OU coach Brent Venables relayed the story of seeing Josh Heupel for the first time during his weekly news conference. "He was skinny and just frail."

Josh Heupel led Oklahoma to the 2000 national title as a star quarterback while concealing a serious injury to his throwing arm, Brent Venables says.

The last two times these programs played was in 2015 when Baker Mayfield led a come-from-behind victory at Neyland Stadium to kick off the Sooners' first trip to the College Football Playoff. The win helped usher in a period of six straight 11-win seasons, pandemic year aside, and elevate the Sooners back to the top tier of college football.