SOONER WIRE - The Oklahoma Sooners (9-2, 5-2 SEC) will host the LSU Tigers (7-4, 3-4) in their regular season finale on Saturday in Norman. When they do, it looks like it will be Michael Van Buren starting for the Tigers when they step onto Owen Field.

According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Van Buren is expected to make his third consecutive start this week against the Sooners.

Entering the season, returning senior Garrett Nussmeier was lauded as a Heisman candidate and projected to be a first round quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL draft. This season hasn’t gone the way anyone expected with LSU firing Brian Kelly and Nussmeier has been battling injuries, including an abdominal strain that has held him out of LSU’s last two games.

Van Buren started against Arkansas two weeks ago, helping the Tigers earn a 23-22 win over the Razorbacks. In Week 13, the Tigers held on to beat Western Kentucky in their nonconference finale.

In five games this season, Van Buren has completed 64% of his passes for 647 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. He’s also carried the ball 32 times for 72 yards and a touchdown. Last week against Western Kentucky, Van Buren completed just 59.5% of his passes for 202 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt in the game.

On throws more than 10 yards down the field, Van Buren was just 5 of 17 (29.4%).

The Sooners defense will pose a significant challenge for the young signal caller. He has 10 career starts to his resume, including eight in 2024 for the Mississippi State Bulldogs but he hasn’t faced a defense and a pass rush as good as Oklahoma’s.

Oklahoma vs Missouri After the game, head coach Brent Venables was asked about his defense, which delivered a sterling performance again this week. His response was the perfect response to describe his football team.

“They’re just grimy,” Venables said. “It’s a grimy group of guys, and that’s the way I love it. They’ve got a relentless mindset, incredible intensity, and they’re together. You can feel it. They know how to play together, and that really personifies this football team ... It’s not pretty, but this is not a beauty contest. This is football.”

Missouri was held to six points, despite the return of star quarterback Beau Pribula from injury this week. After getting 300 rushing yards from running back Ahmad Hardy last week in a win over Mississippi State, the Tigers were limited to 70 total rushing yards on 35 attempts against the Sooners, with Hardy accounting for just 57 of those yards.

Pribula had a good day through the air, as did Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and Alabama’s Ty Simpson, but his 20-for-36 passing for 231 yards was offset by no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Sooners have picked off five passes by opposing QBs in the last three games.

Missouri went just 3-for-15 on third downs and 0-for-1 on fourth down, as Oklahoma’s defense adjusted and buckled down after a lengthy first drive. With an offense that is not able to consistently move the ball, OU’s defense has stepped up to the plate time and time again down the stretch of this season.

If it were a beauty contest, the Sooners would be nowhere near consideration for the playoff. But as Brent Venables said after the game, “this isn’t a beauty contest; this is football.” Oklahoma is one win away from likely making the CFP just one year after winning six games.