The game is not too far away.
One of the final hurdles before the College Football Playoff at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is media day.
Every single Oklahoma player and coach was made available outside of the three suspended for the game. The same was for LSU, with their exception being star running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
There were some fireworks coming from linebacker Patrick Queen, who made a big declaration.
Here is what Oklahoma players and coaches at the big podiums had to say about LSU ahead of the big game.
OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH LINCOLN RILEY
On LSU’s secondary:
They’re talented. Good length. Guys move around well. Done a good job of making some competitive plays throughout the year.
So talented group that’s well coached.
On Joe Burrow:
I mean, yeah, he’s very comfortable in their schemes, he does a great job getting the ball out of his hands, very accurate passer. And then he’s made so many huge plays outside the pocket this year, extending time, whether it’s taken off or whether he’s making plays on the move. That’s where he’s really hurt people. And plays a lot of the style that Baker did for us. Very, very similar in a lot of ways, and it’s very, very effective, very difficult to defend.
On having Heisman Trophy winners on the team to go up against, so the awe won’t be there:
I don’t think awe, but there’s certain respect. How can you not respect what Joe’s done? You’re right. It’s not like our guys haven’t had a chance to practice and compete against good quarterbacks. Not taking anything away from Joe. He’s had a fabulous year. He’s going to be the best quarterback we’ve faced.
OKLAHOMA DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ALEX GRINCH
How do you slow LSU’s offense down?
Well, “slow” is the right word because you’re not going to stop those guys. Obviously from a personnel — just strictly personnel, they’re as elite as you’re going to have in the country. They’ve got one of everything, and they’ve got multiple of some. And so in any event, what we need to do is commit to the things that got us here, worry about us, and it’s coach-speak, but it’s true. Worry about us, we’ll coach our guys, and put them in the best situation to be successful. They make their plays, we’ve got to make ours, and that’s the gist of it. And expect them to make theirs, and once again, we expect our guys to make our share, as well.
First thing of LSU you have to take away:
Right. So often what we do regardless of opponent is okay, how do we defend the run. How do we stop the run. If a team can just march down the field, whether it’s chunk plays or three yards and a cloud of dust, regardless it’s making sure that guys can’t just pound and run. So that’s number one. Despite their throwing prowess.
But making sure we’re covering up receivers, making sure that we’re going to take air from a space standpoint, take the air out between defenders and receivers, running backs and those things, to make them complete passes in tight windows, which is easier said than done. That’s a real challenge for us, but that’s something that you look at.
On Joe Burrow:
He has everything. He has every tool that’s necessary to be an elite quarterback at our level. He beats you with his legs, he beats you with his arm.
How have you prepared for LSU?
Well, I think what you can’t do is be so naive to think, well, if you get lined up in a certain formation and minimize what — anything they do from a schematic standpoint. You know there’s an elite guy calling plays, so a lot of respect for the coaching staff. There’s an elite signal caller in Joe, and then elite weapons all around them. There’s 11 guys out there. It’s one of the — I say 11 guys, I mean 11 dudes. There’s a guy at every position that is an elite player, so there’s no deficiencies that way.
So just, again, to somehow be naive and say, okay, that’s just this formation of just this play or they’re running that play, now we’re going to have to find a way to get him on the ground, no, we know we’re going to have to meet the challenge.
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