SOONER WIRE - The Oklahoma Sooners open the 2025 regular season Saturday night against Illinois State. It’s their first of four nonconference matchups before SEC play begins. Though there are position battles still taking place along the offensive line, Oklahoma needs a strong start to the season on the offensive side of the ball to begin washing out the bitter taste of 2024.

It’s a great opportunity for the offense to get in sync before their Week 2 matchup with Michigan, but they can’t take this game lightly. Execution is the name of the game, but what else is key to a strong performance for the Oklahoma Sooners in their season opener vs. Illinois State? Here three keys for the Sooners offense on Saturday.

Sooners Pound the Rock

The best way to get in a rhythm early is to establish the run. It was an element of the Sooners offense that wasn’t consistent enough in 2024, save for the Alabama game. Oklahoma wants to be a physical football team. You can’t be a physical football team if you don’t run the ball well.

The Oklahoma Sooners will give Jovantae Barnes the start, and he’s fully capable of running wild. He ran for 200 yards against Maine. In his last go-round in college football, a big game in week one would be a great way to kick off his swan song.

Look for true freshman Tory Blaylock to get a healthy workload as well after a strong training camp that turned the heads of the coaching staff.

John Mateer can make plays with his legs, but Ben Arbuckle shouldn’t go to Mateer much with designed quarterback runs in order to save him from some wear and tear. But he’ll scramble some and create some magic on the ground.

If the Oklahoma Sooners are the offense they want to be, they should run for close to 300 yards in this game.

John Mateer, receivers create big pass plays

The Oklahoma Sooners passing game struggled to find big plays in the passing game in 2024. That allowed teams to crowd the line of scrimmage and take away the run game. But if John Mateer and his wide receivers can connect on some big plays of more than 20 yards down the field, it will force opposing defensive coordinators to take notice.

The Sooners have several big-play threats in the passing game. Deion Burks and Isaiah Sategna both have the speed to get behind a defense for a big play. The Sooners have a bunch of new faces in the offensive arsenal and it’s time for Arbuckle and Mateer to unleash them.

Oklahoma Gets out of Week 1 Healthy

The Oklahoma Sooners have to get the win. That’s first and foremost. They’re the far more talented team. While they’ll want to prove a point about the state of their offense after 2024, getting out of the first weekend of college football action is paramount.

The Sooners aren’t as banged up as they were this time a year ago, but they have a few players dealing with or recovering from injuries like Javonnie Gibson, Kendel Dolby, Eli Bowen, Jayden Gibson, and Taylor Tatum. Those players won’t be available for Week 1 after training camp.

The most notable players that were dinged up in camp but returned to the practice field were running backs Jaynd Ott and Xavier Robinson, defensive tackle Gracen Halton, offensive tackles Jacob Sexton and Derek Simmons. They were listed on the team’s initial depth chart but were banged up during training camp.

Oklahoma will play Halton, Sexton, and Simmons, and Ott will likely get a few carries to knock the rust off, but there’s no need to overextend them.

The Sooners are still trying to figure out their offensive tackle situation so Sexton and Simmons will be out there a lot to compete for snaps, for Week 2 against Michigan, but if the Sooners and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh are leaning their direction to get the start against the Wolverines, then keeping them healthy matters more than a few snaps against Illinois State.

Coming out of Week 1 with a clean bill of health would be huge for the Sooners heading into their week two showdown against the Big Ten blue blood.

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