BCS title game: Oklahoma offense vs. Florida defense
The Oklahoma Sooners’ offense was a record-setter this season. All OU has done is score 60 points in five straight games, something last accomplished in college football in 1919. Oklahoma led the nation with an average of 54 points a game, the most since the 1944 Army team scored 56 points per contest. And the Sooners also became the first team to score 700 points in a season in 104 years.
Heisman winner Sam Bradford completed 68.3 percent of his passes, averaging 14.8 yards per completion, with 48 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He topped the country with a 186.3 efficiency rating and was second with 4,464 passing yards.
The Sooners had two 1,000-yard backs and tallied a school-record 97 touchdowns and gained more than 500 yards 10 times. And don’t forget the deep group of receivers and tight end Jermaine Gresham, who set school single-season records for a tight end with 888 yards and 12 touchdown grabs. He ranked second on the Sooners with 58 receptions and had a ridiculous 15.3 yards-per-catch average.
That’s all pretty impressive, yet Oklahoma is a 4.5-point underdog on WagerWeb.com to Florida for Thursday night’s national championship game.
“The way I motivate our guys is (to tell them), ‘This is the best offense you will face. They’ve scored the most points in the history of college football. And if you get out there and don’t play well, they’ll put 60 on you. So you better go play well,’ ” UF defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said.
But take a look at those Big 12 defenses that the Sooners beat up on. Texas is the top defense in the Big 12, ranking 50th nationally. Oklahoma is the next Big 12 defense on the national rankings at No. 65.
Eleven of 12 teams in the SEC rank in the top 38 nationally in total defense, including five of the top 15 (Florida is No. 9).
“They haven’t played against us.. .. Nobody puts 60 points up on us,” declared Florida defensive back Joe Haden.
The over/under for this game on WagerWeb.com is 69.5
Led by Brandon Spikes, the Florida defense is fourth nationally in scoring defense (12.8 points per game) and has given up more than 21 points only once all season. It allows just 279.3 yards per game (No. 8 in the country) and was second in the nation in turnover-margin at plus-22.
The loss of running back DeMarco Murray, who had 1,002 yards rushing this season might hurt OU a little. But Chris Brown led the team with 1,010 yards rushing, and he and Mossis Madu tore up Missouri in the Big 12 title game game after Murray went down. Brown rushed for 122 yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns and Madu chipped with a career-best 114 yards on 15 carries and three more scores.
Center Jon Cooper said that both remaining backs have the ability to be prime producers against the Gators, who ranked 16th nationally against the rush.
“DeMarco was a little flashier and he would try to make people miss where Chris just runs through them,” Cooper said. “And Mossis is a combination of both. He hits the hole about as hard as anybody we’ve got. I don’t know how fast he is, but he’s pretty fast.
And he’s got the balance of Chris and the flashiness of DeMarco.”
There is one trend going against OU. Five of the last six Heisman winners to advance to the BCS title game have fallen short in that contest. The lone exception was 2004 winner Matt Leinart.
NCAA Betting at WagerWeb.com
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
