Vols seek upset of fourth-ranked Sooners

Norman, OK (SportsNetwork.com) – The SEC takes on the Big 12 this Saturday, as the Tennessee Volunteers come calling on the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

Both teams come in sporting identical 2-0 record, with Tennessee having disposed of Utah State (38-7) and Arkansas State (34-19), both at home, while Oklahoma whipped visiting Louisiana Tech (48-16) in the opener, and then won easily at Tulsa (52-7).

Butch Jones is in his second season as Tennessee’s head coach, and while the Volunteers aren’t considered to be a threat to SEC powers Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and LSU, they are an up-and-coming club that could certainly pull off a shocker here and there if the opposition doesn’t come in fully prepared.

Tennessee will have a bye next weekend, then kick off SEC action at Georgia on Sept. 27. The Vols, who are seeking their first 3-0 start since 2004, will play their next home game versus Florida on Oct. 4.

Oklahoma is the favorite to win the Big 12 this year, but the Sooners have even loftier goals as they want to be part of the inaugural College Football Playoff. They are off to a solid start, but conference action gets underway next weekend at West Virginia, so there are certainly obstacles Bob Stoops’ club will need to navigate successfully.

OU is 20-1 in its last 21 games against unranked foes, and is seeking to extend its current win streak to seven straight games overall.

The series between these two storied programs is tied at 1-1, with the last meeting taking place in the 1968 Orange Bowl (26-24 Oklahoma win).

Tennessee has been relatively efficient on offense here in the early part of the 2014 season, and quarterback Justin Worley demonstrated that by hitting his first nine passes last week against Arkansas State. In the end, Worley went 22-of-38 for 247 yards and three touchdowns, hitting Marquez North (68 receiving yards) with a pair scoring strikes.

The Volunteers earned every inch they got on the ground, tallying 168 yards on 45 attempts (3.7 ypc), with Jalen Hurd logging 83 yards and a score on 23 carries. Despite the easy win, the opener against Utah State also saw the Vols struggle with the run, tallying a mere 110 yards on 39 totes (2.8 ypc). Worley made up for it by throwing for 273 yards and three TDs.

Last week’s defensive effort was a bit more lax than it was in the opener (one TD and only 244 total yards allowed), as ASU generated 331 yards (141 rushing, 190 passing).

A.J. Johnson paced the unit with nine tackles, seven of which were unassisted, while Owen Williams recorded two of the team’s three sacks. The Vols were especially stingy on third down, yielding just a 4-of-17 success rate to the Red Wolves, who were guilty of nine penalties for a loss of 75 yards, compared to only two infractions (14 yards) for the home team.

Although it’s early, the Oklahoma offense has had its way against a pair of inferior foes, averaging 50 points and 508 yards per contest.

Despite the team’s success, quarterback Trevor Knight hasn’t gotten off to the kind of efficient start he had hoped, completing just 58.8 percent of his passes for 552 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. As expected, Sterling Shepard has been his go-to guy, hauling in 12 balls for 226 yards and a pair scores.

The OU run game features three 100-yard rushers in Keith Ford (138 yards, four TDs), Alex Ross (126 yards, three TDs) and Samaje Perine (110 yards, one TD).

Ford scored in the first minute of last week’s intrastate rivalry game at Tulsa, and it was all Oklahoma from there as Stoops’ troops amassed 580 yards (261 rushing, 319 passing) and led 31-0 at halftime.

Ross finished with 90 yards and a TD, and Ford added 87 yards and two scores of his own. Knight went 21-of-34 for 299 yards and a pair of TDs, with Shepard doing most of the heavy lifting with eight grabs for 177 yards and score. Knight also scored once on the ground.

Bob Stoops is pleased to have such a talented stable of running backs on which to rely, particularly as the season moves along.

“We’re going to always have fresh strong guys. You’re going to have a better chance to pop a [big] run and they’re going to run stronger the fresher they are.”

Defensively, the Sooners surrendered only 94 rushing yards (2.8 ypc), as they controlled that side of the ball as well. The Golden Hurricane produced 234 yards through the air, but since they trailed the entire game they had little choice but to throw the ball as often as possible.

For the season, Oklahoma is permitting only 11.5 points and 286.5 yards per contest. Stopping the run has been relatively easy to this point, as the Sooners permit just 74 ypg and have not allowed a rushing touchdown.

Against Tulsa, Eric Striker and Caleb Gastelum led the way with eight tackles each, both logging seven solo stops. For Gastelum, the game was significant for other reasons as he also recorded his first career sack, and thwarted a potential Tulsa touchdown by intercepting a pass at the goal line. For his efforts, the former walk-on was awarded a game ball, and a well-deserved scholarship from his head coach.

Oklahoma linebacker Geneo Grissom returned an interception 38 yards for a score midway through the third quarter.

Of Gastelum, defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said, “He’s worked hard to get himself into this position, and he understands our defense for playing very intermittently over the past three years, so he’s worked hard and I can tell he’s a better player than he was a year ago and he’s a guy that we can rely on.”

Categorized in: NCAA Football