Sooner or Later: Oklahoma Meets Its Last SEC Stranger

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Oklahoma has met 14 of the SEC’s other 15 teams. Mississippi State is the last, and Saturday’s first-ever meeting comes with a Bulldogs head coach, athletic director, three assistants, an analyst and three players who all have Oklahoma ties.

By T-Rohn, Gridiron Gumbo · Posted Oct. 24, 2026

CONFIRMED: Oklahoma (3-3, 1-2 SEC) at Mississippi State (4-2, 2-2), 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday on SEC Network; this being the first-ever meeting and Mississippi State being the only SEC program OU has never played; the availability statuses below, including Kamario Taylor, Fluff Bothwell and Zakari Tillman not appearing on the list, per the SEC’s official game-day availability report (posted 1:00 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 24; read on the SEC’s site at 1:05 p.m. CT); Mississippi State dropping out of the AP Top 25 after its 31-0 loss at LSU; the Texas series results and Texas’s Oct. 31 game against Mississippi State; the Oklahoma ties of the coaches, athletic director and players; the DraftKings numbers in the odds snapshot. REPORTED: that quarterback Kamario Taylor and running back Fluff Bothwell will be available (unnamed sources, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel, in a story last updated 10:48 a.m. CT Saturday); On3’s report from Chris Low and Pete Nakos on Friday that Taylor was expected to play; Taylor missing the LSU game and Lebby’s “day-to-day” comment (Field Level Media, via CBS Sports); Lebby’s quotes (On3 and The Commercial Dispatch); Stoops’s quotes (Clarion Ledger, via USA TODAY Network); Bates’s quote and the tempo numbers (247Sports, citing TruMedia); and Tanner Schafer’s walk-on background (USA TODAY Network), each a single-outlet item. Sources are listed at the end.

Midway through its third SEC season, Oklahoma has one blank page left in the passport.

TAKE (joke):Getting from Norman to Starkville is easy. Head east until the wheat turns into pine trees, keep going until your phone stops pretending it knows where you are, then ask the first man at a gas station. He’ll say it’s “just up the road,” which in Mississippi is a unit of measurement.

“Mississippi State is the lone SEC program Oklahoma has never played in football,” OU’s official game notes say.¹ Mississippi State’s notes put it the same way: Saturday’s meeting “will be the first on a football field between Mississippi State and Oklahoma.”² Field Level Media, in a preview carried by CBS Sports, calls it the “first-ever meeting.”³

Fourteen of 15 checked off. One left.

TAKE (joke):OU joined the league in 2024 and is just now meeting Mississippi State. That’s like marrying into a Cajun family and not meeting Nonc Boo until the third Thanksgiving. He’s been out back frying turkeys the whole time, cher. You just never walked that far.

Here’s the kicker. Texas, which joined the SEC the same day as OU (July 1, 2024),¹ has already played Mississippi State twice: a 35-13 Longhorns win in Austin on Sept. 28, 2024, and a 45-38 overtime win in Starkville on Oct. 25, 2025.⁴ The Bulldogs visit Austin again next Saturday, Oct. 31, at 6:30 p.m. CT.^{5, 6} Next weekend, then, Texas will have faced State three seasons in a row. Oklahoma will have faced them once.

TAKE (joke):Texas and Mississippi State are practically cousins at this point. OU and Mississippi State are two folks at the same crawfish boil who keep nodding at each other across the table but never actually got introduced.

The Strangers Aren’t Really Strangers

The two programs have never shared a field. But walk the Mississippi State sideline Saturday and an OU fan might feel right at home.

TAKE (joke):Starkville on game day has exactly one traffic plan: everybody goes to the same place, slowly, and nobody gets mad until somebody takes the shortcut everybody else already took.

The head coach. Jeff Lebby signed with Oklahoma as an offensive lineman in the 2002 class.^{1, 7} An injury ended his playing career, and he stayed on for four years as a student assistant.^{1, 2} He is a 2007 OU graduate.² He returned in 2022 and 2023 as offensive coordinator under Brent Venables, and OU’s notes credit his 2023 offense with the No. 3 spot nationally in total offense (507.0 yards a game) and No. 4 in scoring (41.7 points a game); USA TODAY Network lists the same two ranks.^{1, 8} Mississippi State named him head coach on Nov. 26, 2023.²

Lebby said Monday that Stoops “was kind enough” to keep him on scholarship as a student assistant after the injury, and that’s “what got me into (coaching).”⁹ Asked whether Saturday carries extra personal weight, Lebby said no. He told reporters the game “means a ton” because it’s another chance at an SEC win and a 5-2 record, The Commercial Dispatch of Columbus, Miss., reported.⁷

Stoops, the coach who signed him, told the Clarion Ledger he “loved watching him here at OU” and that Lebby’s success is “not surprising to me,” as quoted by USA TODAY Network.^{8, 10}

The athletic director. Zac Selmon, Mississippi State’s AD, is a Norman native who worked in OU’s athletic department as senior associate AD and later deputy AD.^{1, 7} His family name has deep roots in Norman: his father is Dewey Selmon, a College Football Hall of Famer, and his uncles are Lucious Selmon, a unanimous All-American in 1973, and Lee Roy Selmon, who is enshrined in both the college and pro halls.¹

TAKE (joke):Hiring a Selmon to run your athletic department, then having the SEC send Oklahoma to your stadium, is like moving to Breaux Bridge, getting a Boudreaux to run your kitchen, then watching the whole Boudreaux family show up for supper. Somebody’s gonna get emotional and somebody’s gonna check the roux.

The offensive line coach. Phil Loadholt played tackle at OU in 2007 and 2008, when the Sooners went 23-5 and took the Big 12 title both years.¹ He earned first-team all-league honors as a senior and came back to Norman as an offensive analyst in 2022 and 2023.

The tight ends coach. Jon Cooper, Mississippi State’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator, played center for OU from 2005 to 2008.¹ He made second-team All-Big 12 in 2008, was part of three league title teams under Stoops and served as an OU offensive analyst in 2022.

The quarterbacks coach. Kevin Johns arrived at OU in 2024 as an offensive analyst and was elevated to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in October 2024, per OU’s announcement on Oct. 20, 2024.¹¹ He coached quarterbacks at Oklahoma State in 2025, and Mississippi State announced his hire on Dec. 28, 2025.¹² MSU’s notes list him as the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks coach.²

The analyst. Tanner Schafer is a quarterback analyst on Mississippi State’s staff.² USA TODAY Network describes him as a former walk-on quarterback for the Sooners.⁸

The players. OU’s notes count three former Sooners on Mississippi State’s roster, and Mississippi State’s notes mark Dolby and Ragins as Oklahoma transfers.^{1, 2} Wide receiver Zion Ragins, a redshirt sophomore from Macon, Ga., has started all six games and has 12 catches for 188 yards and four touchdowns.² Safety Kendel Dolby, a sixth-year player from Springfield, Ohio, has 27 tackles and made his first start of the season at LSU.² Offensive lineman Isaiah Dent, a redshirt sophomore from Fulton, Miss., was at OU in 2024 and 2025,¹ and has appeared in five games with no starts.²

Count them up: a head coach, an AD, three assistant coaches, an analyst and three players. That’s at least nine people with documented OU ties on one side of a game between two schools that have never met, by our count of the schools’ notes, releases and news reports.

TAKE (joke):Nine people with Oklahoma roots on one sideline means the pregame hugs need a seating chart, a sign-up sheet and somebody’s aunt to explain how everybody is related.

TAKE (joke):Somebody check the visitors’ locker room. If Mississippi State’s equipment staff left a “Welcome Home” sign up by accident, that’s not a mind game. That’s just Southern manners.

Familiarity Cuts Both Ways

Lebby sees the connection running in both directions. “There’s a ton of familiarity both ways,” he said of facing Venables.⁹ He also ranked Venables among the best defensive play-callers in college football over the past 12 to 15 years.

Oklahoma associate head coach Todd Bates saw Lebby’s offense up close for two seasons. He described it Tuesday as “almost warp speed at times.”^{13, 14} Bates stood in for Venables at the weekly press conference.¹³

The tempo numbers fit that description. Citing TruMedia, 247Sports reports that Mississippi State snaps the ball every 23.5 seconds, seventh-fastest in FBS and trailing only Auburn and Ole Miss in the SEC. Oklahoma sits at 28.7 seconds, 102nd nationally.¹³

TAKE (joke):Lebby’s offense snaps the ball faster than my Mawmaw snaps a green bean. OU’s offense prefers a more relaxed schedule, like a Sunday drive down Highway 90 behind a cane truck.

Mississippi State’s notes describe the matchup as the SEC’s fourth-best total offense against the league’s second-best total defense.² OU’s notes show the Sooners allowing 260.7 yards a game (fifth in FBS) and holding opponents to a 25.6 percent third-down conversion rate (second in FBS).¹ Mississippi State averages 454.3 yards a game (22nd in FBS).²

The Availability Report and the Quarterback Question

The SEC’s official game-day availability report for this game was posted at 1:00 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 24, and we read it on the SEC’s site at 1:05 p.m. CT.¹⁵ The game-day report replaces Friday’s list (posted 7:10 p.m. CT Oct. 23) and can list only Available, Game Time Decision or Out. The SEC’s policy says Out can cover reasons other than injury.

• Oklahoma: Out are linebacker Taylor Heim, wide receivers Trell Harris and Elijah Thomas, running back Xavier Robinson, tight end Trynae Washington, defensive backs Eli Bowen and Jacobe Johnson, and offensive linemen Eddy Pierre-Louis and Ryan Fodje. Thomas was doubtful and Bowen was questionable on Friday’s report. Offensive linemen Michael Fasusi and Heath Ozaeta, both questionable on Friday, are not on the game-day list.
• Mississippi State: Out are safety Isaac Smith, linebacker Jalen Smith, wide receiver Ayden Williams and defensive linemen Trevion Williams and Diesel Moye. No Bulldog is listed as a game-time decision.
• Not listed: Quarterback Kamario Taylor, who was questionable on Friday’s report, does not appear on the game-day report. Neither do running back Fluff Bothwell (questionable earlier in the week)¹⁶ or linebacker Zakari Tillman. Under the SEC’s availability policy, as published by Sports Illustrated, a player who isn’t on the report is regarded as available.¹⁷

Taylor’s status matters because of what he has done when on the field. Mississippi State’s notes say the sophomore from Macon, Miss., leads all SEC quarterbacks at 290.0 passing yards a game and leads the league with 17 touchdown passes, in five games played.² ESPN says he also leads the SEC in total offense at 321.8 yards a game.¹⁸ Field Level Media reported that he missed last week’s 31-0 loss at LSU, and Lebby called his status “day-to-day” on Monday.³

REPORTED: Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Taylor and Bothwell will both be available Saturday, in a story ESPN last updated at 10:48 a.m. CT.¹⁸ ESPN says Taylor took significantly more practice snaps this week. It lists Bothwell, who has 403 rushing yards, as the team’s leading rusher. On3’s Chris Low and Pete Nakos reported Friday that Taylor was expected to play.¹⁶ The SEC’s game-day report, posted at 1:00 p.m. CT, now matches those reports: neither player is on it, which under SEC policy means available.

(Gridiron Gumbo note: no jokes here. We wish both teams a healthy afternoon.)

The Cowbells and the Blackout

Mississippi State’s game notes trace the cowbell’s rocky legal history. In 1974 the SEC banned artificial noisemakers, which put a cowbell out of bounds at games. The conference reached a compromise in spring 2010, and cowbells returned to Davis Wade Stadium that fall on a one-year trial with restrictions, the first time in 36 years. The notes say they have been allowed at home games since, with similar restrictions.² Saturday is also a blackout, with the Bulldogs in black helmets, jerseys and pants.¹⁹

TAKE (joke):The SEC spent 36 years deciding a cowbell was too loud, and then one compromise and a list of restrictions made it legal again. That’s the most Southern part of this story: nobody won the argument, they just got tired and wrote a rule.

This is only Oklahoma’s second football trip to Mississippi; the first was a loss at Ole Miss in 2024.¹ The Sooners have been solid on the road for years, though: OU’s notes say they’ve won 38 of their last 52 true road games going back to 2014.¹

TAKE (joke):Welcome to Starkville, Sooners. Bring earplugs and an open mind. The cowbell has a 36-year grudge and a lot of free time.

TAKE (joke):Helmets, jerseys and pants all in one color, with cowbells in the stands. That’s not a uniform. That’s a weather advisory.

The Odds Snapshot

As of 1:06 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 24, DraftKings listed Oklahoma -1.5 (-112) and Mississippi State +1.5 (-108) on the spread, a game total of 49.5 (over -105, under -115), and moneylines of Oklahoma -122 and Mississippi State +102, per ESPN’s odds feed, matching VegasInsider’s DraftKings column.²⁰ Lines can change before kickoff, and these figures are a snapshot for context, not advice. How Gridiron Gumbo handles betting content: https://gridirongumbo.com/picks-disclaimer/

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The Bottom Line

One game doesn’t make a rivalry, and we won’t call this one that. It does start a series, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with a head coach who learned the business in Norman, an athletic director from a family with deep Sooner roots, and three former Sooners on the Bulldogs’ roster.

TAKE (joke):Most rivalries start with a grudge. This one starts with a family reunion, which in the South is where most grudges come from.

The return trip is already booked. Mississippi State’s notes say the Bulldogs’ first trip to Norman is set for 2028.²

Oklahoma finally meets the last relative at the table, and both sides already know plenty about each other.

TAKE (joke):Last stamp in the passport, last cousin at the table and last plate of gumbo in the pot. In Louisiana we call that a good Saturday. In Oklahoma they call it “finally.”

Sources

1. Oklahoma Athletics, Game 7 notes, OU at Mississippi State (records, first meeting, “lone SEC program,” Lebby, Selmon, Loadholt, Cooper bios, former OU players on MSU’s roster, second trip to Mississippi, road record, July 1, 2024 SEC entry, defensive rankings): https://soonersports.com/documents/download/2026/10/21/07_OUatMississippi_State.pdf ↩ Back to story
2. Mississippi State Athletics, game notes vs. Oklahoma (first meeting, 2028 return game, blackout, Lebby bio, staff list incl. Johns and Schafer, roster, Ragins, Dolby and Dent, Taylor stats, offensive rankings, cowbell history): https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/pdf/fb/2026/26FB_1024_OU_Notes.pdf ↩ Back to story
3. Field Level Media (via CBS Sports), “Oklahoma, Mississippi State face QB questions in first-ever meeting,” Oct. 21, 2026 (Lebby “day-to-day” quote; Taylor missed LSU; first-ever meeting): https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oklahoma-mississippi-state-face-qb-questions-in-first-ever-meeting/ ↩ Back to story
4. Mississippi State Athletics, football history vs. Texas (Sept. 28, 2024, and Oct. 25, 2025, meetings): https://hailstate.com/sports/football/opponent-history/texas/145 ↩ Back to story
5. Texas Athletics, 2026 football schedule (Mississippi State at Texas, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m. CT): https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/football/schedule/2026 ↩ Back to story
6. Mississippi State Athletics, 2026 football schedule (at Texas, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m.): https://hailstate.com/sports/football/schedule/2026 ↩ Back to story
7. Jake McMahon, The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus, Miss.), “‘A ton of familiarity’: Lebby, MSU football have strong ties to Oklahoma,” Oct. 21, 2026: https://cdispatch.com/sports/a-ton-of-familiarity-lebby-msu-football-have-strong-ties-to-oklahoma/ ↩ Back to story
8. Austin Curtright, USA TODAY Network, “Oklahoma hasn’t figured out offense since Jeff Lebby left. Now, they face off,” Oct. 24, 2026 (Stoops quotes via the Clarion Ledger; Schafer walk-on detail; OU’s 2023 offensive ranks; readable syndicated copy at Yahoo Sports): https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/oklahoma-hasnt-figured-offense-since-100200727.html (original: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2026/10/24/oklahoma-mississippi-state-jeff-lebby-offensive-coordinator/92363696007/) ↩ Back to story
9. Colin Damms, On3 / Maroon and White Football, “Points of Focus: Mississippi State HC Jeff Lebby speaks on Oklahoma matchup,” Oct. 19, 2026 (Lebby quotes): https://www.on3.com/teams/mississippi-state-bulldogs/news/points-of-focus-mississippi-state-hc-jeff-lebby/ ↩ Back to story
10. Clarion Ledger (USA TODAY Network), “How Bob Stoops knew Jeff Lebby could coach, even as an Oklahoma freshman,” Oct. 21, 2026 (Stoops quotes; carried by the Hattiesburg American): https://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/sports/college/mississippi-state/2026/10/21/jeff-lebby-mississippi-state-oklahoma-bob-stoops/92281866007/ ↩ Back to story
11. Oklahoma Athletics, “Venables Announces Offensive Coordinator Change,” Oct. 20, 2024 (Johns elevation): https://soonersports.com/news/2024/10/20/football-venables-announces-offensive-coordinator-change ↩ Back to story
12. Mississippi State Athletics, “Mississippi State Strengthens Offensive Staff With Addition Of Kevin Johns,” Dec. 28, 2025: https://hailstate.com/news/2025/12/28/football-mississippi-state-strengthens-offensive-staff-with-addition-of-kevin-johns ↩ Back to story
13. Tom Green, 247Sports, “What Oklahoma expects from Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State offense…,” Oct. 2026 (Bates quote; TruMedia tempo figures): https://247sports.com/college/mississippi-state/article/what-oklahoma-expects-from-jeff-lebby-miss-state-offense-291567601/ ↩ Back to story
14. Ryan Chapman, Sports Illustrated (OU), “Oklahoma ‘Ready’ for Showdown With Former Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby,” Oct. 2026 (Bates quote): https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/football/oklahoma-ready-for-showdown-with-former-offensive-coordinator-jeff-lebby-01m5gspktgfq ↩ Back to story
15. SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report, football, “Game Day Report” posted 1:00 p.m. CT Oct. 24, 2026, read 1:05 p.m. CT Oct. 24, 2026 (Friday report posted 7:10 p.m. CT Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.secsports.com/fbreports ↩ Back to story
16. On3 (Chris Low and Pete Nakos), “Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor expected to play against Oklahoma,” Oct. 23, 2026 (REPORTED): https://www.on3.com/news/mississippi-state-qb-kamario-taylor-expected-to-play-against-oklahoma/ ↩ Back to story
17. Sports Illustrated, “SEC Announces Policies and Procedures for New Availability Report” (SEC policy text: players not on a report are regarded as available): https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/football/sec-announces-policies-and-procedures-for-new-availability-report-01j6ytq381jt ↩ Back to story
18. ESPN (Pete Thamel; Max Olson contributed), “Sources: Mississippi State eyes return for QB Taylor, RB Bothwell,” first posted 8:25 a.m. ET (7:25 a.m. CT) Oct. 24, 2026, last updated 11:48 a.m. ET (10:48 a.m. CT) (Taylor and Bothwell, REPORTED; Taylor’s 321.8 total-offense figure; Bothwell’s 403 rushing yards): https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50265129/sources-mississippi-state-eyes-return-taylor-bothwell ↩ Back to story
19. Mississippi State Athletics, “State Hosts Sooners On Saturday At Davis Wade Stadium,” Oct. 23, 2026 (kickoff, SEC Network, blackout, first meeting): https://hailstate.com/news/2026/10/23/football-state-hosts-sooners-on-saturday-at-davis-wade-stadium ↩ Back to story
20. ESPN odds feed (DraftKings), Oklahoma at Mississippi State, checked 1:06 p.m. CT Oct. 24, 2026 (cross-checked against VegasInsider’s DraftKings column): https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401856730 ↩ Back to story
21. Gridiron Gumbo, picks and betting disclaimer: https://gridirongumbo.com/picks-disclaimer/
22. Maura Carey, Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports), “SEC Week 8: No. 7 Ole Miss heads to No. 19 Texas…,” Oct. 23, 2026 (Mississippi State dropped out of the rankings after its loss to LSU): https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sec-week-8-no-7-003338959.html

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