On Saturday, Sept. 21 the University of Oklahoma played against the University of Tennessee. Oklahoma was ranked No. 15 while Tennessee was ranked No. 6. Before this game, Oklahoma and Tennessee had only faced off twice in the past 20 years, both games being won by Oklahoma, but that changed this past weekend, when Tennessee beat OU with a score of 25-15.
In 2014, OU quarterback Trevor Knight beat Tennessee 34-10 with a season low passing yard average since 2006, but in that game, he had a total of 308 passing yards. The next season in 2015, Baker Mayfield led Oklahoma to a 31-24 after they were down 17-0. Mayfield eventually won the Heisman Trophy and was drafted first overall into the National Football League by the Cleveland Browns. After a few up-and-down years, Mayfield is the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
ESPN’s College Gameday crew was at the game on Saturday as well. They pick which team they think is going to win the match. The crew for the match included Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Pete Thamel.
The analytics that ESPN had gathered throughout the year predicted that Tennessee had a 71.3% chance to win the game, while Oklahoma had a 28.7% chance of winning. Tennessee also had a “-7 spread,” meaning that the betting line was set for Tennessee to win by seven points and individuals bet if Tennessee was going to win the game by less than seven or more than seven points.
During the game, both teams became riddled with injuries, with OU’s main defensive backs Kendel Dolby, dislocating his ankle during the game. Dolby was carted off of the field after his ankle was put into an air cast. They also had their freshman running back Taylor Tatum go off the field after only rushing for a total of 14 yards. Due to these injuries, many backup players had to make a difference in the game themselves. Jacques Pettaway made a difference by coming in and had a total of three receptions for 79 yards after Deion Burks went out with a soft tissue injury.
The Oklahoma fans also saw a change in quarterback, after Jackson Arnold had the worst rating of any quarterback throughout fourth week of college football. Michael Hawkins Jr. was his backup, and he led the Sooners to two touchdowns at the end of the game.
After the game, Oklahoma’s rank went down, before the game they were ranked No. 15 while after, they were ranked No. 21. They also announced that Hawkins would be the new starting quarterback against Auburn University. Next year, Oklahoma will play Tennessee in Knoxville.
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