Legendary quarterback Peyton Manning coming to Norman for Tennessee game

One of the most anticipated games on the 2024 schedule for the Oklahoma Sooners comes Sept. 21. It’s the first conference game in the SEC for OU and one of the most storied programs in college football will come to town. The Tennessee Volunteers will be in Norman, and one of their most famous alumni will apparently be there as well.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning led the Volunteers before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NFL draft. He told his former NFL teammate Pat McAfee on “ The Pat McAfee Show ” that he’ll be in attendance at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium .

“I’m going to the Tennessee-Oklahoma game in Norman this year,” the two-time Super Bowl champ said. “I think it’s Oklahoma’s first Southeastern Conference game, they’re playing my Tennessee Vols in Norman, not too far from Denver (where Manning lives.)”

Manning went on to say he’s excited for the Sooners and the Texas Longhorns to join the SEC and thinks they’ll both fit into the conference. He also said he was excited for the new rivalries that will be created in the league.

Oklahoma-Tennessee will be a big game for plenty of reasons, as the SEC finally comes to Owen Field in conference action. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel quarterbacked the Sooners to the national championship in 2000 (while Brent Venables coached a suffocating defense), and was OU’s offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2014. Since being fired, he has made quite the career for himself, landing on Rocky Top, where he’s reinvigorated a sleeping giant in Knoxville.

Expect fireworks that evening in Norman. Two electric offenses will be led by first-year starters Jackson Arnold and Nico Iamaleava. Both were five-star recruits in the 2023 class.

Maybe one (or both) of those QBs will have a magical performance in front of one of the best quarterbacks to ever put on a chinstrap.

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