In Week 2, the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Houston Cougars in Week 2 of the college football season. This will be an SEC vs. Big 12 matchup, as the Oklahoma Sooners will face one of the teams trying to help replace the void OU and Texas left when leaving for the Southeastern Conference this summer.
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Houston Cougars History and Excerpts
Oklahoma leads the all-time series against Houston with three wins to one loss. The last time these two teams met back in 2019, The Sooners won 49-31 in a high-scoring affair.
Even though Houston fell to UNLV in Week 1, new head coach Willie Fritz, out of Tulane, has a reputation for winning on the road in recent years.
“Coach Fritz’s teams the last two years are 10-0 in true road games,” OU head coach Brent Venables said. “So he knows how to get his guys ready. The last time they were here, representing Tulane at the time, obviously it went down to the wire and we were able to pull it out.”
“Coach Fritz and his staff are known for being well-coached and incredibly disciplined, patient,” Venables said. “Gonna play a tight game, try to get it to the fourth quarter, try to possess the ball, run it a variety of ways, and take their shots. And excellent in the kicking game. Really, good.
“They’ve got some real playmakers in their kicking game, return game in particular. Explosive players. They’ve got explosive players on offense. Donovan Smith is a guy that has taken over 1,600 snaps in the Big 12. Big, strong, athletic, and dangerous, and they’ve got a couple of their very similar backups, almost clones of him. A big, strong running back, and again, a long, explosive receiver and tight end. So, ought a be a good matchup and certainly a step up from where we were a week ago.”
Key Players for Oklahoma
OL Jake Taylor
Starting right tackle Jake Taylor is set to make his 2024 debut after being held back from the season opener as he worked back from injury. Given the shaky play we saw along the offensive line in the opener, it will be very interesting to see how Taylor looks. And, if he can help settle things down a bit.
Center Branson Hickman suffered a sprained ankle against the Owls that is progressing well. However, the Sooners may hold him out this week, thus keeping Oklahoma from having their full group up front once again. Nevertheless, a lot of eyes will be on that unit after what was considered a fairly underwhelming first outing.
WR Brenen Thompson
With Jalil Farooq out for at least six weeks with a broken foot, Jayden Gibson done for the year, Nic Anderson still on his way back and Andrel Anthony finding his footing in his return from his season-ending knee injury a year ago – the Sooners need another wide receiver to become a reliable option for quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Deion Burks has already shown he will be that and then some – but Brenen Thompson will likely be hoping for a bit of a bounce back.
Thompson somewhat surprisingly was tabbed as a starter when OU’s first depth chart dropped ahead of the opener. He played starter snaps against Temple, but had mixed results. The Texas transfer caught four passes for only 15 total yards. He also had a couple of miscues on a ball that probably should have been caught over the middle. Thompson also made a bad decision in the game; to go sideways short of the sticks instead of getting up the field on third down.
It is just one game and Thompson figures to be a key piece of this Oklahoma offense this season. It would be nice for the Sooners to get him going a bit in this one to build up his confidence and chemistry with Arnold.
K Tyler Keitner
Oklahoma football fans were naturally holding their breath when it came to the kicking situation going into the opener, but so far so good for Sooners new placekicker Tyler Keltner.
Keltner drilled all three of his field goal attempts, two of which came from 50 and 42 yards out. He also made all of his PATs despite some shaky exchanges on the snap and holds.
The spotlight is only going to get brighter on Keltner as the games become closer and the environments get bigger, but it couldn’t have been a much better start. Let’s see Keltner build on what he did in the Sooners opener and put together another strong outing to solidify his standing as a reliable option for OU football coach Brent Venables and the Sooners this season.
Houston Cougars Overview and Key Players
2023 Team Stats
- Offense: 23.7 points per game (90th nationally)
- Defense: 31.5 points per game (108th nationally)
Key returners (all stats from 2023 season)
- QB Donovan Smith (2,801 yards, 22 TD, 13 INT, 65% completion, 428 rushing yards, 6 TD)
- RB Parker Jenkins (99 carries, 464 yards, 3 TD)
- WR Joseph Manjack IV (46 receptions, 577 yards, 6 TD)
- DB AJ Haulcy (98 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 forced fumble)
Key additions (incoming transfers)
- DB JD Rhym (Auburn)
- IOL Sam Secrest (Louisville)
- LB Christian Brathwaite (LSU)
- WR Mehki Mews (Georgia)
- TE Maliq Carr (Michigan State)
Best player
Quarterback Donovan Smith could be one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12 this year. Last year he was solid, throwing for over 2,800 yards with 22 scores and running for 428 yards and six touchdowns. The 13 picks were too many, but when he’s on, he’s dangerous. He will be the biggest factor for Houston in this matchup.
Given the coaching matchup and level of roster Houston will have compared to the other football teams in its non-conference slate, this will serve as the toughest test outside of SEC play for the Oklahoma Sooners.
However, this football game should never be in question if the Oklahoma Sooners are going to contend in the SEC. There’s immense respect for what Coach Fritz can do, but he simply hasn’t had the time to turn Houston into a contender.
This being Oklahoma’s first game against a Big 12 school since joining the SEC, there’s likely to be a little extra motivation for both sides in this one.
The Cougars are a difficult team to project in 2024. Most preseason analysis projects them again to be at the bottom of the Big 12 standings, and it’s hard to know if the offseason changes and additions could be a boost or another immediate hurdle.
There’s no denying that this coaching staff and the roster changes, have the potential to make 2024 a much different story than last year. It also wouldn’t be surprising if Houston easily proves to be the most difficult test the Sooners face in their non-conference slate. Plus, it’s hard to ignore that the Cougars, ironically, are the only Big 12 team that the Sooners face in their inaugural SEC season.
However, with all of that said, the Sooners will be at home and should be heavily favored to come away with a Week 2 win.
