Oklahoma vs. Michigan: Night Battle in Norman Preview

SportsGrid

Watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan: Night Battle in Norman Preview - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00We'll start with the night battle in Norman.

00:03John Mateer and the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners

00:05square off against Bryce Underwood in Michigan.

00:09Oklahoma Open coach is a two-and-a-half-point home favorite.

00:12It's ballooned now across multiple books.

00:15Oklahoma five-and-a-half-point home favorite over Michigan.

00:19Can the Wolverines win this ballgame

00:22with a freshman quarterback on the road?

00:25Well, if they can run the football.

00:27I mean, when you go on the road and play in Norman,

00:29and I've taken two different college teams into Norman,

00:31lost both times, it's an impressive place to play,

00:36and it will be rocking.

00:37You take a team like Michigan into Oklahoma and play in Norman,

00:42it's going to be an electric atmosphere,

00:44which is going to put even more pressure on the quarterback.

00:47Why do you need to run because of that?

00:50We saw what happened to Arch Manning going into the horseshoe.

00:53Freshman, first big game he's really started,

00:56and he played with a lot of, he was timid.

00:59He was not comfortable, not relaxed,

01:02and I could see Underwood coming to this game as a true freshman,

01:05as talented as he is, being affected by the glamour,

01:10the bigness of the event.

01:12And so it's going to be the way you do it.

01:14You've got to run the football for Michigan,

01:15and you've got to make sure you make Oklahoma run the football.

01:20When you look at Michigan last week, they struggled at home with New Mexico.

01:25They win the ball game 34-17.

01:28Bryce Underwood did have a dominating performance through the air, 251 yards.

01:33Michigan also rushed for 201 on the ground,

01:36but they're going up against a lethal quarterback in John Mateer.

01:40Now, Oklahoma did struggle through two-and-a-half quarters.

01:43They turned it on in the second half.

01:45Mateer throws for 392 yards, three touchdowns,

01:48one interception.

01:50If you're Brett Venables, being a defensive mind, right,

01:54you know you have the more experienced quarterback playing at home.

01:58You want to press a little bit more of tempo, don't you, coach,

02:02to put the pressure on Bryce Underwood to play from behind,

02:06just the way they did last year against Jalen Milrow

02:09en route to that 24-3 home victory over Alabama.

02:13Well, you know, they've added –

02:15Venables has added defensive coordinator to his head coaching,

02:18the title, Zach Allen, who was my defensive coordinator at ULM,

02:21on to West Virginia from Oklahoma.

02:24But Venables, I guarantee, and I was with him a couple of years

02:27at Clemson as an analyst, he is going to put pressure on the quarterback,

02:31and he's going to blitz him in ways that quarterback has not seen.

02:35Remember, they both had teams they felt like they were going to win.

02:38We don't really know if we saw what they do

02:41or what they wanted us to see.

02:43When you're playing a team that you're supposed to beat

02:45and you've got a big one in game two,

02:48you're playing games a little bit in that first game,

02:51and we're not sure.

02:52I do know this.

02:53I've watched Venables.

02:54He'll bring a different blitz every game depending on the quarterback.

02:57He is going to present problems for Underwood in the passing game

03:01or in protection that he's never seen before,

03:04and that's what he likes to blitz out of the safeties.

03:07He'll come off the end.

03:08He'll bring linebackers.

03:09He'll do it a little different every game.

03:12He'll have something schemed up.

03:13So Michigan must run that football

03:16to keep the pressure off that freshman quarterback.

03:19You saw, Bryce, Underwood last week,

03:21only two carries minus five yards.

03:24If there is an added wrinkle,

03:26maybe it does happen in the RPO game

03:28because that's where I believe maybe potentially Underwood

03:31could be a factor,

03:33especially going up against an overaggressive defense.

03:36But I still lean to Oklahoma.

03:37More experienced quarterback, defensive-minded head coach

03:42in Brett Venables,

03:43and the more complete defense, I believe, is in Norman.

03:46I think they win this ballgame by double digits.

03:49I think we get through the 46-and-a-half, coach.

03:51I do believe Oklahoma will be able to score and put the pressure.

03:56Do you think it's high scoring

03:57or more of a lower scoring game under the 46-and-a-half?

04:01I don't have a great feel because both teams,

04:03the one thing you know that they're going to have is better defense.

04:07Materia's going to bring a better offense to Oklahoma.

04:10But you know what they had last year

04:11and what Venables brings to the table?

04:13They're going to be a better defense.

04:15And Michigan, they played good defense.

04:17You've got a freshman quarterback that they may be trying to protect.

04:20So I don't really have a strong feeling as far as the over is concerned,

04:24but I am with you.

04:25Oklahoma, I'll take Oklahoma.

04:27I think they'll cover.

04:28I think it's five-and-a-half right now,

04:30and I've got them winning this football game by over five-and-a-half.

04:33I just think the home-field advantage, the veteran quarterback,

04:37and they brought his offensive coordinator from Washington State.

04:40So they're very comfortable in what they're doing offensively.

04:44And, again, in a game like this, and we saw, again, I mentioned it earlier,

04:47we saw what Arch Manning did as a freshman, not so much a freshman,

04:50but as a newcomer, a new starter in a big environment.

04:54It's hard to imagine what goes through that quarterback's head

04:57because as poised as they are and as high a recruit as they are,

05:01there is nothing in high school that prepares you going into Norman, Oklahoma

05:05and playing against a very good Oklahoma football team.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended