Oklahoma Sooners Will Win the National Title
Defending Big 12 Champs Are Poised to Take BCS Championship
It was not how the season was supposed to end for Oklahoma last year. In the title game that many were arguing they were never supposed to be at in the first place, the Sooners fell to Florida after the Gators scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to earn the win.
The memory of the loss is fresh in the minds of the Oklahoma players and none more than Sam Bradford, the Sooners Heisman winning play caller. Bradford leads an offense that chewed up opposing defenses last season and that combined with a strong defense will help Oklahoma overcome a very difficult schedule.
Sam Bradford is the Best Passer in the Country
The Oklahoma offense scored more than 50 points nine times last season and scored 49 points once all in 14 games. The engine behind that offense was Bradford and he was rewarded in 2008 with the Heisman trophy.
Bradford is back but his offensive line will be new, putting the Sooner’s season in untested hands because the bottom line is if Bradford gets hurt, Oklahoma’s year and title run is over.
But Oklahoma had one of the most well rounded offenses in the country last year. Not only did Bradford pass for 4720 and 50 touchdowns, he had a powerful duo of running backs behind him in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. Murray and Brown rushed for a combined 2,222 yards. With those two in the backfield, opposing teams will not be able to pin their ears back and put the all out rush on Bradford.
In addition, Bradford’s favorite target in the redzone returns. Tight end Jermaine Gresham caught 14 touchdowns to lead the Sooners last year on the way to amassing 950 receiving yards.
Oklahoma’s Defense will Control the Line
The Sooners will put forth one of the best defensive front seven college football has ever seen this year. Travis Lewis, Oklahoma’s leading tackler from a year ago with 144, returns as does eight others from a defense that collected 42 sacks and 106 tackles for loss last year.
The defensive backfield is just as good as Oklahoma returns the majority of its backs who collected 19 interceptions last year as part of a defense that had 31 total turnovers and held teams to 24.5 points per game.
How Could Oklahoma Lose?
The Sooner are going to need both sides of the ball to rise to the occasion. Not only does Oklahoma play in the Big 12, a conference that rivals the SEC as the toughest in the nation, the Sooners will play a stiff non-conference bill.
Oklahoma will open the season against No. 20 BYU and have to play at Miami before the conference season starts.
Once in the conference, Oklahoma will have a run where they play three ranked teams in four weeks starting with No. 2 Texas followed by a game at No. 25 Kansas and then a match two weeks later at No. 24 Nebraska. Oklahoma also will have to travel to Texas Tech for the final game of the regular season. The Sooners knocked Texas Tech out of the national title hunt last season and embarrassed the Red Raiders 61-41 meaning Texas Tech would like nothing more than to ruin Oklahoma’s shot at national title.
If Oklahoma survives that, a date with most likely either Kansas or Nebraska awaits in the Big 12 championship game.
But despite the strong schedule, many are picking Oklahoma to be in the mix when the season ends. Oklahoma is ranked third in both the USA/Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll, behind No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Texas and ahead of No. 4 USC and No. 5 Alabama.
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