NORMAN — For the second time in three seasons, Oklahoma fired its offensive coordinator after a home loss to South Carolina and turned toward 

And for the second time in three seasons, the Sooners head out on the road against a ranked opponent in their first game under the new leadership.

So what can be learned from Oklahoma’s 26-14 loss at No. 18 Ole Miss on Oct. 26, 2024 in Joe Jon Finley’s first game calling the plays after Seth Littrell’s firing?

On Oklahoma’s first drive against the Rebels that season, the offense showed life that it had been missing in the two preceding games — blowout losses to Texas and the Gamecocks.

The Sooners drove 74 yards, using Jackson Arnold in the run game, and with Arnold hitting tight end Bauer Sharp for a big 20-yard gain.

But the drive stalled out when Oklahoma had third-and-2 from the Ole Miss 3 when Taylor Tatum was held to a one-yard gain on third down and then Arnold threw an incomplete pass on fourth down to give the Rebels a turnover on downs.

The Sooners’ defense held Ole Miss to a three-and-out, flipping the field, then took advantage with an eight-play, 60-yard touchdown drive.

Oklahoma ultimately took a 14-10 lead into halftime behind a rejuvenated running game, featuring plenty of Arnold. The Sooners had outgained the Rebels 265-162 going into the break that season.

That blueprint could be a model for what the Sooners could do Saturday when they take on No. 24 Florida (6:45 p.m., SEC Network) with Jason Witten calling plays for the first time at the collegiate level.

When John Mateer was at his best last season, the quarterback run game played a prominent part.

Mateer ran for 60 or more yards four times last season — all in Oklahoma wins.

But this season, it hasn’t been nearly as much of a factor.

Mateer’s season high in rushing so far this season is 45, and that is the only time he’s rushed for more than 37 yards.

Part of that reluctance to run has been due to the state of the Sooners’ offensive line, which hasn’t given Mateer much time to work at all this season.

Two weeks ago, that group took a significant step forward with the return of Michael Fasusi at left tackle, but then struggled again last week in the loss to South Carolina.

How that group performs this weekend figures to go a long way toward determining the course of the game against Florida.

Should the Sooners move on from Mateer, it would be either junior Whitt Newbauer or freshman Bowe Bentley taking over.

Bentley is the more mobile of the two, having rushed for 474 yards and 11 touchdowns during his senior season of high school.

That early offensive success against Ole Miss proved short-lived, as Oklahoma ultimately lost that matchup with the Rebels 26-14 after being blanked in the second half.

The Sooners ultimately went 2-4 with Finley as interim coordinator, though one of the wins was the stunning 24-3 win over Alabama that season.

So while the change to Witten may put an initial jolt into the Oklahoma offense — and give opposing defenses something new to prepare for, the ultimate test will be whether any early success is sustained.

“No. 1, we wanna win,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said of the expectations for the offense under Witten. “And that takes everybody. It takes everybody. That expectation hasn’t changed whatsoever. We wanna win this week, and then we wanna win the next week and the week after and so forth. What comes with that? You would expect that you’ve gotta play well. You’ve gotta take care of the football, score touchdowns, play complementary football. So that’s what we’re focused on.”