OU-UTEP: AllSooners Staff Picks

John Hoover

With so much attention on Brent Venables and the new culture and fans wanting to stick it in Lincoln Riley’s face, Oklahoma’s players will be able to play free and not mentally stress over things. Performance, as defensive coordinator Ted Roof said, dictates playing time, and the OU performance will be complete against an overmatched UTEP squad. Dillon Gabriel will operate with confidence and pace as long as the retooled offensive line protects him. If that doesn’t happen early, look for Jeff Lebby to emphasize a power ground game. Defensively, the Sooners will stay as vanilla as possible.

Score: Oklahoma 44, UTEP 14

Ryan Chapman

All of the intrigue in this one is going to be around what exactly Brent Venables looks like as a head coach and the new era on both offense and defense. As far as the actual game goes, UTEP is a bad football team with major deficiencies on both lines of scrimmage. The Sooners, fresh off a Jerry Schmidt summer, should overwhelm the Miners much like North Texas did in Week 0. I don’t expect Dillon Gabriel to have to use his feet very often, allowing the OU offense to zip up and down the field to a comfortable victory.

Score: Oklahoma 52, UTEP 13

Josh Callaway

While UTEP definitely left some points on the board last week against North Texas that could have made that game a lot more competitive, it was a really ugly showing for the Miners in their season opener. With all the excitement surrounding Brent Venables' first game, the expectation has to be that the crowd will be absolutely electric on Saturday afternoon. It's tough to imagine UTEP handling that well, with the Sooners jumping up quick and dominating their way to a 1-0 start. Dillon Gabriel and the OU offense make some fireworks in the first half with Davis Beville getting the bulk of the snaps in the second half as Oklahoma cruises to the win. Miners get a late touchdown in garbage time to make it look a tiny bit better, but overall, the Sooners' defense has a rock solid first performance in what is a very comfortable OU victory.

Score: Oklahoma 48, UTEP 10

Ross Lovelace

This seems to be one of Oklahoma’s most anticipated home-openers in a long time with the excitement behind Brent Venables’ debut as head coach. The Sooners should be amped up early, ready to prove the offseason the team has raved about. UTEP is better than last week would suggest, but could struggle to pass the ball against an experienced Oklahoma secondary. The Sooners’ new-look offense is in great hands with Jeff Lebby, but it’ll be interesting to see what the initial installment looks like. Once OU shakes off the initial jitters and rust of playing with a new unit, the offense should be able to move the ball efficiently. Oklahoma’s defense will have a chance to make a strong first impression in front of the Sooner faithful.

Score: Oklahoma 45, UTEP 17

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