Oklahoma vs. UTEP football preview, prediction

It was a long and eventful offseason for Oklahoma, which lost one head coach in a surprise move, but landed with what should be a quality replacement.

Brent Venables steps in at OU as this generation's premier defensive strategist, winner of two national championships as Clemson DC and another as the Sooners' coordinator on the 2000 title run.

Now he leads the program as it seeks to get back into the College Football Playoff chase and prepares for a bombshell move to the SEC.

First things first: a home date against UTEP to introduce himself to the OU faithful. Here's what you need to know about the matchup.

Oklahoma vs. UTEP football preview, prediction

How to watch

When: Sat., Sept. 3

Time: 3:30 p.m. Eastern

TV: Fox network

Streaming: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Oklahoma vs. UTEP odds, spread, lines

Line: Oklahoma -30

O/U: 57

Moneyline: OU -10000 UTEP +1800

FPI pick: Oklahoma 98.6%

Oklahoma vs. UTEP: What to watch for

1. Sooners' new quarterback. Amid all the transfer traffic in and out of OU, the one name that stuck out was Dillon Gabriel. The former UCF signal caller originally moved to UCLA, but changed his mind and switched to the Sooners and a reunion with new offensive play-caller Jeff Lebby. The two know each other well: they engineered a top 10 offense at UCF in 2019 with Gabriel at QB and Lebby calling the plays. Expect speed, tempo, and an aggressive approach that wants to go deep early and often.

2. Don't overlook UTEP. Brent Venables isn't. He had very high praise for the Miners, calling them a potential bowl team. They lost their opener to North Texas by 18, but quarterback Gavin Hardison looked good, throwing for almost 300 yards and was a plus-3,000 yard passer last season. He's playing behind the best O-line the school has produced in several years and had two 100-yard receivers in the opener (Reynaldo Flores, Tyrin Smith).

3. Venables' defensive debut. The heart and soul of Venables' defenses have been on the front line, starting with an overwhelming pass rush that wants to shrink the pocket. Looking at UTEP's rushing prowess, OU should develop its run stop relatively quickly, allowing more room to get after the quarterback and throw him off schedule from his receivers.

UTEP vs. Oklahoma: Fast Facts

+ UTEP has hit 300 total yards of offense in 15 straight games, back to 2020

+ Oklahoma returns just 11.0% of its total offense from a year ago and 26.6% of its scoring production

+ The Miners are 4-56 against teams in the AP top 25 rankings

+ Dillon Gabriel is 3rd nationally with 70 TD passes in the last 3 years

+ UTEP is 1-37 on the road against ranked teams, winning in 1974

+ Gabriel has thrown a TD pass in every one of his 26 career games

+Gavin Hardison has 5,264 career passing yards, 5th in UTEP history

+ 47 of OU's 115 players (41%) are new to the school and 60 of them (52%) have never played a down for the Sooners

+ UTEP averaged 392.0 yards of offense per game last season, the most since 2009 and 2nd most in program history

+ OU is 17-3 all-time as the No. 9 ranked team in college football

+ In the last decade, Oklahoma is 81-5 when scoring at least 35 points and 70-3 when scoring at least 40

What happens?

Everybody knows how these early season games pan out for big favorites, and there shouldn't be any drama for the Sooners in this year's opener.

There are tons of new faces everywhere on OU's roster, but Venables' expertise in building defenses in unchallenged, and this unit should be on sounder footing than it has been the last several years.

That, combined with the already-established Gabriel/Lebby relationship in tandem with the likes of Marvin Mims and Theo Wease leading this receiving corps, and Oklahoma shouldn't struggle too much for points.

College Football HQ Prediction: Oklahoma 41, UTEP 13

College football rankings

According to AP Top 25 poll

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