NORMAN - The Oklahoma Sooners and the Ole Miss Rebels will face off on Saturday for just the second time ever. OU will head to Oxford, Mississippi trying to stop their recent skid.

To remember the other matchup between these two programs, we have to go all the way back to 1999. On December 31, the final football game of the 20th century took place at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.

A young rookie head coach named Bob Stoops was in the final game of his first year at the helm in Norman, wrapping up a promising 1999 season where he’d taken the Sooners back to a bowl game and gotten them back to a winning record. Oklahoma entered the game at 7-4, playing in their first bowl game since 1994.

The former Florida defensive coordinator was matched up against David Cutcliffe, who had the Rebs back in the Independence Bowl for the second straight year.

Ole Miss bolted out to a 21-3 lead at halftime, but the Sooners charged back into the game, making it 21-18 at the end of the third quarter. OU took a 25-24 lead with over two minutes left, but an Ole Miss field goal as time expired gave the Rebels a 27-25 victory. Still, a 7-5 debut season for Stoops set the table for what was to come over the next quarter-century in Norman. He was bringing the program back to its former glory.

That game was the last one the Sooners would lose until October 27, 2001, when Nebraska finally ended OU’s fantastic 17-game winning streak. Of course, that includes the 2000 national title season, when Oklahoma went 13-0 and won it all in Stoops’ second year.

That game also marked the start of 25 straight seasons where the Sooners have made a bowl game, a streak that is still active today. Saturday’s game will be an important one if OU wants to extend that streak, as the Sooners are in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since John Blake’s final season in 1998.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still struggling with injuries. OU will once again be without wide receivers Jayden Gibson, Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony in this week’s game. They’ve already been ruled out along with defensive backs Gentry Williams and Kendel Dolby and offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett.

While Gibson, Dolby and Hatchett are all out for the 2024 season, there is still hope that Farooq, Anderson, Anthony and Williams could return this year.

Deion Burks has been out of action since Oklahoma’s loss to Tennessee, but Brent Venables indicated earlier this week that he was day-to-day and is questionable for this week against Ole Miss. The Sooners offense needs some experience in the passing game and Burks return would provide a boost.

Burks is still Oklahoma’s leading wide receiver in 2024 despite not playing since the Tennessee game back in September. His return would be huge for this Sooner offense as they look to rebound and find ways to put points on the board amidst the changes at offensive coordinator.

Gavin Sawchuk was projected to be the starter and take the leap at running back for OU in 2024, but he has struggled in a big way, losing his lead role and getting less and less carries as the season rolls along.

According to head coach Brent Venables, Sawchuk is dealing with a strained quad, which is why he didn’t play last week against the South Carolina Gamecocks. He could return this week, but it doesn’t look very likely.

Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris is a player to watch this week. He’s the Rebels leading receiver and if he’s unable to go this week will create an interesting dilemma for the Ole Miss offense.

Princely Umanmielen and Cayden Lee are key players for the Rebels that look to be on track to play this week. Lee is second on the team in receiving and Umanmielen is Ole Miss’ highest-graded defensive lineman according to Pro Football Focus.

The matchup between the two SEC teams will be Saturday in Mississippi with a kickoff at 11 a.m.

The game will be televised on ESPN.

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