This weekend’s matchup is composed of two all-time great programs
that are again having early season success this year. Although Oklahoma is 3-0 but has yet to play
a team with a winning record (Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt League, West
Virginia by 9 points and 1-2 Tulsa team)
and has yet to play away from the friendly confines of Norman.
This will be only Blake Bell’s (6’6”, 252lbs) second start
at quarterback for the Sooners. However
he did pass for over 400 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and a
73% completion percentage. Offensively
look for Bell to be different from last years “BellDozer” and a more complete
quarterback package. Make no mistake the
Irish defense will not hold Oklahoma to 15 net yards as they did last season. Bell may lack starting experience but he has
seen action on big stages over the past two seasons (Insight Bowl Offensive MVP
as a freshman and scoring the game tying touchdown last season against Oklahoma
State with four seconds left) so pressure should not be an issue.
The Sooners also have a solid running game in a balanced offensive
attack. Oklahoma averages just less than
272 rushing yards a game good enough for 16th in the nation, including
27 rushes for 10 yards or more. Bob
Stoops running game is led by Brennan Clay with 45 rushes for 262 averaging 5.8
yards per carry and 2 touchdowns followed by Damien Williams who has 37 carries
for 161 and averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Freshman Trevor Knight came out of camp as the starting
quarterback but after a rough start and an injury (knee) Bell stepped in. If Bell gets hurt or does not deliver early
against the Irish Knight would be coming in after missing practice time
recovering from his injury as well as coming back with shaken confidence.
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops has implemented a 3-3-5 defense
this season which has led to a number 5 ranking in scoring defense with 9.0
points per game.
The good news is that this Irish team fights till the end
and since that year’s game had a score of 13-13 with six minutes to go it truly
matters more how you fished as opposed to how you start. Don’t let Notre Dame’s 9-1 all-time record
against Oklahoma fool you, none of that matters this Saturday.
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