3-2-1 KICK OFF
Here's what to look for when Oklahoma hosts West Virginia at 11 a.m. Saturday:
3 players to watch
Neville Gallimore: As good as Kenneth Murray has been on defense for the Sooners lately, Gallimore has been as good or better. He's eating up double teams and still finding ways to make plays as well as opening up space for Murray and the players behind him to make plays. Hype has followed Gallimore for a few years but he's finally living up to it.
Charleston Rambo: Rambo has had just four catches for 33 yards over the last two games after leading the Sooners in receiving early in the year. At some point, a team is going to go all-in again on shutting down CeeDee Lamb — like UCLA did — and Rambo is going to be leaned on heavily again — like he was in his fivecatch, 122-yards performance against the Bruins. Could this be the day?
Trey Sermon: Sermon played a significant number of snaps last week but never got the ball, a surprising reality for a bak that has been such a big part of OU's offensive game plans in recent years. Will Sermon get back in the rotation this week or is there something more going on with him?
2 big questions
Can the Sooners force turnovers? As good as Oklahoma's defense has been this season, the Sooners haven't forced many turnovers despite it being a constant point of emphasis for Alex Grinch. OU has only four interceptions and two fumble recovering all season. They'll need to improve in this area if they want to get to the College Football Playoff and make noise there.
How effective is Austin
Kendall? Barring a further setback, the former Sooners QB is expected to start for West Virginia. He's struggled at times this year but his line hasn't protected him well for large stretches — somewhat of a concern for West Virginia after OU sacked Sam Ehlinger nine times last week. If Kendall can catch lightning in a bottle, the game could at least be close. Without a big-time performance from Kendall, though, it's hard to foresee a scenario where the game isn't decided by early in the second half.
1 wild prediction
Oklahoma's defense scores
two touchdowns. The Sooners have created plenty of havor defensively but the turnovers haven't been there. But they break out against the Mountaineers. A year ago, Caleb Kelly and Curtis Bolton both found the end zone and history repeats itself Saturday with different defenders scoring for OU.