The Oklahoma Sooners are hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks for another round of SEC football. For two teams fighting to remain strong, this game is the deciding point for the season. As always, only one can walk away with the victory- who will it be?
Oklahoma Sooners vs South Carolina Predictions
What’s Wrong in Oklahoma?
College football is undergoing a revolution at the moment. The collapse of the PAC-12, the influx of NIL deals, and the talks of “super conferences” have made this season one to remember. That’s not all, of course. Football games that have ended in upsets, near misses, and crushing defeats are the norm this season. Oklahoma is at the epicenter of this madness.
Despite a contract extension, there are already calls for Head Coach Brent Venables, or his offensive coordinator, to step down. When you’re managing a prestigious team like Oklahoma, that’s not surprising- but it is disheartening. Right when Venables is supposed to be hitting his stride he’s instead found stumble after stumble. At this point in the season, giving the benefit of the doubt due to injuries is long gone. Yet, is this really as surprising as everyone is pretending it is?
Oklahoma’s One Trick Pony
The recent loss to Texas exposed Oklahoma’s lack of ability this season. It’s not a lack of talent, per se, but a lack of ability to create their own opportunities. The offensive playbook is partly to blame. So much of the run game relies on the quarterbacks alone. This isn’t an issue if you mix in a healthy amount of passing plays, but Oklahoma isn’t doing that either. When Michael Hawkins Jr. or Jackson Arnold get stuffed at the line, it’s because the defense was already waiting on them to make a move. An offensive line incapable of holding blitzing defenses hampers this even further.
It doesn’t require hours and hours of watching film to prepare for Oklahoma this season. If a coach watches one or two of the various ‘highlight reel’ videos out there, they’ll have seen all there is of Oklahoma this year. College football doesn’t always need a whole lot of fancy trick plays, but it requires more than this brute-force method that clearly isn’t working.
Oklahoma’s offense is, unarguably, at the bottom of the barrel. They’re 126th out of 133 in total offense. They’re 123rd in passing offense, three places behind an undefeated Navy team. The Sooners barely edged into the top 100 in terms of rushing offense. At this point, you’re looking for someone to blame. Is it offensive coordinator, Seth Litrell? Perhaps Venables himself? The answer’s more complicated than that.
It’s easy to understand the frustration of why the Sooners can’t achieve what other teams are doing with less. However, as we speculated early on, this was likely to be a developmental season for the Sooners. It’s bad timing, to be sure, but nobody should be acting surprised that Oklahoma hasn’t figured it all out yet.
Gamecocks Clawing Back
South Carolina, likewise, is facing its own set of issues. Currently sitting at 3-3, it’s been an incredible touch-and-go season. Aside from a catastrophic loss to Ole Miss on October 5th, the Gamecocks have been neck and neck with the best. After trouncing Kentucky, they nearly upset LSU. As Texas was destroying the Sooners, South Carolina was barely trailing behind Alabama.
LaNorris Sellers, starting quarterback for the Gamecocks, has had an equally impressive season. An injury against LSU has done little to impact his performance. While he’s not a very mobile quarterback, he’s yet to have a game with under a hundred passing yards. The backup, veteran journeyman Robby Ashford, is just as dependable. Still, they made countless mistakes against Ole Miss and Alabama. In the latter case, those mistakes cost them the game.
The South Carolina defense has allowed 1,797 yards this season. For comparison, Oklahoma’s defense, its strongest asset, has allowed 2,017 yards this season. Unlike Oklahoma, South Carolina has been up against top-tier opponents nearly all season. It’s a testament to how good this defense can be. Of course, some of their best defensive players are also out on injury. It’s a real toss-up to see if Oklahoma’s offense can come out on top.
Oklahoma Sooners vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction
Before the season, we predicted that South Carolina ‘wouldn’t be much of an opponent’. Unlike the other predictions on that list, this one couldn’t be more wrong. It’s clear that this is going to be a knockdown, drag-out, fight. There might not be many points scored, but, to borrow a quote from the legendary Oklahoman Jim “J.R.” Ross, it should be a slobber knocker on every drive.
Whether that’s because of hard-fought yards or constant turnovers from both offenses is a question only answerable at game time.
In this first-ever meeting of two college football powerhouses, only one can walk away the victor. The Oklahoma-South Carolina game is going to be a match to remember, and it’ll likely decide both teams’ seasons. If South Carolina wins, they’ve got an excellent opportunity for a bowl game. If Oklahoma wins, they’ll be better equipped to ride out the season in relative peace. No matter what happens, Last Word On Sports will have the only breakdown of the game you’ll want to read.
