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Oklahoma-SMU: AllSooners Staff Picks

The AllSooners staff offers their predictions for Saturday's game between the Oklahoma Sooners and SMU Mustangs in Norman.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma-SMU: AllSooners Staff Picks
Oklahoma-SMU: AllSooners Staff Picks

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Oklahoma Sooners

John Hoover

Jeff Lebby does like a good forward pass, but the Sooners would do well to try to fortify the ground game this week. OU running backs averaged just 3.85 yards per carry last week in a 73-point win. I don’t care how Arkansas State tried to deploy its defense, that’s a number that’s unacceptable by Lebby’s standards. Running the football well will obviously come in handy later, but with SMU’s dynamic offense, it’ll be useful on Saturday, too. Don’t expect what you thought you saw out of the Oklahoma defense this week against SMU. The Mustangs held a lot of plays back last week and will try to put their best foot forward against the Sooners.

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Final: Oklahoma 39, SMU 24

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma’s shutout streak will end at one game on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the OU defense is suddenly going to regress to the lows of 2022. There was improvement on display against an overmatched Arkansas State team. The depth built at linebacker and added beef to the defensive interior will allow Oklahoma to control SMU’s running game, allowing Brent Venables to dial up blitzes and coverages intended to confuse Mustang quarterback Preston Stone. An efficient Dillon Gabriel will carve up a porous SMU defense, and the full regular season debut of the Jovantae Barnes-Gavin Sawchuk backfield will allow the Sooners to continue to put up points. Both sides will make it into the end zone, but the Sooners will roll into Tulsa full steam ahead next weekend.

Final: Oklahoma 45, SMU 17

Randall Sweet

While the Sooners' offense should have no problem putting up points on SMU, it won't be quite as easy to put the ball in the end zone this weekend. Still, Dillon Gabriel should have a good day and will likely have plenty of time to throw if the OU offensive line performs as well as it did against Arkansas State. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Mustangs find early success on offense, but Brent Venables and company should be able to make the halftime adjustments necessary to stifle the Ponies the rest of the way.

Final: Oklahoma 49, SMU 21

Ross Lovelace

On paper, it looks like a sneaky trap game for the Sooners coming off of a 73-point win. SMU has top-tier talent all over the field, and Camar Wheaton is back after serving a one-game suspension. However, I don’t think the Mustangs will catch Oklahoma off guard. This team looked out for blood in week one, and a night game in Norman will bring out plenty of adrenaline and hype. The Sooners will be prepared for the up-tempo offense that SMU runs because they see it nearly every day in practice. Oklahoma will run the ball early and often to open up the field for Dillon Gabriel’s specialty — the deep ball. The Mustangs will be a solid test for the Sooners, and by the end of the season, it might end up counting as a quality win. This feels like a different Oklahoma team, though, and tripping up week two doesn’t seem plausible.

Final: Oklahoma 48, SMU 24

Tim Willert

High-scoring SMU presents a bigger challenge for OU than Arkansas State, but the Sooners are looking to build momentum heading into conference play and should win easily for the second straight week. Oklahoma will be tested by head coach Rhett Lashlee's offense and defense, which registered six sacks in a 38-14 win over Louisiana Tech.

Final: Oklahoma, 45, SMU 17

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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