Brief struggles provide window into what the Sooners must do
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. — Alabama has struggled as often this season as Nick Saban has smiled. Needless to say, difficulties were rare. Seven times, the Crimson Tide held opponents to 14 or fewer points. Eight times, Alabama scored 50 or more points. Bama’s closest game before a seven-point SEC Championship Game win over Georgia was a 22-point win over Texas A&M where the Crimson Tide never trailed and the outcome was never seriously in question in the second half. But Alabama — as close as it was — wasn’t perfect this season and it’s in those few
moments of struggle, the Sooners say, where they can learn so much. Oklahoma’s defense has had a rough go of it for much of the season, but the Sooners are hoping they can find something — anything — they can exploit in Saturday’s Orange Bowl.
Linebacker Curtis Bolton didn’t expect to see much struggle when he pulled up the Crimson Tide’s eventual 50-17 win over The Citadel on Nov. 17. During the season, Bolton was vaguely aware of the score and not much else as the Sooners played Kansas that same day.
Sifting through Alabama’s offensive plays of the first half of that game, though, Bolton found himself paying attention as much to what the Bulldogs were doing defensively as what the Crimson Tide were doing offensively as the game was tied 10-all at halftime.
“Yeah, they gave up plays over the top but they sort of made them (Alabama) one-dimensional in the first half,” Bolton said. “Their linebackers were flying downhill. They were meeting them at the line of scrimmage and they were really preventing the yards after contact and that’s something that we’ve got to be able to do to win this game and that’s something that I personally can control.”
Alabama also wasn’t crisp for much of the SEC title game against Georgia, falling behind by two touchdowns on two occasions before storming back to win.
“They played really good coverage and guys just rallied to the ball,” linebacker Kenneth Murray said. “I like what I see from both of those tapes. Both of those tapes show them playing aggressive.”
The attitude of those defenses during their times of success stood out to Caleb Kelly.
“A lot of those guys that after they’d make a play,” Kelly said, “they’d have the energy and just kind of pass it along to their teammates and that would carry on to the next play — that would help them get off the field, that would help them create turnovers.”
Although Alabama’s offense talked respectfully of Oklahoma’s defense this week, that respect could disappear quickly and lead to things snowballing if the Sooners don’t get off to a quick start on that side of the ball. So, Bolton said, he also learned both from watching those games and from games where the Crimson Tide have steamrolled opponents from the start that it will be critical for Oklahoma to build positive momentum early.
“It’s like sharks in the water, once they smell blood, they’re going to bite,” Bolton said.
“I don’t know how they feel about it, but all I know is come the first series, I’ve got to let them know they’ve got to respect us.”