Oklahoma · SECOklahoma opens 2026 with UTEP before Michigan test
The preseason No. 10 Sooners host a 2-10 UTEP team at 8 p.m. ET Friday, Sept. 4, with the game streaming on ESPN+/SEC Network+.
SEP 4, 2026
The Pate State · Editorial IllustrationOklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP at 8 p.m. ET Friday, Sept. 4, in Norman.
Yahoo Sports projects a 56-0 Oklahoma victory and wrote: “Oklahoma 56, UTEP 0: The Oklahoma Sooners are going to make a point on Friday night.”
The opener gives Oklahoma its first chance to show that its rushing attack can support quarterback John Mateer before the Sooners play at Michigan at noon ET Saturday, Sept. 12. Yahoo Sports also projects more than 250 Oklahoma rushing yards. The available information does not identify starting lineups or injury updates, leaving the personnel picture unclear.
Oklahoma went 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff in 2025. The Sooners are ranked No. 10 in the preseason AP poll and No. 9 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, while UTEP went 2-10 last season.
The game will stream nationally on ESPN+/SEC Network+. UTEP visits Michigan on Sept. 19, giving fans an early common-opponent comparison between the Sooners and Wolverines. For Oklahoma, the first answer comes with Mateer and the ground game.
01 · The Detail Beneath the HeadlineWhat Most People Are Missing
Oklahoma’s preseason ranking overstates its place in one important national forecast: The Sooners are No. 10 in the AP poll and No. 9 in the coaches poll, but Josh Pate’s August preseason bracket does not include them in the 12-team field. The schedule provides an early route to changing that assessment. Oklahoma plays at Michigan on Sept. 12 and at Georgia on Sept. 26, with New Mexico between them; Pate’s bracket makes Georgia the No. 1 seed.
That turns UTEP into more than a comfortable opening assignment. The Sooners play four games from Sept. 4 through Sept. 26, including two road tests, and the projected 56-0 margin creates little room for a merely adequate offensive showing. Oklahoma can validate the projection’s rushing premise against UTEP, but its national case will be shaped by what survives the move to Michigan eight days later.
02 · The Open QuestionsQuestions to Be Answered
Who gets Oklahoma’s first carries and first offensive-line snaps?
Yahoo Sports has set two visible markers for the opener: more than 250 rushing yards and Oklahoma’s first 50-point game since November 2024. The more useful tell will be who produces those yards and which starting group takes the opening series, information the available material does not provide. Those snaps establish the personnel Oklahoma is prepared to carry into the Sept. 12 trip to Michigan; the depth chart and early snap distribution Friday will provide the first answer.