No. 2 Oklahoma’s quest for a seventh consecutive Big 12 Conference title, a spot in the College Football Playoff and a national championship begins Saturday in New Orleans.

“I mean, this is Oklahoma,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said during Big 12 Media Days. “Every year is the year to do that. It takes a lot to get it done. There’s no question about it. You know, I think for us and our team right now, I think we have a genuine excitement and confidence about the people in the room right now. We have the people, we have enough ability in the room that we have people that are invested wholly in what we can be as a team.”

OU will host Tulane with an 11 a.m. kickoff. The game was supposed to be in New Orleans but Hurricane Ida made that unworkable. Tulane will be the designated home team for this game and will retain all net proceeds from ticket sales. In addition to moving this game, the two schools have agreed to work together on identifying a date in a future season for a game in New Orleans. Only the lower bowl will be used for fan seating.

OU is favored by more than three touchdowns.

One of the most prolific offenses in the nation and an improved defense have placed high expectations on OU.

Though not perfect, OU quarterback Spencer Rattler made a splash in his first year to start in 2020. He was only the second OU quarterback to be named a freshman All-American (Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was the other).

Rattler started all 11 games for the 9-2 Sooners. He hit 214 of 317 pass attempts for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. He had 15 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in his last two games.

Rattler was named Most Outstanding Player in the Big 12 Championship.

The addition of freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, rated the No. 1 quarterback in the nation last year, gives the Sooners incredible depth at that position.

Running back Kennedy Brooks, a redshirt junior, is a returning starter who is back after sitting out last season due to coronavirus concerns.

“I think for him, there’s a sense of not having last year and maybe kind of a little bit more of an appreciation for the process and all that it takes and the opportunity to play,” Riley said. “So we’re thrilled to have him back and excited to turn him loose.”

Eric Gray is a junior running back transfer from Tennessee who was one of the top running backs in the SEC last season.

Marvin Mims became the first wide receiver in OU history to become a Freshman All American last year. Freshman wide receiver Mario Williams, one of the top recruits in the nation, has been a sensation in fall drills.

OU’s often beleaguered defense has shown steady improvement for the past three years under Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch.

Part of that is due to the development of outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who was a second-team All-American last season.

Senior defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey was an accomplished pass rushed and was named to the All-Big 12 second team last year by league head coaches.

The start of last season was a nightmare for OU due to the disruption caused by the Chinese coronavirus, the removal of 75% of the fans from the stadium and the cancelation of two nonconference games (including one against Tennessee).

With Rattler getting his first starts, OU stumbled to a 1-3 record after back-to-back losses to Kansas State (35-38) and Iowa State 30-37. The Sooners blew big leads in both of those games.

Rattler came back strong in the second half against Texas and OU won 53-45 in four overtimes. Then OU won eight games in a row, including a rematch with the Cyclones in the Big 12 Championship. OU barely missed the College Football Playoff  but clobbered Florida 55-20 in the Cotton Bowl.

Tulane coach Willie Fritz knows the challenge facing his team against OU. A win over OU would be huge for Tulane. Did Fritz game plan for the Sooners over the off-season?

“Obviously, it’s a very challenging game that our guys are extremely excited about,” Fritz said. “Our coaching staff is as well.

“When we are in the summer, we work on all of our opponents. So, we will take three days and will work on Oklahoma then Morgan State, Ole Miss and UAB and then all the conference games. We get a preliminary game plan together. This one won’t change too much because they don’t have any games to play before we play… You only get 12 opportunities, so we want to put everything we possibly can into these 12 opportunities and Oklahoma obviously is the first one.”

Tulane returns 18 starters from last season’s team and 32 players that started at least one game in 2020.

“You know it’s a little different last year than that last game we went up and played on the blue turf in Boise, Idaho against a team from Nevada,” Fritz said. “It was a little chilly that day and I remember walking out and normally you have ushers – at least ushers or maybe a security guard or two in the stands. I looked all the way around the stadium and there’s not one single person in the stands it was zero capacity. I think they limited us how many people could have on the sidelines. So, there’s maybe 300 people total between the two teams you know on the sidelines, so it was very different. You had to provide your own energy and enthusiasm.”