South Carolina and Oklahoma enter Week 9 with the same record and the same goal: clawing their way back toward the AP top 25. The Sooners are favored at home, but the matchup sets up as a real test of whether Oklahoma’s defense can keep carrying an offense that has struggled to put teams away.
South Carolina comes in at 4-3 after back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, Florida and Tennessee. That stretch helped the Gamecocks get back over .500 in 2026 after a rough opening run through conference play against Mississippi State, Alabama and Kentucky. The offense has turned a corner, too, sitting No. 17 in adjusted EPA/Play.
A big reason for that rebound has been LaNorris Sellers, who remains one of the most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks around. He wasn’t at his sharpest as a passer against Tennessee, finishing with 210 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception, but he more than made up for it with his legs. Sellers ran 18 times for 96 yards and two scores, and he’s now up to 507 rushing yards on the season while averaging 6.0 yards per carry.
That rushing ability is what makes him such a difficult problem for a defense to solve. It also gives South Carolina a real shot here, even against a Sooners unit that has been one of the best in the country. Oklahoma ranks No. 2 in adjusted EPA/Play and success rate on defense, and it’s also in the top five in EPA/Pass and EPA/Rush.
The challenge for Oklahoma is on the other side of the ball. The Sooners have some quality wins, including the upset of Texas in the Red River Rivalry, but they’ve also had trouble with top SEC competition such as Georgia and Kentucky.
John Mateer and the Oklahoma offense have not produced enough to enter the College Football Playoff conversation, and the numbers are blunt: the Sooners rank 121st in offensive success rate. They’ve also scored fewer than 30 points in six straight games, including every game against an SEC opponent.
That contrast is what makes this game so interesting. South Carolina’s defense has been shaky, sitting 119th in success rate in 2026, but Oklahoma’s offense hasn’t exactly been built to punish anyone. The Sooners are 128th in EPA/Rush and 83rd in EPA/Pass offensively, which leaves them with a worse success rate than even the Gamecocks’ defense.
There’s a path for South Carolina to win outright if Sellers gets loose on the ground, and it’s fair to wonder whether Oklahoma has seen a quarterback quite like him this season. The Sooners have handled some SEC offenses, but this is a different kind of challenge.
The pick is South Carolina with the points, since Oklahoma’s offense hasn’t shown it can consistently separate from a Power Four opponent.
In Other News...
OU Fans Think Memorial Stadium Could Be Getting A Huge Summer Event
A cryptic post from Oklahomas official athletics accounts has Sooners fans doing the kind of detective work that usually comes with schedule releases and transfer rumors, not summer concert news. The image was vague enough to spark plenty of speculation, but it lined up with other stadium teases circulating around the music world, and Memorial Stadium has long been a venue that can double as more than just a football home.
The most talked-about possibility is a Noah Kahan show next summer, especially with a countdown appearing on his website that has fueled talk of an announcement coming soon. Nothing has been made official yet, but the timing of the post and the pattern behind similar stadium hints have given fans a reason to think one of the biggest summer events in Norman could be on the way. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Finally Has Some Bowl Momentum After A Much Needed Road Win
For a team trying to steady itself in the middle of an SEC stretch, Oklahomas win at Mississippi State offered more than just a number in the standings. The Sooners left Starkville with a 4-3 record and a 2-2 mark in league play, and they did it with a cleaner, more balanced performance than they have consistently shown this season. John Mateer completed 76 percent of his passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns, while the ground game added 184 yards on 41 carries to help control the pace.
Adepoju Adebawore also kept flashing the kind of pass-rush presence Oklahoma has been leaning on. He finished with 1.5 sacks, another strong showing for a defense that needed one on the road. A win like this does not solve everything, but it does give the Sooners something they have been lacking lately: a little momentum, and a clearer path as the season heads deeper into conference play. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Faces A Real Test Up Front In Norman
South Carolina is bringing real momentum into Norman, and that alone makes this matchup worth a closer look for Oklahoma. The Gamecocks have stacked consecutive wins over ranked Florida and Tennessee, while the Sooners are trying to follow their recent victory over Mississippi State with something they have not managed yet this season: back-to-back wins. With both teams looking to keep moving in the right direction, the line play figures to be central to everything that happens Saturday.
For Oklahoma, the immediate concern is up front, where the Sooners are still sorting through an offensive line situation that will be under the microscope against one of the SECs most disruptive young defenders. South Carolina coaches pointed to edge rusher Dylan Stewart as a player who can change the tone of a game, and Oklahomas staff knows that kind of pressure can decide whether a rhythm offense ever gets settled. In a game with momentum on the line for both sides, that front-five battle may end up defining the afternoon. [Read more 🡒]