Oklahoma football's Brent Venables gives eye-opening Tennessee endorsement
09/17/2024 04:24 PM
Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables is giving a ringing endorsement to a new SEC foe. The Sooners head coach thinks that Tennessee is one of the best teams his squad will face all season.
“It's hard to say anyone is playing better in the country right now than Tennessee,” Venables said, per On3.
The Sooners and Volunteers meet in a Week 4 college football showdown. The two teams are both ranked in the top 15 in the country, per the new Associated Press College Football poll. Oklahoma football is ranked no. 15, while Tennessee enters the game with a no. 6 ranking.
Both schools are undefeated. Saturday’s contest will have heavy implications on who may end up going to the SEC championship this season, and subsequently the College Football Playoff. Tennessee football is led by Josh Heupel, who has the team clicking on all cylinders after wins over North Carolina State, Kent State and Chattanooga.
The Volunteers have scored a whopping 191 points in just three games. The Volunteers lead the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging more than 63 points a game this season.
Oklahoma football enters this game with question marks
Oklahoma football has not looked sharp through the first three weeks of the season. While the Sooners are 3-0, the team struggled to get by Houston and needed a late surge to knock off Tulane. The team got its footing back somewhat in Week 3 action, when the Sooners crushed Temple.
One reason why Oklahoma football has slowed down some is because of injuries to the team’s offensive line. The Sooners had to play three different people at center over the course of three games. That’s enough to give any team some whiplash. Oklahoma football wide receiver Nic Anderson also missed time due to an injury, so the offense hasn’t been able to move at a fast pace. Anderson may be able to return to the field for the Tennessee game, per On3.
The Sooners defense is the unit to watch in this contest. Oklahoma is tasked with stopping the best scoring offense in America. Tennessee averages nearly seven points more a game than the team ranked no. 2 in the country in points per game. That team is Ole Miss, with 56 points per contest. The Volunteers are just blasting teams off the face of the Earth so far. Their defense is also solid, giving up only 4 points per game. That’s good enough for third in the entire country, per NCAA stats.
Oklahoma football and Tennessee face off Saturday at 7:30 Eastern.
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