Maine Black Bears: By the Numbers

Oklahoma's final non-conference game of the 2024 regular season has already made some strange waves.

On Friday, OU announced that kickoff between the Sooners (4-4, 1-4 SEC) and the FCS's Maine Black Bears (4-4) had been moved to 11 a.m. from the originally scheduled time of 1:30 p.m There will be severe weather that will reach the region on Saturday night.

The announcement was a slight change from the two schools' first-ever meeting on the gridiron and one that will be important for the hosts as the Sooners are still trying to qualify for bowl play in November.

Maine will become the eighth FCS team to ever enter Owen Field before the Sooners delve back into the SEC slate with road games at Missouri and LSU and a home game against Alabama in the final four weeks of the season.

At 4-4, Maine is not only an FCS opponent, but the Black Bears are also a mediocre FCS team.

But there is one area where the Black Bears excel: returning kickoffs.

Returnee Trevin Ewing is sixth in the FCS averaging 28.4 yards per kickoff return.

He already has a special teams touchdown to his name this year when he had a 98-yard kickoff return against Monmouth.

However, defending kickoffs hasn't really been a problem for Oklahoma this year.

The Sooners rank 31st in the FBS allowing just 17.29 yards per return. Kicker Zach Schmit doesn't often give opposing return men a chance anyway, having booted 28 of OU's 35 kickoffs for a touchback this year.

Oklahoma's offensive line issues in 2024 are well documented.

The Sooners were credited with surrendering 10 sacks to Ole Miss last Saturday, a school record that surpassed the program's preview sack record of nine set a week earlier against South Carolina.

Participation in FCS competition should be a welcome relief for Bill Bedenbaugh's offensive line, which is once again dealing with injuries after left tackle Jacob Sexton left last week's game in the second quarter.

Maine ranks 27th in the FCS averaging 2.5 sacks per game, but the Black Bears' defensive line has been pretty unremarkable so far.

They average 5.1 tackles for loss per contest, which is 77th in the FCS.

Defensive end Xavier Holmes has been the Black Bears' best defender this year, as he is fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association with 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, but the 6-foot-2, 245-pound lineman another to be more beastly than the edge rushers the Sooners have faced in the last three weeks after struggles against Texas, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Maine has a balanced offense led by efficient quarterback Carter Peevy.

Entering the weekend, Peevy ranks eighth in the FCS with 70 percent of his passes.

He ranks 32nd in passing yards with 1,591 yards and has thrown 11 touchdowns compared to four interceptions.

The Black Bears have also scored 11 rushing touchdowns this year to keep pace with their passing offense.

Oklahoma's defense hasn't forced a turnover in either of the last two games (although the Sooners did have a turnover against Ole Miss when wide receiver JJ Hester knocked the ball loose to recover Taylor Tatum's fumble), but the Sooners are hoping to come back on Saturday against Maine to gain momentum before facing Missouri next weekend.