The Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday night in one of the more highly-anticipated matchups of the new-look SEC.
Even if the Sooners have struggled through the 2024 season, a battle of two of college football’s blue blood programs is the stuff reserved for the postseason or the occasional nonconference heavyweight tilt.
It’s been 22 years since the Crimson Tide stepped foot in Norman. When Alabama comes to town this week, they’ll seek to solidify their position as a College Football Playoff contender. The SEC title game isn’t out of the question, but they’ll need some help to get there. A win over Oklahoma and then next week in the Iron Bowl will pretty much solidify the Crimson Tide’s as at least an at-large bid.
Can the Oklahoma Sooners play spoiler this weekend and knock the Crimson Tide out of the playoff discussion? They’ll need to play a great game to do so and win these key matchups.
1. Oklahoma Run Game vs. Alabama Defense
The Alabama Crimson Tide come to Norman with a run defense allowing 132.2 yards per game, which is good for 53rd in the nation. Alabama held LSU to just 104 yards rushing on 24 attempts in a game that got away from the Tigers. The week before Bama allowed 169 yards rushing in their shutout win over Missouri.
In their losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Alabama allowed 204 and 166 rushing yards.
It’s a unit that can be run, but much of it will depend on how much Alabama respects Oklahoma’s passing attack. They’re likely to crowd the box and force Oklahoma to beat them through the air. Still, even against crowded boxes, the Sooners need to lean into the running game.
The passing attack hasn’t been consistent all season, but the Sooners have found success on the ground over the last month.
The Sooners have to slow the game down and rely on the running game to keep the offense in favorable down and distances. Oklahoma doesn’t want to get into second- and third-and-long situations and be forced to pass.
Even if the game begins to get away from Oklahoma, they need to continue to lean into the running game with Xavier Robinson, Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, and Jackson Arnold.