This will test the old adage, “Defense wins Championships”.
Three times this season OU’s defense could have been rated Medium. If Medium shows up, and Murray is not affected by all the Glitz, and we get a couple of injured players back we have a chance. OU lives and dies on the “Big Play”.
I believe OU’s O-Line will be ready and they are fearsome.
OU’s big issue is, as has happened in years past, scoring too fast. That causes what defense we have to stay on the field too long. OU will not have a sustained pound it up the middle, time eating ground game for a lack of depth.
There’s plenty that can go wrong for OU. Alabama not so much.
“This will test the old adage, “Defense wins Championships”.”
We are in complete agreement on this. Both offenses are incredibly explosive and are capable of scoring at any time. I expect the scoreboard to be very active.
Our O-Line are very good with our passing attack but aren’t quite as effective when run blocking. That’s not to say that they are bad at run blocking but are more effective when pass blocking. Thankfully, this year’s offense is pass first, then run.
I understand the scoring too fast dilemma. We have scored very fast at times this season and, as a result, our defense became tired. We lost the 2017 National Championship game against Clemson because, late in the Fourth Quarter, we scored to take the lead but left too much time on the clock for Deshaun Watson and Clemson won on the last play.
As explosive as Murray and OU are, the same thing can happen if we aren’t careful.
The main concerns for Bama fans are Tua’s health, turnovers, OU’s explosiveness and, as you pointed out, scoring too soon.
Both teams are similar in many ways. It should be one heck of a game.