Norman– The Oklahoma Sooners defeated Temple 51-3 in their home opener to take their first win since joining the SouthEastern Conference.
The Sooners overall looked good, but the question is, can they stay healthy this season?
The biggest injuries the Sooners suffered have come from the offensive line and the receiving core. Jalil Farooq and Branson Hickman were the ones who had injuries in Friday night’s game.
Brent Venables talked about how important the center position is for the offense.
“The ball goes through him every snap, obviously they’re all important positions but having someone available at the center position is important. We’re working through that and I like where we’re at from that standpoint and I expect us to only get better there.”
Deion Burks had a fantastic outing for Oklahoma as he caught three short touchdowns for the Sooners. Andrel Anthony is still coming back from injury, Jayden Gibson is out for the season, and Nic Anderson missed last week’s game as well, but Venables said he should be back soon.
Hickman seems to be back fighting an ankle sprain but Farooq will be out 6-8 weeks due to a broken ankle. Although the Sooners will be missing some key pieces they have more than enough talent to take on Houston this week.
The Cougars are a 0-1 and a 28-point underdog going into Norman. The Sooners have beaten Houston three out of the four times they have met. Oklahoma’s wins came in 1981 in the Sun Bowl (40-14), 2004 at home (63-13), and also in 2019 in Norman (49-31).
Houston is in its first year under Head Coach Willie Fritz who is looking to turn the program around. The Cougars started their season at home where they faced the University of Las Vegas and lost 7-27.
Houston and Oklahoma are set to kickoff at 6:45 in Norman for week two of college football.
