Oklahoma Faces Tough Challenge Against Tennessee at Home

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00:00Coach, you've been around college football for a very long time, and it's the first time

00:07in a very long time that Oklahoma, as a ranked team, is catching more than four points at

00:13home in Norman.

00:15It's a six and a half point spread in favor of the Volunteers.

00:19How do you expect this game to go tonight under the lights in Norman?

00:23Well, you know, Oklahoma still plays great defense.

00:26I don't think they play very well on offense.

00:28They really struggled against Houston, against Tulane, didn't lock those games up too late.

00:34And I think they struggle on Jackson Arnold, who is a good quarterback, but they don't

00:38have quite the explosiveness.

00:40Tennessee is so explosive on offense.

00:43Tennessee is playing great defense, maybe with Pierce, the best football player, maybe

00:48in all of college football.

00:50Tennessee's got too much offense.

00:52I think Oklahoma will play great defense.

00:54I met Zach Alley, their defensive coordinator, was my defensive coordinator three years ago.

00:58He does a great job.

00:59He's a protege of Brent Venables.

01:02He was with him eight years at Clemson.

01:05They do a really good job on defense.

01:07They'll have to not turn the ball over, and they'll have to score some early, because

01:10I think Tennessee is going to have so many shots downfield, they're going to have so

01:14much big play possibility, that I think what they're going to do, they're going to gradually

01:17just pull away and win this game and cover this game.

01:21Let's talk about Zach Alley's approach in regards to this matchup, Coach.

01:25I mean, Tennessee's balanced rushing and throwing for over 300 yards per game.

01:28Do you think he looks to take away the rushing attack with Dylan Sampson first, or is it

01:33more taking away Nico in the passing game?

01:36Tennessee doesn't give you the option, Joe.

01:38They spread it out so wide, and they attack you down the field on the sideline, and they

01:43hit screens on the edge as well.

01:45They force you to cover those people, and if they do, that allows Tennessee to run against

01:49less numbers.

01:50It's Tennessee that dictates what you get.

01:53Now, you can go out there and play man coverage on their wideouts and bring everybody in the

01:57box and stop the run, but now you're talking about a team that's great at throwing the

02:01deep ball, great at throwing the wide ball.

02:03So I think Tennessee, if you can keep them from throwing the deep ball and getting a

02:07big place, it's the big plays that's going to get you.

02:10I think they'll play smart enough defense, and they'll run the football on offense, and

02:15Oklahoma just needs to stay in this game and feel comfortable.

02:17As they get more comfortable in what they're doing, I think they'll have a better chance

02:21to win this game.

02:22You can't go out there and just say, we're going to stop the run, because that's going

02:24to put you one-on-one with that wideouts, and how wide they play, and how much they

02:28stretch you out on defense.

02:30The Vols putting up 636 yards per game so far this season.

02:34Coach, they're the only team in the country that is averaging more than 300 passing yards

02:38and 300 rushing yards so far this season.

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