College Football
Preview
Oklahoma at Louisiana State
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 30, 2024
Where: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
By Field Level Media

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recalls the two toughest road games he's ever coached sharing a common denominator. They were against LSU.

Neither, though, were in Baton Rouge.

Venables was the Sooners' defensive coordinator in the 2003 national championship game in the Sugar Bowl and was in the same position at Clemson for the College Football Playoff National Championship to end the 2019 season.

"It was deafening," Venables said. "Could not hear on the headsets."

Saturday, Venables and the Sooners get their first experience in Baton Rouge when Oklahoma takes on the Tigers in the regular-season finale.

The Sooners (6-5, 2-5 SEC) are riding high, coming off a stunning 24-3 home win over Alabama that gave them bowl eligibility for the 26th consecutive season.

LSU (7-4, 4-3) is coming off a 24-17 home win over Vanderbilt to snap a three-game losing streak.

The quarterbacks figure to be front and center.

For the Sooners, it's a much different challenge than they faced with Alabama's Jalen Milroe.

Oklahoma held Milroe to 164 yards passing with no touchdowns and three interceptions and just 7 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Garrett Nussmeier isn't much of a runner, but is seventh nationally with 3,458 passing yards.

"He moves around really well, so they're taking advantage of that," Venables said. "They boot him, they roll him out, they dash him, they sprint him, so he can do a great job keeping his eyes down the field and throws the ball really, really well on the move.

"I love his toughness, the guts he plays with. Everything goes through him."

Tigers coach Brian Kelly wasn't quite as effusive about Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Arnold has struggled at times with ball security, but is coming off a game where he ran for a career-high 131 yards on 25 carries.

"I think everyone here knows our history with the quarterbacks that run the football," Kelly said. "That will be a challenge for us."

Milroe ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns against LSU on Nov. 9, while Texas A&M's Marcel Reed ran for 62 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers on Oct. 26. LSU lost both those games.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W‑L Strk PF PA Home Away Grass Turf Conf
Oklahoma 6-5 W1 25.0 20.2 5-3 1-2 6-4 0-0 2-5
Louisiana State 7-4 W1 28.6 24.4 5-2 2-2 6-4 0-0 4-3
Last Meeting
Oklahoma Louisiana State
Date Away Home Tot Rus Pas Tot Rus Pas
12/28/19 OKLA 28 LSU 63 322 97 225 693 161 532
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Passing Player COMP % YDS TD INT
Oklahoma J. Hurts 48.4 217 0 1
Louisiana State J. Burrow 74.4 493 7 0
Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD
Oklahoma J. Hurts 14 43 3.1 2
Louisiana State C. Curry 16 90 5.6 0
Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD
Oklahoma C. Lamb 4 119 29.8 0
Louisiana State J. Jefferson 14 227 16.2 4
Touchdowns Player TD
Oklahoma J. Hurts 2
Louisiana State J. Jefferson 4
Season
Passing Player COMP % YDS TD INT
Oklahoma J. Arnold 62.2 1311 12 3
Louisiana State G. Nussmeier 63.2 3458 23 11
Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD
Oklahoma J. Barnes 122 577 4.7 5
Louisiana State C. Durham 114 614 5.4 6
Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD
Oklahoma B. Sharp 41 320 7.8 2
Louisiana State K. Lacy 55 825 15.0 8
Touchdowns Player TD
Oklahoma J. Barnes 6
Louisiana State C. Durham 8
Quickchart Matchup
Oklahoma Oklahoma Off vs  Louisiana State Louisiana State Def
Oklahoma 326.9 yards
Louisiana State 359.3 yards
Oklahoma 3.8 yards/rush
Louisiana State 4.5 yards/rush
Oklahoma 6.2 yards/attempt
Louisiana State 7.7 yards/attempt
Louisiana State Louisiana State Off vs  Oklahoma Oklahoma Def
Louisiana State 435.1 yards
Oklahoma 311.3 yards
Louisiana State 4.1 yards/rush
Oklahoma 2.9 yards/rush
Louisiana State 7.5 yards/attempt
Oklahoma 7.2 yards/attempt