Why Oklahoma Players Enjoy Road Games

Oklahoma cornerback Eli Bowen embraces being the bad guy and ruining someone’s good time at home.

The Sooners head to Columbia this weekend to play No. 24 Missouri Saturday at 6:45 PM. It will be a night game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium, where the Tigers are undefeated this season and haven’t lost since LSU beat them there on Oct. 7, 2023.

It’s been over a year and eight games since Missouri fans have seen their team lose at home, making the environment a lot more cozy for the Tigers and more hostile for the visiting Sooners. But even though he’s just a freshman with just two real road trips under his belt, Bowen has already come to enjoy that atmosphere, as have the rest of his teammates.

‘I don’t know, I like away games’ Bowen said Tuesday night after practice in an empty and quiet Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. “I and Peyton (Bowen) talk about it all the time. We love away games, we love the hostility, the stands are joining in, shouting at us and all that. We like being the bad guy, I guess, type.

Outside of a Red River Rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium, where OU was technically the home team, the Sooners have been away from Norman just twice this season. Their first trip was to Auburn for the program’s first-ever SEC road trip. Even as the eagle flew through Jordan-Hare Stadium to excite 88,043 fans, OU still didn’t flinch. With a freshman quarterback making his first career start, the Sooners stormed right down the field and took a 7-0 lead thanks to a 48-yard scramble by Michael Hawkins Jr.

When the stadium was at its loudest in the fourth quarter and Auburn had a 21-10 lead, OU again had no trouble, scoring 17 unanswered points in the final 8:32 to earn its first and so far only SEC victory to secure.

That was the case two weeks ago against Ole Miss in Oxford Jackson Arnold made his return as QB1 and started for the first time in three games. It was also Arnold’s first start in a real road game.

The Rebels have lost just one game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since 2022 and it was their last appearance there before hosting OU. Although it was a loss for the Sooners, they again seemed unfazed by the 64,038 fans and led 14-10 at halftime before ultimately falling 26-14.

At 5-4, the Sooners need at least one more win to become bowl eligible and avoid a losing regular season in their first year in the SEC. OU has just one home game during that span – against No. 11 Alabama on Nov. 23. The regular season concludes with a trip to Baton Rouge to play No. 15 LSU on Nov. 30. But first there’s a trip to Missouri, where OU can win the right for another trip to a bowl game.

“To be honest, I like road games,” Arnold said. “It’s a different environment. Like I said before, it gives you an edge when you step in for someone else and potentially take them down – it’s a great feeling. When we went to Auburn and won there, I mean, it’s great to go to someone else’s house and win, so I think for us it’s not, I think, overwhelmed by the environment, but it’s a little bit embrace it and use it to our advantage.”