Football is back! The one-week drought of the bye is over and the Sooners are back in action on Saturday. It’ll be homecoming for Oklahoma, and the first ever meeting between the Sooners and the Knights. Here are some key storylines as OU looks to start the season 7-0 for the first time since 2019.
- Saturday’s game will feature two of the nation’s most potent offenses. UCF ranks fourth in the country (first in Big 12) by averaging 516.7 yards of total offense per game, while OU ranks sixth (second in Big 12) with its 506.0 yards per game. The Sooners rank fourth nationally by averaging 45.2 points per game, while UCF ranks 27th (34.7 ppg).
- Oklahoma redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel began his collegiate career at UCF, starting 12 of 13 games as a true freshman in 2019, all 10 contests in 2020 and the first three games of the 2021 season before sustaining a broken collarbone that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
- OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby spent two seasons at UCF under then-head coach and former Oklahoma All-America quarterback Josh Heupel. Lebby was the Knights’ quarterbacks coach in 2018 before being promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2019 season. In 2019, with Gabriel under center, UCF set a school record and ranked second nationally in total offense (540.5 ypg) and ranked fifth in the country in scoring offense (43.4 ppg).
- OU last faced UCF head coach Gus Malzahn when he was Auburn’s head coach, and the No. 7 Sooners downed the No. 17 Tigers 35-19 in the Sugar Bowl to conclude the 2016 season.
- Dillon Gabriel ranks third in total offense (347.7 ypg), fourth in points responsible for per game (21.0), sixth in passing efficiency rating (178.2), seventh in passing offense (313.0 ypg), eighth in passing touchdowns (16) and ninth in pass completion percentage (.723). He leads the Big 12 in all of those categories.
- The Sooners rank second nationally with their 12 interceptions. That’s their most through the first six games of a season since 2000.
- OU leads the country with its +1.8 turnover margin per game. The Sooners rank first nationally with their 2.5 takeaways per contest and have committed just four turnovers (rank eighth with 0.7 per game).
- OU is tied with Iowa, Texas A&M and UCLA for the national lead by allowing just one rushing TD. UCF ranks third in the Big 12 with 14 rushing TDs and leads the league by averaging 246.3 rushing yards per game.
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