Ryan Aber's Three Bold Predictions for Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss

 Oklahoma hosts Ole Miss on Saturday with plenty on the line.

The game between top-15 opponents is the first of a five-game stretch for the Sooners against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press poll.

The game will feature strength against strength, with the 13th-ranked Sooners fielding one of the nation’s top defenses, while the No. 8 Rebels have one of the best offenses in the nation.

Oklahoma is looking for its first-ever win over Ole Miss.

The Rebels have won the previous two meetings between the teams — last season’s 26-14 win in Oxford, and a 27-25 victory in the 1999 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Here are three bold predictions for the game:

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Oklahoma Wins Turnover Battle

Turnovers have been hard to come by for the Sooners this season, with just four — three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

But those four have come over the last three games, as the OU defense has taken advantage of chances finally.

While Ole Miss’ offense has been fantastic for much of the season, the Rebels have struggled at times to hold onto the ball.

Ole Miss has lost three fumbles and thrown five interceptions this season.

With rain chances at kickoff at 71% as of Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service, turnovers could come in bunches in this one.

While the Sooners are 4-1 when losing the turnover margin this season, that’s a hard precedent to keep up.

A Sooners’ victory in the turnover margin would go a long way toward helping OU emerge with a victory.

Since the beginning of the 2023 season, the Sooners are 15-0 when running the turnover battle, but 6-9 when it loses the category.

Sooners Register Another Safety

Oklahoma’s defense comes into the game leading the nation in tackles for loss, with 10.7 per game.

Indiana (9.4) is the only other team in FBS averaging more than 8.4 tackles per loss per game.

The Sooners have pressured opposing quarterbacks on 47% of dropbacks according to Pro Football Focus, blitzing at a 50.4% rate (fifth-highest among Power Four teams).

And while it isn’t always blitzes that lead to safeties, the stat highlights how aggressive OU has been.

With the back-end holding up well, helping the Sooners largely avoid giving up explosive plays, Brent Venables can afford to be plenty aggressive in spots, and those spots include times when they’ve got opponents pinned near the goal line.

The Sooners have already recorded two safeties this season — against South Carolina last week and Auburn earlier in the season.

Before this season, the Sooners hadn’t had multiple safeties in a season since 2013.

Another would give them their first three-safety season since 2010 when they recorded safeties against Colorado, Texas A&M and Baylor.