Oklahoma has a chance to do something a lot of people would have laughed off just a week ago: stack another top-15 win on top of the one it just stole from then-No. 1 Texas.
And this time, the Sooners get Kentucky at home Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
The setup is strange, though. Oklahoma is unranked, Kentucky is No. 15, and yet FanDuel has the Sooners favored by 6.5 points. That doesn’t make the challenge disappear, but it does tell you the market sees this as more than a simple ranked-versus-unranked mismatch.
If Oklahoma wants to keep the momentum rolling, John Mateer looks like the player most likely to drive it.
Kentucky head coach Will Stein praised Mateer this week, and the Sooners quarterback has a chance to answer that praise in a big way. Stein pointed to Mateer’s ability to hurt teams both through the air and on the ground, and that dual threat could finally show up in the end zone.
Mateer leads the team in carries, but he still hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown this season. That changes here.
Kentucky is the weakest defense he has seen since UTEP in Week 1, and after a strong showing against Texas, Mateer appears set for his best outing yet - one passing touchdown and his first rushing score of the year.
The backfield picture also points toward a breakout day for Lloyd Avant.
This is the spot for Oklahoma to finally produce its first 100-yard rusher of 2026, something the Sooners haven’t had since Xavier Robinson got there nearly a year ago against Ole Miss on Oct. 25, 2025.
Avant is the clear lead option, and he has already shown what he can do when the ball finds him. Against Texas, he averaged 7.2 yards per carry and turned 10 rushing attempts into 72 yards and a touchdown.
With OU down to Avant and Jonathan Hatton Jr. as its only healthy running backs, the workload should rise. Kentucky has also been vulnerable on the ground, allowing 151.2 rushing yards per game, so Avant has the best path to that long-awaited milestone.
And if Oklahoma does beat Kentucky, the conversation around Brent Venables and this season changes fast.
A win over the Wildcats would give the Sooners back-to-back victories over top-15 teams, with Texas in the middle. At 4-2, they would still have plenty to clean up, but the national chatter would shift almost immediately. College football observers would start asking whether Venables can pull another team out of the rubble and into the College Football Playoff conversation, the same way he did a year ago.
That may sound ludacris, but so did Oklahoma beating No. 1 Texas this time last week.
Prediction-wise, the numbers point to another Sooners win: Oklahoma 24, Kentucky 13.
Kentucky may already be a little overrated after its upset of LSU, and Oklahoma’s defense should present a much tougher test than the Wildcats have seen in recent weeks. Alabama, which ranks No. 45 in scoring defense and allows 20.7 points per game, held Kentucky to 17 points in its only loss. Oklahoma should do at least that well, and if Mateer takes care of the ball and the offense gets a little more life than it has shown over the last four games, the Sooners can win this without needing a defensive or special teams score.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Just Sent A Strong Message About Brent Venables Future
Brent Venables place at Oklahoma just got a lot clearer, and a lot more expensive for anyone thinking about making a change. The Sooners coach now has an extension that was approved by the Board of Regents after he led Oklahoma back to the College Football Playoff, a move that signals the program is ready to keep building around him rather than treat last season as a one-off breakthrough.
The financial terms leave little doubt about how strongly Oklahoma is tying itself to Venables, with a buyout that would cost $51.67 million if he were terminated after the 2026 season and then drops each year through 2031. Athletic director Roger Denny, who took over in February, helped guide the contract process, and the structure suggests the Sooners wanted stability, not a short-term reset, as they look ahead under Venables. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Heads Into Kentucky With A Protection Concern Fans Cant Ignore
Oklahomas offensive front is walking into the Kentucky game with more uncertainty than it would like this late in the week. Eddy Pierre-Louis and Parker Livingstone have both been downgraded to doubtful, while Michael Fasusi and Eli Bowen remain questionable, leaving the Sooners to juggle protection concerns at a time when every healthy body up front matters.
Several other players are already ruled out, so the margin for error is thin before kickoff. Kentucky is dealing with its own injury questions, including Tyler Thomas being out and running back CJ Baxter listed as questionable, but the spotlight for Oklahoma stays on how well it can hold up in the trenches if those availability issues linger into game day. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Seized Major Momentum In A Crowded 2027 Recruiting Race
A major 2027 recruiting shift rippled through the class on October 11 when Easton Royal, one of the top wide receiver prospects in the cycle, flipped his commitment from Texas to Florida. The move immediately altered the national picture, with Texas sliding from No. 6 to No. 9 in the Rivals recruiting rankings and Florida climbing from No. 8 to No. 5 as the early race keeps tightening.
For Oklahoma fans watching the broader SEC recruiting churn, it is another reminder that these rankings are still very much in flux. Rivals lists the board as provisional, and with more commitments and evaluations still ahead, the next wave of movement could be just as dramatic as this one. [Read more 🡒]