Saturday Set-up, presented by Comer Heating and Air/Southern AC & Heating

OXFORD -- Oklahoma and No. 18 Ole Miss square off Saturday morning in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in a must-win game for the home team's College Football Playoff chances.

The Rebels (5-2 overall, 1-2 in the SEC) and the Sooners (4-3, 1-3) kickoff at 11 a.m. CDT. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Saturday Set-Up is presented by Comer Heating and Air and Southern Air Conditioning and Heating. Different names but the same great people, products and services. If you live in Oxford, Batesville, Tupelo or the surrounding area, call Comer at 662-801-1777. If you live in Hernando, Southaven, Olive Branch, Memphis or the surrounding area, call 662-429-4429.

Teams: Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) at No. 18 Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2)

Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (64,038)

Series: Ole Miss leads, 1-0

Time: 11 a.m. CDT

Where to Watch: ESPN (Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden)

Live Stream: ESPN App/SEC Network+

How To Listen: SiriusXM: 374 - 119/190, Ole Miss Radio Network,

Live Statistics/Matchup/Preview: https://www.secsports.com/scores/football?start_date=2023-08-25&end_date=2024-01-08

Odds: Ole Miss -20.5, Over/Under 49, Money Lines: Ole Miss -1350, Oklahoma +8-- (per DraftKings)

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Team Leaders:

Passing:

Oklahoma -- Jackson Arnold -- 138 yards; Ole Miss — Jaxson Dart, 2,384 yards

Rushing:

Oklahoma -- Jovantae Barnes -- 307 yards; Ole Miss — Henry Parrish, Jr., -- 612 yards

Receiving:

Oklahoma -- Deion Burks -- 201 yards; Ole Miss — Tre Harris -- 987 yards

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Gameday Schedule

Parking Operations Begin – 6 a.m.

Reserved North Plaza Tailgate Opens – 7 a.m.

Coca-Cola FanFest Opens – 8 a.m.

Walk of Champions presented by Mid South Ford Dealers – 8:55 a.m.

Pre-Game Radio Show presented by Guaranty Bank – 9 a.m.

Gates Open – 9 a.m.

Pride of the South Grove Show – 9:15 a.m.

Oxford Ortho Letterman's Lounge Guest Interview (BenJarvus Green Ellis) – 9:40 a.m.

Sports Zone Saturday Show Live from the Coca-Cola FanFest – 10 a.m.

Pride of the South Pregame Show – 10:14 a.m.

Paracommando Game Ball Delivery – 10:40 a.m.

National Anthem – 10:50 a.m.

Lock the Vaught – 10:56 a.m.Hotty Toddy – 10:59 a.m.

Kickoff – 11 a.m.

Grove Closes – 6:30 p.m.

Notes:

-- Ole Miss senior starting quarterback Jaxson Dart has been named one of 16 national finalists for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy, as announced by the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday morning.

The William V. Campbell Trophy is college football's premier scholar-athlete award given annually to an individual recognized as the absolute best in the nation for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The 16 finalists will each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments.The 16 finalists were selected from a record number of 204 semifinalists nationwide from among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA.

-- Oklahoma's strength has been its defense this season. The Sooner offense ranks No. 128 out of 134 in the nation, and last in the SEC, in total offense at just 288.1 yards per game, prompting them to make a change at offensive coordinator, parting ways with Seth Littrell and elevating former Rebel tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley to playcalling duties.

-- Ole Miss and Oklahoma have met just once in the long history of the two programs in the 1999 Independence Bowl on New Year's Eve. Romaro Miller and Deuce McAllister teamed up to propel the Rebels to a 21-3 lead at halftime. Led by current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, the Sooners scored three second-half touchdowns to take a 25-24 lead late in the fourth quarter, but McAllister wasn't going to let this one slip away. The star running back returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards, then started the drive with runs of 8 and 9 yards to enter OU territory. Les Binkley finished the job with a 39-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to give Ole Miss a 27-25 win in the last football game of the 20th century.

-- Saturday's game will be the first time that an Oklahoma football team plays a game in the state of Mississippi. Oklahoma is 47-30-1 (.603) all-time in true road games against current members of the SEC. It is 5-0 all-time on the road against SEC members at the time of competition.

-- Oklahoma's trip to Oxford this weekend marks the first SEC contest between the two schools. Ole Miss is 2-2 in first games against new SEC opponents and it stands as one of the 10 remaining original SEC schools from 1932 alongside Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Ole Miss will eventually add a sixth game to this list when it squares off against fellow newcomer, Texas. The Rebels won their first two meetings with Arkansas and South Carolina in 1992 but lost their first SEC games against Texas A&M and Missouri in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

-- Running back Gavin Sawchuk was a noticeable absence in the Sooners' loss this past Saturday against South Carolina. He didn't log a snap, as the Sooners turned to Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum and Kalib Hicks. Hicks hadn't logged a snap all season. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Sawchuk was healthy going into the game but didn't play after straining his quad. However, it was yet another example of Sawchuk's dwindling usage. He began the year as the starting running back, but has only logged 111 snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus, turning 20 carries into just 44 yards (2.1 yards per carry). He is listed as doubtful for Saturday's game in Oxford.

-- Deion Burks has been the likeliest candidate to return this week, at least among the Sooners' ravaged wide receiver corps. Burks, who's been out with a "soft tissue" injury since Week 5 against Auburn, was listed as questionable throughout last week and was upgraded to a "game-time" decision 90 minutes before kickoff against South Carolina. The junior wide receiver went through pregame warmups and appeared to be preparing to play, but was ultimately held out of the Sooners' 35-9 loss to the Gamecocks. He is listed as questionable for Ole Miss.

Despite missing the last three games, Burks still leads the team in receptions (26), yards (201) and touchdowns (3). His return would be significant for an offense that has scored just 32 points over the last three games and lacked any kind of consistency at receiver.

What they said:

“I don’t think that matters. That’s kind of one of those things — I can understand where you’d think that would mean a lot — but he didn’t call plays here. He’s got a different situation obviously there. He was our tight ends coach here, so I don’t think that him having worked here before would help us at all figuring out what he’s going to do. And with only a week to calls, usually people just add a play here or there but stay with the same system. You can’t reinvent the system in six days.” -- Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin on Oklahoma's change at offensive coordinator Sunday

“I think it was good for the mental part. I think we had a lot going on with the two losses we so easily could have won and had control of both games. We’re over halfway through the season and only trailed for 2 1/2 minutes of all games combined. That part was a lot of deal with. We could very easily be undefeated or have just one loss. So I think it was good for everybody to get a little break.” -- Kiffin, on his team's mindset following the open date

-- “I don’t think I see any quitters. I don’t feel like there were any quitters on the teams from the past after any losses. I don’t feel like I’ve been on teams here with guys like that who would just quit on you mid-season because of a loss.

“We have been together and doing this thing for seven or eight months now, since spring ball, since fall camp and stuff like that. There’s no quit on my brother. They’re good dudes. They’re solid guys. I think that speaks to the culture we have set in place." -- Ole Miss defensive end Jared Ivey

-- "Over the last several months, there’s a body of work that you look at all of it and evaluate it. And obviously we haven’t played winning football on offense. And so you always go back and look at why. We know what some of the issues have been from a roster standpoint, from an injury standpoint, and those are very real without question. But at the end of the day, you look at (it and say) OK, if we continue to do what we’ve been doing there’s a good chance we’re going to continue to have the same results.

"At the end of the day just felt that, you know, I gave it its time. Or I didn’t feel like I was rushing to judgement. And everything doesn’t fall at the feet of coach Littrell either. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that. And (it's) incredibly hard because you know so many people are affected. There’s a real domino effect. But at the end of the day I’ve got to do what’s best for the players and certainly the program and that’s what ultimately led to decision." -- Oklahoma coach Brent Venables

-- "I think they both have been focused on just controlling what they can control and being in the moment here right now and recognizing the need to be in the moment so they can be prepared and have a chance to be the guy. So whether or not they have spent any extended amount of time thinking about the future and things of that nature, I don't know.

"For me, (it's about), how have I handled it? I've just (tried to) be open and honest and transparent. Lots of communication... But I think having great self-awareness probably puts them in a good place, even though there's some discouragement with that when you're not playing as well as you know (you can) or as well as you want to. But young players sometimes play like young guys and they get better the more they play, the more they're around it, the more they watch it, the more they practice it. And that would be the expectation with those guys moving forward. But as far as speculating on their futures and things like that, I'm just focused on trying to get better today." -- Venables on the Sooners' quarterback situation entering Saturday's game

Post-Game Coverage:

MPW Digital PostGame Show, presented by Realtree (Chase Parham hosts, joined by Jeffrey Wright, Tyler Siskey, Brian Rippee and Neal McCready from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium)

https://www.youtube.com/@mpwdigital6243