Players to watch, keys to victory: Oklahoma

The Auburn Tigers look to get back on track and find themselves in a home showdown versus the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners who are 3-1 to start the year.

Auburn is coming off a 21-14 loss to Arkansas that was plagued by turnovers. Auburn has quarterback controversy, with it unclear if Hugh Freeze and the Tiger staff this weekend start Payton Thorne or Hank Brown at quarterback. 

Auburn did some good things in their loss versus Arkansa and some things that need improvement. The Tigers ran the ball effectively against a very good Arkansas front, but they did not run the ball enough. Expect to see a lot more ground game this week. 

Auburn's front seven also played very well stuffing the run but seemed to break down on third down, allowing five conversions on third-and-10 or more in the game. The defense also gave up a few quarterback rushes, with Arkansas's quarterback rushing for 80 yards against the Tigers, and they will need to limit quarterback rushing against Oklahoma. Auburn's defensive backs played a solid game except for a few costly mistakes, specifically on a third-and-19 play that resulted in a touchdown for the Razorbacks. 

Overall, Auburn needs to find ways to take care of the football and limit mistakes. The Tigers have accumulated 10 turnovers across their two losses—eight interceptions and two fumbles—yet still played close contests.

Next, Oklahoma's offense looked disorganized in its loss against Tennessee in the Sooners' first SEC game. 

The Sooners made a quarterback change mid game that seemed to get their offense going a little bit, switching from redshirt freshmen Jackson Arnold to true freshmen Michael Hawkins Jr. Their offense has not been great at moving the ball through the air or on the ground thus far this year, ranking in the bottom three in the SEC in both categories.

The Sooners, unlike past Oklahoma teams, have a stout defense. Their defense is one of the best in the country, giving up just under 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards per game. They stuff the run, get pressure on the quarterback and make their opponent work for every yard.

Players to Watch

Oklahoma:

Michael Hawkins Jr (QB)

True freshman Hawkins will be making his first collegiate start this weekend against Auburn. He has appeared in two games this year but only played extensively against Tennessee last week where he went 11-for-18 with 132 passing yards and a touchdown. The true freshman also rushed for 22 yards on 12 carries. Hawkins is not the biggest player but had some solid scrambles against the Tennessee defense. 

Danny Stutsman (LB)

Stutsman is one of the best linebackers in the country, and he has shown that on the field this year. He is the Sooners leading tackler with 36 tackles and makes plays all over the field. He is the leader of the defense and is one of the top linebacker prospects for the 2025 draft. Expect him to have a huge impact on the game.

Robert Spears-Jennings (DB)

Spears-Jennings has done it all for the Sooner defense this year. He has an interception, a sack and two forced fumbles while also being second on the team in tackles. He has been huge in their secondary which was shaky at times versus the Vols last week.

Auburn:

Jarquez Hunter (RB)

The senior running back has been one of Auburn's brights spots on offense through four games. He has totaled 340 yards on the ground and 7.1 yards per carry with two touchdowns. With all the uncertainty at quarterback, Hunter should see a bunch of work and should have a big day on Saturday.

Keandre Lambert-Smith (WR)

After a career day last week for the transfer from Penn State having five catches for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Lambert-Smith has solidified his role in the offense as the number one receiver and go to guy. With all the press man to man Oklahoma does, expect a bunch of slants for Lambert-Smith to get the ball and make plays.

Kendric Faulk (DE)

Faulk has had a solid start to the season with three sacks and 15 total tackles through four games. He has been huge along Auburn's defensive line with getting pressure to the opposing team's quarterbacks. He is tied for 3rd in the country according to PFF in quarterback pressures with 17. Look for Faulk to create problems for Oklahoma’s true freshmen quarterback.

Keys to Victory

Oklahoma:

The Sooners are in an interesting spot, starting a quarterback that has seen limited action so far this year. First, they need to make it as easy as possible for him, especially since this game is in a hostile environment. They need to get the running game going and can use Michael Hawkins Jr. to help with this, but they have yet to get the running game going so far this year. They need to find their go-to-gadget receivers Deion Burks and Jaquaize Pettaway on short, quick and easy routes and hope they can make big plays in space. It may be difficult against the stout Auburn front, but the Sooner offense showed nice flashes last week against an elite Tennessee defense in the second half. 

Defensively, the Sooners should keep doing what has worked so far, that is stopping the run and getting to the quarterback. The Auburn run game could prove to be troublesome for the Sooners, though. They also can cause turnovers with four interceptions and seven forced fumbles on the year which the Tigers have been prone to giving the ball away as they are number two in the country in interceptions. 

Auburn:

The Tigers need to stop turning the ball over. They have 10 total turnovers in their two losses this year, which has been detrimental to their season. Next, the Tigers need to establish the run game early and lean on it the rest of the way. Auburn has had no problem running the ball this year and should look to run the ball more. When the Tigers do pass, they need to look for Lambert-Smith in the short passing game with the slant route because Oklahoma loves to play press man two-man coverage and bring their safety into the box which leaves the middle of the field open, which Tennessee exploited multiple times last week. Shots down the sideline to Lambert-Smith and Cam Coleman could also be open. 

Defensively, the Tigers should easily be able to stuff the run where Oklahoma has struggled. Oklahoma is starting a true freshmen quarterback, so Auburn needs to get pressure on Hawkins Jr. and force him into tough decisions and make him make mistakes. 

This game will be a war up front and will be very low scoring, so it will ultimately come down to whichever team can take care of the football and make the opponent's offense make mistakes.

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 and will be televised on ABC.