Three Matchups Oklahoma Must Win in its SEC Opener Against Auburn

The Sooners will play the first half without defensive end R Mason Thomas, who is serving a suspension after he was ejected for targeting in the third quarter of last weekend’s win over Temple. 

And while Marvin Jones Jr., Adepoju Adebawore and Taylor Wein have enjoyed strong starts to the season on the end, the strength of OU’s defense comes up the middle. 

Neither Illinois State, Temple or Michigan could handle the combination of Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams and David Stone at defensive tackle. 

Auburn averages 242.0 yards per game on the ground, 0.7 yards less than the Wolverines.

Oklahoma needs to bottle up the Tigers’ rushing attack on first and second down to put Arnold in obvious passing situations on Saturday afternoon. 

OU held Michigan to 146 rushing yards, with 75 of those coming on one play. 

Auburn trusts center Connor Lew and guards Dillon Wade and Jeremiah Wright. If the Sooners win the battle at the point of attack, it could be a long day for Arnold and the Tigers. 

Keldric Faulk and Keyron Crawford vs. Michael Fasusi and Derek Simmons

On the other side of the ball, Auburn’s strength lies at defensive end. 

Keldric Faulk was voted onto the Preseason All-SEC First-Team. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound edge rusher totaled seven sacks, one forced fumble and 45 total tackles in 2024. 

So far this year, he has eight tackles and one sack, and he’s looking to add to those totals on Saturday. 

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Across from Faulk, Keyron Crawford leads the Tigers with three sacks. Crawford, a senior, also has one interception in 2025. 

True freshman left tackle Michael Fasusi starred in his OU debut against Michigan, but he sat out the Sooners’ win over the Owls. He was upgraded to probable for Saturday’s contest on the Thursday availability report, and he’ll have his hands full again to protect quarterback John Mateer. 

Jaren Kanak vs. Auburn’s Linebackers 

Auburn was able to do enough to keep Baylor off the scoreboard in Week 1 to leave Waco with a 38-24 victory, but the Bears totaled 483 yards. 

Tight end Michael Trigg gave the Auburn defense fits. 

He caught seven balls for 99 yards and a score against the Tigers, as they struggled to defend the Baylor tight end over the middle of the field. 

Jaren Kanak has been one of OU’s early-season success stories. 

Through three games, he’s caught 14 passes for 245 yards. Kanak leads all FBS tight ends in receiving yards, and he was a key target for Mateer on third downs against Michigan.

If Kanak has another big day, things will open up for OU’s other pass catchers — Deion Burks, Isaiah Sategna and Keontez Lewis — which will in turn loosen things up in the box and give Mateer and running back Tory Blaylock more room to operate on the ground.