No. 6 Tennessee travels to No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday evening in one of Week 4’s marquee matchups. Obviously, it’s an important matchup as the SEC opener for both teams, but there are some deeper storylines that add more meaning to this primetime clash.
For starters, it’s Oklahoma’s first conference game as an SEC program. The Sooners will be hungry to send a message to their new conference mates, in front of what’s sure to be a fiery crowd in their fourth straight home game to open the season. This also feels like an important spot to get a win, since Oklahoma has to play three teams ranked inside the top-10 of the latest AP poll outside of the comfort of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium down the road.
For the Vols, this is a huge game — outside of the obvious Josh Heupel connections. Tennessee is hoping to finally break into the SEC’s upper echelon and plant its flag as a legitimate College Football Playoff competitor after a hot start to the year. Tennessee has won its first three games by an average of 59.3 points — including a 51-10 route of former top-25 NC State — and the Vols haven’t allowed a single offensive touchdown in four straight games dating back to last season’s win against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
This will be the first time Heupel has made his way back to Norman in a professional capacity since he was let go as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator in 2014. Heupel’s journey with the Sooners began in 1999, when he signed on to play quarterback out of Utah’s Snow College. In 2000, he led Oklahoma to an undefeated season and a national championship with a 13-2 win against Florida State in the Orange Bowl. He was also the Heisman Trophy runner-up, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and an All-American.
