Oklahoma waited 38 months between its announced exit from the Big 12 Conference and its debut in the SEC. The culmination of more than three years of anticipation resulted in a comfortable 25-15 loss at home, which was worse than the final score suggested.
The Sooners began their SEC membership under favorable circumstances: a top-10 ranked opponent coming to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the return of the prodigal son as a visiting head coach, and the first televised game.
However, Oklahoma managed just 222 total yards—just 36 yards—and won the first game 51:45 without a touchdown. Meanwhile, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who returned Oklahoma to the last national championship, watched as his Vols built a 19-3 halftime lead.
Under Heupel, Tennessee is known for its explosive offense, and they showed flashes of that in Norman, most notably with Nico Iamaleava’s one-yard touchdown pass to Dont’e Thornton Jr., which sparked a 19-point unanswered run.
But it was Tennessee’s aggressive, physical defense that stole the spotlight. This was perhaps a fitting welcome to the SEC, given the conference’s reputation for defensive toughness.
With the setup and Heupel on the sidelines, Tennessee evoked memories of Oklahoma’s 2000 Bowl Championship Series team. That it was the Sooners’ inability to move the ball to a team coached by a former OU assistant, who was fired from his position as offensive coordinator in 2014, only compounds the disappointment of the SEC premiership.
Tennessee’s strong victory didn’t disappoint everyone in the state of Oklahoma, however. Heupel’s mother, Cindy, who drove from Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Norman for Sooners games during the Vols coach’s playing days, died in May.
“He was looking forward to this game. He has many friends all over the country who know that he is looking forward to it,” said Heupel in a press conference after the game. “It was different that this was a road game for me but it was a home game for a lot of my family.”
Carolina Blues
If Hubert Davis’ North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team faces fellow 2024 NCAA Tournament qualifier James Madison, it’s possible the UNC hoopers will hold JMU to fewer points than Mack Brown’s 70 on the gridiron allowed by the Tar Heels on Saturday.
“It’s a shameful day. It’s a scary day,” Brown said in a press conference after the game. You’re not supposed to be in North Carolina and lose a Game of Five, period.
It’s not just that the Tar Heels lost, especially for a program that just finished the season in the Top 25. North Carolina allowed 611 yards, effectively launching the Heisman Trophy campaign of JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III.
Barnett passed for 388 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for another 99 yards and two scores. Not since Dalton Knecht dropped 37 points in the Dean Dome last basketball season has a visitor produced such an upset in Chapel Hill.
North Carolina’s anemic defensive showing, combined with NC State’s poor outing at Clemson, made North Carolina college football the center of Week 4 disappointment.
While the Wolfpack’s rout of Death Valley was no surprise—NC State entered the game as a 17-point underdog—the final score of 59-35 was one touchdown and an extra point over that spread.
Saturday marked a low point in what has been a disappointing start to the season for NC State. The Pack opened the year ranked in the Top 25, looking poised to move into the ACC’s top division after a couple of solid seasons under Dave Doeren.
Instead, NC State regressed. A 41-point loss to Tennessee in Week 2 pales in comparison to Saturday’s mayhem. If Dabo Swinney had not stopped the dogs as Clemson led 52-7 in the third quarter, the final score would have been much worse.
Things got so bad that ESPN color analyst Greg McElroy lamented that the Pack’s “bad” tackles were “inconspicuous” compared to previous Doeren-coached teams.