How did Oklahoma fare in Week 8?

The No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels have a bye this week, but that gives the team and fans alike a chance to explore the Southeastern Conference a bit, including the Oklahoma Sooners, who will come to Oxford next weekend.

How did the Sooners fare against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday? In short, the game was over in the first quarter, and not in a good way for the Norman boys.

Oklahoma actually outscored South Carolina's offense 291-254 that day, but four turnovers ended any hope of pulling out a win in front of its home crowd. Gamecock running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders started the scoring in the first quarter with a three-yard touchdown run, but a 36-yard scoop-and-score and a 65-yard pick-six left the Sooners 0-0. 21 and 9 back :40 left in the first frame.

Michael Hawkins Jr., the young quarterback who replaced Jackson Arnold earlier this season, was substituted in for Arnold, who ended up playing most of the game. He finished the day completing 18 of 36 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.

Arnold's 54-yard pass to Brenen Thompson was too little, too late, as the Sooners were already down 32-3 when that play came with 7:33 left in the third quarter.

On the Carolina side, it was actually a rather boring day on offense. Both Sanders and quarterback LaNorris Sellers recorded just 2.2 yards per carry in the win, and Sellers was 16 of 24 passing for 175 yards and a score. The biggest factor in this game was again the Sooners' four turnovers compared to none for the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss will welcome Oklahoma to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium next Saturday and will have to take advantage of a Sooner team that is underperforming at home. Oklahoma is now 4-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play, and if the Rebels want to attempt a backdoor entry into the College Football Playoff, they'll need to start piling up wins starting in Week 9.

Kickoff between the Rebels and Sooners is scheduled for October 26th at 11 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN.

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