Hello and Roll Tide!

After Alabama’s loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship, the Tide find themselves as the #9 seed in the College Football Playoff. Alabama will travel to Norman, Oklahoma to play the #8 seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the first round of the playoff. The playoff game airs on ABC on Friday December 19th at 7pm Central. Kalen DeBoer is 0-2 against Brent Venables’ Sooners and looks to grab his first win in the series. DeBoer has had a successful second season, reaching the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff. Below are injury notes, a CFP First Round preview, and Post-Season storylines. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

  • LT Overton and Kevin Riley missed the Georgia game and will be OUT against Oklahoma
  • Tight ends Danny Lewis and Josh Cuevas are QUESTIONABLE. DeBoer expects them to be available

CFB Playoff First Round: Oklahoma Sooners

Alabama has played Oklahoma each of the last two seasons, losing both matches. Last season in Norman, Brent Venables dismantled the Alabama offense with a defensive masterclass. Jalen Milroe completed only 11 of 26 passes for 164 yards with 3 interceptions. As well, the team only rushed for 70 total yards. This was a wake-up call to DeBoer and staff that you have to be prepared every single week in the SEC. This year, Alabama’s offense was successful against the Sooners, gaining 406 yards, but three costly turnovers changed the outcome of the game. Alabama out-gained the Sooners 406 yards to 212. In the two games against Oklahoma, Alabama is net negative 5 turnovers. With these turnovers, Brent Venables’ Sooners have dominated starting field position. Alabama must prioritize protecting the football on Friday night. Oklahoma finished the season 10-2 (6-2) finding themselves in the College Football Playoffs for the first time since 2019. In 2019, Jalen Hurts was the quarterback of the Sooners who fell to Joe Burrow’s LSU Tigers in the Peach Bowl. After a 6-7 record last season, Oklahoma has turned around, primarily due to their defensive identity. Brent Venables was the Defensive Coordinator at Clemson from 2012-2021 when Clemson was a dominant defensive force. Now in year 4 at Oklahoma, his defensive identity has taken hold and vaulted this program back into the national picture. Oklahoma’s offense has struggled to score lately, averaging just 19 points per game over the last 3. However, recently Oklahoma did outgain LSU 393 to 198 yards. The game was close due to 3 John Mateer interceptions. Usually, Oklahoma is the team forcing turnovers. They have a +3-turnover margin in the last 3 games. If they are unable to control time of possession, they may not have the star power on offense to advance far in the playoffs.

CFB Playoffs First Round Storylines:

Redemption in Norman – Alabama’s 24-3 loss at Gaylord Memorial Stadium last year was the largest defeat for the Tide since the 2018 National Championship loss to Clemson. Oklahoma had nothing to gain while Alabama had everything to lose, missing out on the 2024 College Football Playoff after the loss. The Tide find themselves back in Norman, OK with everything on the line.

Shine in the SpotLights – Gaylord Memorial Stadium has peculiar light fixtures setup for night games. The four corners of the stadium have large pillars shining light down into the stadium. It is unlike any other stadium in the SEC and can be a distraction to opposing players. Last season there appeared to be issues with receivers losing footballs in the light. It sounds silly, but Alabama needs to be aware of the location of these fixtures so that it is not a distraction.

Throw the kitchen sink at ‘em – It’s simple, win or go home. Grubb and DeBoer are known for their deep playbooks full of trick plays. We’ve seen plenty of them work this season. If Alabama is unable to run the football, they will need something to prevent Oklahoma’s defense from focusing all of their attention on Ty Simpson. In the SEC Championship, Georgia completely took the running game away from Alabama, then focused on intermediate pass defense. Without a run game, Ty had nowhere to go with the football. Oklahoma did this to Alabama earlier in the season with lesser success. I expect them to take a similar approach, daring the Tide to beat them on the ground or via the deep ball.

Help the Defense – Alabama’s defense has been incredible to finish out the season. In both losses, the defense was constantly playing at a disadvantage due to turnovers and poor special teams. Oklahoma forced 3 turnovers and had an explosive punt return, forcing Alabama’s defense to start in poor field position. Similarly, against Georgia the blocked punt and turnovers sent Alabama’s defense onto the field without rest. This defense is strong enough to limit any team in the country but needs help. If Alabama can limit turnovers and avoid mistakes on special teams, they can count on this defense to win football games.

What is your score prediction? Who will have a breakout performance? Send any questions or comments my way! If you know of anyone interested in joining the newsletter, send me their contact info.

Roll Tide! -Jake