In the Sooners' first SEC game, they faced one of the top teams in the conference and the country. Before the game, the question was whether Oklahoma could keep up with the high-scoring Tennessee Volunteers.

Arnold was benched late in the first half after his second fumble of the game. It happened on a backwards pass that was recovered by Tennessee. Venables told reporters that the pass Arnold threw in that situation isn’t an option on the play that was called.