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Oklahoma vs. Temple prediction, pick, spread, football game odds, where to watch, TV channel, live stream
By Shehan Jeyarajah,
1 day ago
USATSI
Oklahoma opens its first season as an SEC member by hosting Temple in a Friday night matchup. The Sooners posted their first 10-win season under Brent Venables last season, but failed to reach the Big 12 title game due to tiebreakers. The Sooners enter Year 3 of the Venables era ranked No. 16 and a dark-horse candidate for the College Football Playoff.
Temple is coming off its third straight 3-9 campaign and has just 10 total wins since 2020. The Owls were soundly picked last place in the AAC poll and are No. 129 out of 134 teams in the preseason CBS Sports Rankings.
The Owls technically have an active winning streak against the vaunted Sooners... in 1941. Temple beat Oklahoma 14-7 behind a daring pick-six from Owls legend James Woodside. Oklahoma won 9-6 when these two teams played in 1940. Needless to say, the Sooners have a few more advantages heading into this matchup 82 years later as a Southeastern Conference opponent.
Oklahoma vs. Temple: Need to know
New generation enters: The Sooners lost several top contributors on offense from the 2023 season including quarterback Dillon Gabriel , top receiver Drake Stoops and all five offensive linemen. However, much of the transition was by design as Oklahoma embraces a slew of top offensive recruits from the Brent Venables era. Quarterback Jackson Arnold is a former top-10 national prospect and receiver Nic Anderson is a rising star. The defense still has plenty of returning star power to bolster the rising stars, including linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman.
Temple's hopes are slim: Finding optimism at Temple isn't easy. The Owls had an intriguing young quarterback in E.J. Warner , but he transferred to Rice . Their top rusher and top two receivers are gone too. The defense ranked bottom 10 nationally and gave up 6.3 yards per play. Temple coach Stan Drayton hit the portal to try and fix both units, but finding even all-conference candidates is difficult.
New play-callers: The Sooners are replacing coordinators on both sides of the ball after losing both after the 2023 season. Brent Venables opted to move on from Ted Roof and brought in Zac Alley, a young up-and-comer who worked for him as a graduate assistant at Clemson . Former North Texas coach Seth Littrell takes over as offense coordinator after Jeff Lebby left to take over the Mississippi State program. Venables' staff is filled with former Bob Stoops and Dabo Swinney staffers; he hopes to find a balance of the two heading into the SEC.
How to watch Oklahoma vs. Temple live
Date : Friday Aug. 30 | Time : 7 p.m. ET Location : Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium -- Norman, Oklahoma TV: ESPN | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Oklahoma vs. Temple prediction, picks
Oklahoma enters its first game as an SEC member ranked top 20 in the country and with plenty to prove behind a first-year quarterback. Without question, the Sooners will leave zero meat on the bone against a wildly overmatched Temple team. Expect deep shots early and often as Oklahoma tries to build some confidence and swagger under first-year coordinators. Pick: Oklahoma -42.5
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