Why Oklahoma Will Win
– Defense? Thanks to defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, Oklahoma went from having one of the nation’s worse defenses two years ago to being 16th in the nation this season. The Sooners are No. 1 in the Big 12 against the run, No. 1 in pass efficiency D, No. 1 in sacks, and it hasn’t allowed more than 300 yards of total offense in any of the last three games. Oh, by the way …
– Oklahoma is Oklahoma – it leads the Big 12 in total offense, scoring offense, and passing offense. It hasn’t been the high-flying thrill show of past seasons, but it’s still good for well over 300 yards per game through the air.
QB Spencer Rattler is still a wee bit of a work in progress, and he still isn’t quite consistent enough, but he has thrown just two picks in the last five games, he’s hitting the downfield passes, and he connected on 70% or more of his passes in three of the last four games.
– Again, the run defense. Oklahoma hasn’t allowed 200 rushing yards in any of the last 15 games and allowed over 100 yards just three times this season. Iowa State ran for over 200 yards in every game this year but four – it basically got there with 198 yards against Baylor, it had to rally back to beat Texas, it lost to Louisiana, and it only came up with 135 yards against OU.
However …
– Championship Week Schedule & Predictions
Why Iowa State Will Win
– Breece Hall is special. The 6-1, 215-pound sophomore is slipping – he only ran for just over 90 yards in the last two games. Texas and West Virginia were able to keep him from going off, but he ran for a tough 139 yards against OU the first time around, he finished with 1,357 yards and 17 touchdowns, and he averaged over six yards per carry.
Oklahoma dominates the time of possession battle – Hall needs to help flip that around.
– Brock Purdy is special, but he wasn’t having a special season … until lately. He was hardly bad, but he was awful against Louisiana and struggled against Kansas State on the way to a rocky start. But over the last three games when the team needed its star quarterback to step up, he more than did, hitting the 80% completion mark in two of the last three games after throwing three picks against Baylor. He’s at his best at just the right time.
– Yeah, Oklahoma gets into the backfield. It leads the Big 12 in sacks and it’s one of the best defenses in the country in tackles for loss, but the Iowa State offensive line is playing phenomenally well. It’s great at blasting away for Hall, and it’s terrific at keeping defenses out of the backfield and away from Purdy.
Oklahoma only came up with one sack and four tackles for loss in the first meeting.