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."

After being asked a question during the SEC weekly coach’s teleconference, Brent Venables paused, before offering a quick chuckle.

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.

Brent Venables didn’t issue a challenge for Sooner Nation, which is what former coach Bob Stoops would do for big games at Owen Field. But the third-year OU coach did lean on expectations of what 80,000 fans can bring to the first SEC game played in Norman.

Josh Heupel staying at OU as a Sooner lifer is downright believable compared to the fantasy that unfolded. Getting canned was a blessing in disguise.

This will be the first time that Heupel and Venables, who spent plenty of time together at Oklahoma, have faced off on opposing sidelines as head coaches