Will the Oklahoma Sooners Stay Undefeated Against the Houston Cougars? Three Key Predictions For A Sooners Win

The Oklahoma Sooners head into Week 2 looking to start their 2024 season 2-0 and keep their momentum rolling. Fresh off of a 51-3 win over the Temple Owls in Week 1, they face the 0-1 Houston Cougars, who lost 27-7 last week against the UNLV Rebels.

What are my predictions for the Sooners' likely win over Houston?

Prediction 1: The Offense Puts Up 500 Yards

Oklahoma's offense didn't click as well as we thought it might have in their opening game. They didn't cross 400 yards on the day, pulling in just 378 yards of total offense.

Related: Can the Oklahoma Sooners Fix Their Offensive Line Before SEC Play Begins?

There were a lot of factors that played into that, with the shuffling of the offensive line, a new scheme, some general rust, and the fact that they played on short fields often with the number of turnovers they forced.

They might still force plenty of turnovers, but the rust should be knocked off pretty quickly and the offensive line should settle down some more as guys get healthy. Nothing about the Cougars' defense suggests they should be able to hold off Oklahoma for very long.

Prediction #2: The Sooners Keep Up Their Turnovers

Oklahoma's six forced turnovers last week were their most in a game since 2003! While I don't expect them to keep that tally up, I think they'll force multiple in this game.

Cougars quarterback Donovan Smith threw two horrific interceptions last week against UNLV, proving the concerns about his processing to be more than fair. Oklahoma's proving to be far more stingy in coverage than I thought they might be, and their frequent disguises will fool Smith into throwing at least one or two more interceptions this week.

Prediction #3: Peyton Bowen Breaks A Big Special Teams Play

The other two phases of the Sooners' special teams under new coordinator Doug Deakin looked good with their kicker and punter posting strong debuts, but fans are still looking for that big return play to happen.

Oklahoma played Peyton Bowen as their kick and punt returner last week and that doesn't seem likely to change this week. He only returned one punt, but he's too natural of a playmaker to keep contained for very long.

UNLV had a 30-yard kick return last week, and I'm not a fan of Houston's punting ability. I have a feeling Bowen breaks off a big return in this game and gives the Sooners some momentum on special teams.