now with injuries popping up, the Sooners almost have no chance.

This can't just extend to the Maine game. Autry-Dent hasn't played this season and could still play in every game this season while maintaining a redshirt. He should see heavy snaps this weekend.

Eddy Pierre-Louis could be thrown into this discussion, too.

This may seem a bit odd, given Tatum's had a pretty sizable role this season as a true freshman.

But this weekend is the perfect opportunity to give Tatum some extended reps.

He's definitely shown his explosiveness this season. He has 33 carries for 191 yards this season, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt — the best among any OU players to register at least 20 carries. He's averaging 3.55 yards after contact, the most among any of OU's running backs.

But there's been two glaring issues: ball security and pass protection. Tatum has fumbled three times in his 33 carries, and he's fumbled once in three of the last four games. He has a 45.6 grade in pass protection, the third-worst on the team behind Jake Roberts and Sam Franklin.

Assuming the Sooners hold a big lead by halftime, it should be the Tatum show in the second half. It would be the first glance of Tatum as a three-down back and give him some extra reps to work on his fumbling issue and to help develop some skills in pass protection.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Adepoju Adebawore, David Stone, Jayden Hardy, Michael Boganowski, Reggie Powers

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