Oklahoma vs. Tennessee SEC Opener Showdown Tonight

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00:00Oklahoma now enters the SCC. A top 15 tilt tonight under the

00:07lights in Norman. His 15th ranked OU, host number six

00:12Tennessee. Both teams unbeaten but nobody's been better

00:15covering spreads than the Volunteers. Kev, we've seen a

00:18little bit of movement in this number as well. It points this

00:20week. It was north of a touchdown as we enter game day

00:24Saturday live right here on College Football today. It's

00:26under that TD number. Six and a half in favor of the Vols. I

00:31said nobody better than Tennessee covering numbers this

00:33year. One of four FBS programs in the first three weeks that

00:37was booked as a favorite in all three games and cover the

00:41number in all three as a favorite and nobody by more

00:44than Tennessee. An average cover margin of 27.2 points per

00:50game. They are overwhelming even the high odds expectation.

00:54Does that continue in their SCC opener tonight in Oklahoma?

00:58So, just to add to your point, Tennessee looks like the

01:01absolute best team in college football. I know it's three

01:04games. You, ah, Kent State, it was 65-0 at half, okay? That

01:08means if you made them, they could have gone out there and

01:11beat a team 100-0, okay? Oh, it's again 69-3 Chattanooga and

01:15that's not even the point. I know NC State looks lifeless.

01:18We'll get to their game today against Clemson 51-10 but more

01:22importantly, how did they get the touchdown in that game? A

01:25pick six. The biggest thing for Tennessee this season in terms

01:29of can this team be legit? We knew Nikko would be good. We

01:32know Josh, Josh Heupel's very good call in an offense to Josh

01:35Heupel, you know, bowl today that we have here with Oklahoma

01:37and all that stuff, okay? Is how good would the defense be?

01:40Well, they have the, they're averaging the third best in

01:44terms of yards per play to opponents so far this season. I

01:47look at this football game, the side is a little tricky though

01:50because Oklahoma at home at Norman. I think this will now

01:54be the newest, toughest test that Nikko has faced. I love

01:57the under in this football game. Fifty-seven and a half, I'll

02:00tell you right now, it's my best bet here on a Saturday

02:03under Oklahoma, Tennessee. Arguably, two of the ten best

02:07defenses in college football are going head to head. I took on

02:10that under in the NC State game. I had to get saddled with a

02:13push. That was because of two pick sixes over 80 yards that

02:18were returned in that football game. Oklahoma's offense so far

02:2298th yards per play. Last season, ninth. Jackson Arnold,

02:28not Dylan Gabriel. The defense though, still very good.

02:32Tennessee's defense elite. Tricky side, Joe. I'm all on

02:36there. Yeah, well, I could see that happening, right? Because

02:38of the offensive inconsistency with Jackson Arnold and

02:41Oklahoma, right? They're averaging 166 passing yards per

02:44game, running it for about 163 yards on the ground as well.

02:48A more methodical ball control type of offense and they

02:52feasted off of turnovers. That's the biggest thing. The

02:54front seven for Oklahoma, very good holding opposing

02:57offenses to only 77 rushing yards per game plus eight in

03:01turnover margin and that's where I think they have an edge

03:04heading into this matchup. They are a dominant home team

03:06dating back to Lincoln Riley and now with Brent Venables

03:09dating back to 2018. They're 37 and three. Yeah. Straight up in

03:14Norman. That's the biggest change. They won last year by

03:1630 points for a game. This year, they're winning by 23

03:19points for a game of contrasting styles. I lean to

03:22Oklahoma here because it is a true road game for Nico, right?

03:26That game in Charlotte, even though they dominated, it was

03:28on a neutral field. First SEC game, I think turnovers will

03:33play into effect. Give me Oklahoma in the upset. And that

03:35quarterback comparison is going to be huge today. Two guys in

03:39the class of 2023 that were both highly touted and highly

03:42recruited. Nico has been much better for the Vols in his

03:46first full year as a starter than Jackson Arnold who will

03:49get to in just a moment but I do want to give some context to

03:53seeing Tennessee as a six and a half point road favorite in

03:56Oklahoma. This is the first time, Lacey, since 1978 that a

04:02ranked Oklahoma program has been a home underdog in Norman

04:06of four points or greater. This is just the second time since

04:102014 that OU has even been a home underdog of any margin of

04:15points. They have not been a home underdog with Brent

04:18Venables as the head coach and what's fascinating is the

04:22familiarity here with Josh Heupel and Brent Venables and

04:25of course, OU. Heupel was the quarterback, Lacey, that led

04:28the Sooners to a BCS National Championship back in 2000.

04:32Spent nine years working under Bob Stoots and Brent Venables

04:36was a part of those staffs as well as first a quarterback's

04:39coach and then, of course, as an offensive coordinator. What

04:42do you make of the familiarity narrative for Heupel returning

04:45back home tonight? I think he wants to make a statement,

04:47right? Show that he has the better offense and the more

04:49complete team heading into this matchup and they're averaging

04:52600 total yards per game and Kevin's right. You know, they

04:55are deserving of being a six and a half, seven point favorite

04:58because of how they've dominated. They do it off a

05:01tempo. Dylan Samson, one of the best running backs in regards

05:04to the SEC, can run it, can throw it and again, it's a

05:08game where if Tennessee does jump up, seven nothing, ten

05:11nothing. It's going to be very difficult for Jackson Arnold

05:14and that offense to match them score for score. That's why

05:17they have to play out in front and try to get turnovers to be

05:20in this matchup, Kev. And again, that's part of the

05:22reason I'm on the under. I think they're going to need

05:24their defense to step up in a major way here. You know, that

05:27number was seven and a half earlier in the week. It's been

05:29bet down flat seven, some six and a half showing which is

05:33obviously huge. We're talking about still key numbers there.

05:35I do think if the chance is there, the Vols probably run it

05:38up. I don't know if Hyples going to be like, oh, I love my

05:41time here. He got fired. It could be very well tough,

05:44correct? I want to hit on something that you mentioned

05:45though because Ben, it is relevant but I think there's a

05:48little bit of additional context needed to the lack of

05:50times we've seen Oklahoma as a home dog. Yeah. Who the heck

05:53were they supposed to be a home dog to when every single year

05:56the Texas game is played at a neutral site. I'm but no,

05:59you're very spot on and that's also context taking a step

06:02into the SEC. That's kind of the thing here. Yeah. And I

06:05think and I, you know, we'll talk about this game a lot

06:07today but I'm curious, right? For me, I've not gone back into

06:11the national title market. If Tennessee goes big here again

06:15today, I think their numbers while they'll be on the move

06:18become very, very tempting at ten to one or better.

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