Alabama vs. Oklahoma: Tricky Pre-Iron Bowl Matchup

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00:00We start tonight in Norman, Oklahoma. A game entering the year that we looked at for Alabama

00:09on the road the week prior to the Iron Bowl and said, oh, this is a new spot against the new SEC

00:15member in OU. Might it be tricky? Well, the odds right now would tell you no. It's around two

00:21touchdowns, 14 and a half earlier on this Saturday morning. Now, under that two touchdown margin of

00:2713 and a hook, and yet, Kev, a lot of people look at this as maybe that trappity trap spot ahead of

00:35a wild rivalry game, as we know, next week against Auburn. A lot of people are looking

00:41at Oklahoma, who has not had a great season, to keep this game close. How do you view it?

00:46Yeah, I think they can, certainly within the number of 14 and a half that pumped at a number

00:50of spots. I know that number's, I think, working its way back down. I think one book was still

00:55showing a 13 and a half, a lot of flat 14s out there in the market as well. The thing about

01:00Oklahoma is they are not just a trap spot team. They are one of the 20 best defenses in college

01:07football, and if you now are Alabama, that is a spot that it is hard to extend on. It is. I know

01:15Texas ran OU out of the, you know, off the field. Watching that game, just some tough turnovers

01:22allowed Texas to extend and kind of keep their hands at bay. Also for OU, what's really been,

01:28you know, what has done them in this year is the offense. It is bad. Unfortunately for Brett

01:33Venables, he showed up to the SEC without an SEC-level quarterback, really, slash offense.

01:38I think that's where, coming off the bye, we can help. Getting in your trick plays,

01:44just getting a little bit more comfortable game plan. Like, if you are Oklahoma, nothing matters

01:49more than this game. This would be, for Venables, the win of his OU tenure, and this is a guy who

01:56beat Texas last year. It gets you ball eligibility, which I think still matters to a guy like Venables

02:02and a program like Oklahoma. This is a team that, you know, caught this type of number on a neutral

02:08against Texas, I think, in Norman. 14 and a half is way too much. I'm with you, Kev. I liked him.

02:14I took him at 13 and a half earlier in the week, and to your point as well, let's not forget,

02:18seven and a half win total at the start of the year. We looked at the schedule for Oklahoma and

02:22said it's going to be a gauntlet for them to just potentially get to ball eligibility, and they've

02:28done a pretty good job. And I'm with Kevin as well. The front seven only giving up 109 rushing

02:32yards per game. We've seen them contain for the most part and stay within the number in Oxford

02:37against Jackson, Dart, and that offense, they were a very physical problem. Why they didn't

02:42really win that game or potentially win, it was Jackson, Arnold and the passing attack, right?

02:47They did work and were down six wide receivers for much of the year. Got a couple of them back

02:52last week. They didn't show consistency, fell behind to Missouri and lost that matchup. But

02:57with the extra week of preparation, I'm buying in. This is the Super Bowl, right? You're talking

03:01about a difficult place to play in Norman. I will just say this. If Alabama jumps up early,

03:07could be a very difficult spot. They have to dictate the tempo. And the reason why I say that

03:12OU's offensive line is allowed 41 sacks. Jackson, Arnold has held on to the football way too long.

03:18They need to be within the margin. Can't be one dimensional in the second half. We talked about

03:23the game as they were welcoming in Tennessee earlier in the opening month of this season,

03:28a ranked Oklahoma team had never been more than a four point home underdog in Norman since the

03:34late 1970s. That game closed five and a half in favor of the Vols. They went to Norman, they won

03:40and they covered. This is the largest spread that any version of an Oklahoma team, ranked or

03:46unranked, has seen at home since 1998. It is nearly two touchdowns. Total is only 46 and a half.

03:54Oklahoma's defense, a lot of the burden has been on its shoulders because of that inept offensive

04:00play this season. They have faced 664 snaps. That is the seventh most among power four teams this

04:08year. They are only allowing 4.8 yards per play and something about the Crimson Tide as well.

04:14They allowed at least 25 points in their first three SEC games, averaging 33 points per game

04:20allowed in that span, 24 points or less in their last three, just 13 in total in their last two.

04:27This Alabama defense looking a lot better right now under Kane Womack than they did earlier in

04:33the season.

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