Alabama football faces a stern challenge from the high-powered Oklahoma Sooners in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
Alabama is 5-for-5 in making the College Football Playoff, and will be seeking a fourth straight berth into the National Championship Game if they can get past a brutally efficient Oklahoma offense in the Orange Bowl.
Led by sensational sophomore Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s long running dynasty got even better in 2018. The offense outshined the defense all season long, with Tua putting together the single best season for a Tide quarterback in Alabama history thanks to an embarrassment-of-riches at the skill positions.
The Crimson Tide was largely unchallenged in the regular season, beating all 12 opponents by at least 22 points, becoming the first team to do that since Yale in the late 1800s.
The question mark for Alabama was how they would hold up in a close game after facing such little adversity all season long. Those questions got answered emphatically in Atlanta, as the Tide rallied from a two-touchdown deficit and an injury to Tua to once again rip out the hearts of the Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Jalen Hurts came off the bench for the injured Tua, engineering two touchdown drives, throwing one to Jerry Jeudy, and then taking off for a rushing touchdown on a perfectly timed quarterback draw to lift Alabama to a 35-28 win to capture the SEC Championship and lift them to the No. 1 seed in the playoff.
Oklahoma awaits in Miami, as the Sooners are led by Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, who narrowly edged out Tua to hoist the stiff-arm in New York. Murray is the second straight Oklahoma quarterback to win the Heisman, joining No. 1 overall draft pick Baker Mayfield, and somehow surpassing the efficient campaign Mayfield put together last season.
Murray led the nation’s best and most efficient offense, helping the Sooners overcome a porous defense to go 12-1 and win the Big 12 Championship, earning their third trip to the playoff in the last four years.
Oklahoma captured the Big 12 title by avenging their lone loss in the regular season to Texas. The Sooners are equipped to win shootouts, having done so throughout their Big 12 slate, and a shootout in the Orange Bowl feels likely with the two best offenses in the country sharing the same field.
Will Alabama continue to roll and clinch their fourth straight appearance in the title game, or will Oklahoma shock the world and pull the big upset to advance to Santa Clara?
Here’s how you can watch the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl between the Crimson Tide and the Sooners.
Date: Saturday, December 29
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Miami, Fla.
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
Can Oklahoma manufacture some pressure on Tua to test his injured ankle? Tua hopes to be 100 percent by the time of the game, but his health is still very much in the air, and he has shown some discomfort in the pocket at times this season when he has been hobbled and dealt with blitzes. Expect the Sooners to send some exotic blitz packages at Tua hoping to force the talented sophomore into a mistake or two that could flip the outcome of the game.
Oklahoma managed 28 sacks in 13 games this season, but Ronnie Perkins and company will have a tough time breaking through a stout Alabama offensive line that gave up only 13 sacks all season long. If the Sooners can’t get home, it’s unlikely that their pass defense, which ranked tied-for-last in the FBS, will be able to keep up with the Tide’s talented group of receivers.
For Alabama, being able to bend, but not break defensively will be key, particularly when Oklahoma enters the redzone. Alabama players and fans are unused to being involved in high-octane shootouts, but they’ll have to face the facts that they are going to give up points in this game; Oklahoma’s offensive is simply too good to be stymied for 60 minutes. Look for the Crimson Tide to play two deep safeties for much of the game and be content with underneath throws.
The Sooners have surprisingly not been overly efficient in the redzone, scoring touchdowns on just 67 percent of their redzone possessions. Alabama’s redzone defense ranks third in the country, giving up points of any kind on just 66 percent of opposing possessions. Possessions that end in field goal attempts for the Sooners will be massive wins for the Tide’s defense.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: Alabama -14
Over/Under: 77.5
Prediction
Don’t be surprised if Oklahoma comes out with a fast start and grabs an early lead as Lincoln Riley is one of the premier game-planners in all of college football. He’ll have a plan of attack to pick out some weaknesses in the Crimson Tide’s defense he sees on film. But this game comes down to one thing: with the two best offenses in the country, which defense do you trust to produce more stops? That answer is obvious, and while the Sooners will put up some points, Alabama’s defense will get off the field far more often than their counterparts.
Final Score: Alabama 55, Oklahoma 42