After Oklahoma registered the biggest win in his tenure, Sooners coach Brent Venables said his team knows not to take a foot off the gas.
“I don’t think our guys will lose respect for winning,” Venables said. “Complacency is the opposite of that. That’s not who our guys have been all year. They have a clear vision for what is at stake and what is required.”
What’s at stake for the eighth-ranked Sooners over the last two games, beginning with Saturday’s matchup against No. 22 Missouri in Norman, Okla., is a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma figures to need to win out to make its first CFP appearance since 2019.
The Sooners (8-2, 4-2 SEC) climbed back into the race thanks to narrow wins over ranked Tennessee and Alabama teams, powered by strong defense and avoidance of the costly mistakes holding the offense back in earlier big games this season.
“Football’s not a beauty contest, and certainly this league’s not,” Venables said.
But the Tigers present a different kind of challenge for Oklahoma.
While the Sooners have faced three top-11 passing offenses, Missouri is the first top-11 rushing offense Oklahoma has faced in 2025.
Missouri (7-3, 3-3) comes into the game averaging 241.7 yards per game on the ground, sixth nationally, while the Sooners are allowing just 82.2 yards per game rushing. Oklahoma is fourth nationally against the run.
Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy leads the nation in rushing with 1,346 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“They’re doing a great job of knocking people off the line of scrimmage,” Venables said of Missouri’s rushing offense.
The Sooners held Alabama to just 80 yards on the ground last week and no team has rushed for more than 146 yards against them this season after Venables took over defensive coordinator duties heading into this season.
“They rally to the ball,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “They cut gaps. They overlap the defense. They blitz. They got it all. Whatever you can play on Madden or College Football to stop the run, they have it in their game plan, and he’s not afraid to call it at any point.”
The Tigers are hoping to have quarterback Beau Pribula back soon.
Pribula suffered a dislocated ankle Oct. 25 in a 17-10 loss against Vanderbilt and has missed the past two games.
He went through warmups before last week’s win over Mississippi State before being ruled out officially.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said he expected Matt Zollers to start against the Sooners.
“Playing against an elite defense, you don’t want to put somebody out there who can’t compete at the highest level,” Drinkwitz said. “Knowing how aggressive and attacking they are, it would be a detriment to our team and Beau to put him out there if he’s not able to play up to his level.”
The Tigers are coming off a 49-27 win over Mississippi State that snapped a two-game losing streak.
Oklahoma was without star defensive end R Mason Thomas last week after he was injured returning a fumble for a touchdown against Tennessee.
The Tigers won last year’s matchup 30-23 in Columbia, Mo.
The Sooners have won 18 consecutive matchups with Missouri in Norman. The Tigers’ last win at Oklahoma came in 1966 when the teams were in the Big Eight.
