Oklahoma is coming off a blowout loss to its biggest rival.
South Carolina is coming off a narrow loss to Alabama.
The Sooners and Gamecocks will try to bounce back from their disappointments when they meet Saturday in Norman, Okla.
Turnovers figure to play a significant role in the game.
The Sooners lead the Southeastern Conference and are tied for seventh nationally with 14 turnovers forced, while the Gamecocks are tied for second in the conference with 12 takeaways.
The South Carolina secondary is piling up interceptions, as Jalon Kilgore has three and Nick Emmanwori and O’Donnell Fortune have two apiece. Billy Bowman Jr. paced Oklahoma with two picks.
The teams are also among the nation’s best in getting pressure on quarterbacks, as both are tied for 10th nationally in sacks per game with 3.17.
While the Saturday game is the first-ever meeting between the programs, South Carolina got a bit of a peek at what Oklahoma’s defense might look like last season when it faced Jacksonville State.
Sooners co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley was Jacksonville State’s defensive coordinator last season.
While the defenses have forced turnovers in bunches, their offenses have struggled to hold on to the ball.
Oklahoma (4-2, 1-2 SEC) has committed seven turnovers — five of those coming over its two losses, 25-15 to Tennessee and 34-3 to Texas.
South Carolina (3-3, 1-3) has given the ball away 12 times, four coming last week in a 27-25 loss to the Crimson Tide. It was the Gamecocks’ second defeat by three points or fewer this season.
“We’ve got to finish,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “How do we finish? We’ve got to play cleaner football.”
It figures to be an important game for Oklahoma’s hopes of extending its bowl streak — the second-longest in the country — to 26 seasons.
“There ain’t no gimmes in this conference and certainly on the schedule,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “This is a team that, you know, they’re very similar to us in a lot of spaces if you look at it on paper.”
It could be equally as important for the Gamecocks in trying to get back to a bowl after missing out last season.
Beamer spent 2018-20 as an assistant on Lincoln Riley’s staff at Oklahoma before being hired by South Carolina.
“There will be a lot of memories,” Beamer said.
–Field Level Media
