Oklahoma now knows when it will walk into Athens for its SEC opener.
The Sooners’ Week 4 matchup at Georgia is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on Sept. 26, with the game slated for ABC or ESPN. It’s a major early test for Brent Venables’ team, which is trying to regroup after a rough Saturday in Ann Arbor.
OU fell 17-10 to Michigan at The Big House, a game that never really found a rhythm offensively. John Mateer had a shaky first half, and while he settled in enough to connect on his first nine pass attempts after the break, Oklahoma still couldn’t sustain anything after tying the game at 10-10. Mateer’s interception turned into the turning point, with Michigan taking over at the 6-yard line and punching in the winning score two plays later.
Georgia arrives with a much cleaner start to the season, even if the schedule has been soft. The No.
2 Bulldogs hammered Tennessee State 63-3 in Week 1 and followed that with a 70-20 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday. This week, Kirby Smart’s team heads to Arkansas to open conference play, though the Razorbacks haven’t exactly looked like a threat after two games in 2026.
Arkansas opened with a 31-14 win over North Alabama, then got blasted 43-10 by No. 20 Utah.
Oklahoma still has one more non-conference game before turning fully to SEC life. The Sooners host New Mexico this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2. After that comes Georgia, and then the Red River Rivalry sits on the horizon.
Venables, though, didn’t sound like he believes one loss changes the temperature around the program. After the Michigan game, he pushed back on the idea that the road ahead suddenly looks harder.
"It's no more difficult than it was two weeks ago," Venables said after the loss to Michigan. "It’s the same schedule, and our guys are ready for it.
They understand the challenge. Looking forward to the challenge.
Looking forward to getting an opportunity to go back out and compete again. This is a group of players and coaches that got the right stuff to them.
"They're not going to be fearful of all of a sudden you lost a one-score game on the road in front of 107,000 people. You lost the game where you had an opportunity late with the ball to go down and tie it up.
There's no worry or doubt or fatalistic mindset. That's not this locker room."
There’s also a wrinkle in the schedule: Oklahoma’s bye week lands between the trip to Athens and the annual visit to the Cotton Bowl.
And when the Sooners and Bulldogs meet on Sept. 26, it’ll be a first in more ways than one. Oklahoma has never played at Georgia, and the game will be the first campus-site meeting between the programs. Their only previous matchup came in the 2017 College Football Playoff, when Georgia beat OU 54-48 in double overtime at the Rose Bowl in Baker Mayfield’s final game in Crimson and Cream.
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For Oklahoma, the debate is bigger than one September setback, even if that kind of loss can shape the conversation for days. A single game should not be treated as a verdict on Venables or on where the Sooners season is headed, but it does mean the pressure to steady things now is real, and the longer the chatter lingers, the harder it gets to keep the focus on football. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Added Another Huge Name To Its Softball Future
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Schladers rise has matched the kind of national profile Oklahoma has built its roster around, and her recognition as Gatorades Iowa softball player of the year only adds to the appeal. For a program that lives at the top of the sport, landing another highly ranked prospect in her class is the sort of move that keeps the future looking as loaded as the present. [Read more 🡒]
Mackenzie Alleyne Just Forced A Bigger Oklahoma Offensive Decision
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Alleynes background only makes the fit more intriguing. He already knows Oklahoma quarterback and offensive coordinator from his previous stop, which can help fast-track trust in an offense still searching for answers. With Trell Harris out for the foreseeable future, Alleynes performance adds another layer to the Sooners receiver picture and forces a bigger conversation about how much more involved he should be going forward. [Read more 🡒]