Oklahoma Fails to Cover in Blowout Loss to South Carolina

The Oklahoma Sooners’ dreams of reaching the College Football Playoff are on extremely thin ice.

A week after being routed in the Red River Showdown against arch-rival Texas, the Sooners lost, 35-9, at home against a South Carolina squad that entered the weekend 3-3.

Oklahoma initially opened as a 5.5-point favorite, but closed as a one-point underdog. According to Action Network’s Evan Abrams, the Sooners entered the contest 9-0 SU and 6-3 ATS when coming off a SU loss to Texas since 1999. South Carolina completely upended that trend.

Two defensive touchdowns — a 36-yard fumble return by Tonka Hemingway and a 65-yard pick-six by Nick Emmanwori — helped the Gamecocks take a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter. South Carolina led 32-3 at halftime. Oklahoma entered the week with the 24th-best odds of winning the national championship (+27274). Saturday’s result dropped Oklahoma to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play in its first-ever SEC campaign. Making matters worse, quarterback Jackson Arnold replaced replaced freshman Michael Hawkins (who committed turnovers on each of OU’s first three series) during the first quarter, burning Arnold’s redshirt.

This season marks the third since Brent Venables took over for Lincoln Riley as head coach. Last year, the Sooners finished 12th in the final CFP poll. This year, they began the season ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll, but dropped out of the top 25 after losing to Texas last week.

As a single-digit favorite or underdog under Venables, the Sooners are now 4-12 SU and 5-11 ATS.

The must-have app for college football bettors

The best NCAAF betting scoreboard

Free picks from proven pros

Live win probabilities for your bets

DOWNLOAD NOW