ESPN's College GameDay Doesn't Give Oklahoma Much of a Shot Against Tennessee

The ESPN College GameDay desk doesn’t like Oklahoma’s chances in Knoxville.

No. 14 Tennessee was picked by three of the four members of the desk to beat the No. 18 Sooners on Saturday night.

Desmond Howard picked Tennessee going away. The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner said “the wheels will fall off the Sooner Schooner” as he picked the Volunteers to win “big.”

Nick Saban doesn’t believe that Ben Arbuckle’s OU offense will be able to keep up with Joey Aguilar and Josh Heupel.

“I’m not sure Oklahoma can score enough points to match them offensively,” Saban said.

Read More Oklahoma vs. Tennessee

The Sooners have yet to score 30 points in an SEC game over the past two years, and OU is averaging 21.2 points per game against Power 4 teams this season, whereas Tennessee enters the week as the No. 2-ranked scoring offense in the country.

Pat McAfee was going to pick Tennessee to win the game, but he switched his official pick to Oklahoma after the College GameDay desk was on the same page too often when picking the previous games on Saturday morning.

Kirk Herbstreit declined to pick the game since he will be calling the contest tonight, and guest picker Alex Smith went with the Sooners because his brother-in-law is an Oklahoma fan.

GameDay desk went on a trip here but it ended up split for OU and Tennessee 😂 pic.twitter.com/WIociFcbG4
— Ryan Chapman (@_RyanChapman) November 1, 2025

If the Sooners are able to bounce back on the road, they’ll likely have to get the job done without linebacker Kobie McKinzie.

McKinzie tweaked his groin in the first half of last week’s defeat to Mississippi.

He was listed as questionable on Wednesday, but he was upgraded to probable on Thursday night. The Sooners got bad news on Friday, however, as he was downgraded back to questionable on the SEC Availability Report.

Oklahoma will get cornerback Gentry Williams back into the fold, though.

He is available for the contest after sitting out last week.

Williams got injured on the first drive against South Carolina, and he did not return to that game.

On the other side of the ball, quarterback John Mateer will have to get back on track behind an offensive line that will again feature a pair of true freshmen at tackle.

Western Carolina transfer Derek Simmons is doubtful for Saturday’s battle with the Volunteers, meaning Ryan Fodje is in line for his second start at right tackle.

He held up admirably against Mississippi playing across from left tackle Michael Fasusi, but the noise at Neyland Stadium will be unlike anything either of the true freshmen has experienced to this point in college football.

Mateer will be down a weapon again.

Receiver Keontez Lewis will miss his third-straight game after he returned from the scary collision with a wall against Kent State to play in the Cotton Bowl.

Kickoff between the No. 14 Volunteers and No. 18 Sooners is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will air on ABC.