Sooners arrive in Florida aiming at first CFP win
As he got off the plane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday night, Oklahoma junior defensive lineman Amani Bledsoe couldn’t help but think of last year.
“We all have a chip on our shoulder and remember the hurt and pain we felt after the loss, but it’s a new year and a new team — so excited about this group,” Bledsoe said.
On New Year’s Day 2018, the Sooners fell to Georgia 54-48 in overtime
in the Rose Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal.
This season, on a different coast, No. 4-ranked Oklahoma is looking for a different result as they arrived to finish preparations for the Orange Bowl vs. No. 1 Alabama on Saturday in nearby Miami Gardens, Florida (7 p.m., ESPN).
The Sooners are in the playoffs for the third time in four seasons, still searching for their first CFP win.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley once again didn’t have an update on the health status of wide receiver Marquise Brown, who was injured in the Sooners’ Dec. 1 Big 12 Championship Game win over Texas, but said several Oklahoma players who have been recovering from injuries suffered late in the season are back healthy.
“We think we’ve had a good balance of rest, getting their bodies back, getting some injured guys back healthy, which that was a pretty long list two, three weeks ago,” Riley said. “So we think we’ve made some improvements there.”
But the break has its issues as well.
“It’s a challenge,” Riley said. “We’re the only sport in the world that does this with almost 30 days in between the end of your regular season and a championship. But that’s part of it. We’ve worked hard up to this point.”
Offensive lineman Ben Powers doesn’t like the four-week break between the conference championship games and the bowl.
“I wish we could have played a week after the selection (show),” Powers said.
“The game’s a week away — I can’t wait. I’m excited to be down here.”
For Powers and, likely, Bledsoe, this is a last chance to break through.
“I’ll be in my hotel room all week, not by the pool or the beach,” Powers said. “I won’t be out doing any of that mess. You have to have a good time while you are down here, but you have to know how to control it. That’s the most important part.”
Bledsoe, a junior who suffered a defeat in court Dec. 11 in a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking to restore his lost year of eligibility, said he wasn’t sure if his fight for eligibility after this season was over even though he recently accepted an invitation to play in a postseason showcase game for draft-eligible players.
“Just trying to focus on the season for right now and then get to that afterward,” he said.