No. 10 Oklahoma opens vs UTEP as playoff-hungry Sooners chase a cleaner start

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — No. 10 Oklahoma and UTEP will meet Friday night in a season opener that has the all makings of a major mismatch.

The Sooners return multiple starters from a team that reached the College Football Playoff last season while the Miners have lost 19 games the past two seasons and must replace every starter on offense.

Oklahoma's defense was among the best in the nation a season ago and returns six starters, including defensive end Taylor Wein and linebackers Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke. Starting quarterback John Mateer, leading receiver Isaiah Sategna and four starting offensive linemen also return for Oklahoma along with Lou Groza Award winner Tate Sandell, who made eight of nine kicks from 50-plus yards.

Expectations are high for the Sooners (10-3 last year), who are still smarting from an early CFP exit against Alabama and eager to show they can run the ball with authority after finishing near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference with 118.5 yards per game a year ago.

“I want to see clean football,” Venables told reporters this week. “If you say, ‘Hey,’ what's winning look like? You stop the run and run the football and create explosive plays and win the turnover margin.' Those are areas that the stat sheet can tell a story. I want to play aggressive, clean football. Maybe we might have an aggressive penalty — I don't mind aggressive penalties. I don't like the sloppiness pre-snap and the mental mistakes that are part of football.”

UTEP (2-10) is entering its first year in the Mountain West Conference after 21 football seasons in Conference USA. Third-year coach Scotty Walden is working with plenty of new faces, including EJ Colson Jr, a transfer from Incarnate Word who will make his debut at quarterback for the Miners. Others expected to contribute are running back Kam Thomas and wide receiver Jaden Smith, who both missed significant time in 2025.

The Miners return a solid core on defense, led by linebacker Jayden Wilson, who had a team-high 92 tackles last season. Safety Xavier Smith and cornerback Justin Content are two experienced defenders.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen this Friday night,” Walden told reporters. “I don’t know what’s going to happen this season, but I know this, that the UTEP Miners are going to fight, we have a team full of fighters that don’t know quit.”

Walden's team played Texas fairly close last season, trailing 14-3 at halftime and losing 27-10 in Austin. The Miners will play at No. 16 Michigan on Sept. 19.

“We have no pressure in this game, what pressure do we have?” Walden asked. “There’s not anybody in the country that picks us to win this game,”

Venables is not taking the Miners lightly.

“I told our team, these guys are coming in here, they’re not coming in here with any other mindset other than to fight their butts off and have an opportunity to hit you in the mouth and we respect Coach Walden,” he said. “He’s got great passion and energy, super detailed offensive guy, does a great job with those guys.”

Venables brought in former NFL All-Pro tight end Jason Witten and Oakland Raiders running backs coach Deland McCullough to help revive a running game that finished 13th in the SEC in rushing last season with a per carry average of 3.54 yards. Sooner backs struggled to create runs of 12 yards or more, and the emphasis during fall camp was picking up yards after contact.

“We're a part of the run game,” Witten said of his tight ends. “Being the guy who's usually at the end of the line of scrimmage you're an extension of the offensive line.”

Oklahoma has won all five games played between the teams dating to 2000, when the Sooners started their undefeated national championship season with a 55-14 win in Norman. In 2022, Brent Venables won his first game as head coach by defeating the Miners 45-13 in Norman. In 2017, Baker Mayfield led the Sooners to a 56-7 victory, which marked Lincoln Riley’s first win as OU's head coach.

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