Sugar Bowl Preview: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Oklahoma Sooners

Thursday night in New Orleans, two of the most historic college football programs in the history of the game face off in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Sooners and Crimson Tide claim over 20 national titles combined in their program’s history. The Sugar Bowl will be a must watch this year based on history and tradition alone.

The Oklahoma Sooners, from the Big 12, enter this game coming off a very emotional win over rival Oklahoma State. The win against the Cowboys for Oklahoma kept Oklahoma State out of a BCS Bowl and prevented Oklahoma State from winning their second Big 12 title in the last three seasons. The Sooners enter this game on a very high note and will need all the positive vibes possible facing the two time defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide.

On the other side, the Alabama Crimson Tide, from the SEC, enter this game coming off one of the most improbable loses imaginable against their long time rival Auburn. The last time the Tide were on a college field they were victim to what is now known as “Kick 6” against Auburn, in which Chris Davis returned a missed field goal back for a game winning touchdown with one second left. The Tide will enter this Sugar Bowl determined, hungry and motivated to end the season on a positive note.

The match up on the field may appear to be a mismatch, but in bowl games you never truly know until the two teams play. This was shown perfectly in the Fiesta Bowl last night when the double digit underdog Central Florida Knights defeated Baylor 52-42. If Alabama comes out flat and not interested in this game, Oklahoma could take full advantage and make a very interesting game out of this one on Thursday night.

The Crimson Tide all year had their sights on becoming the first team in the AP Poll era to win three straight national championships. They were literally one second away from having a shot at fulfilling those dreams, so the motivation factor of a Sugar Bowl could be a serious issue for the Tide. This is very similar to what transpired in 2008 when the Tide loss to Florida in the SEC title game and followed it up with a loss to Utah in the Sugar Bowl following the 2008 season.

The mastermind behind this Alabama run the last half decade is Coach Nick Saban. Saban has spent the time off from their loss to Auburn dealing with rumors about him possibly heading to Texas. He shot down these rumors when he signed an extension in late December. Saban will surly do his part to get his team motivated and up for this game, but it’s only human nature for the players to not be as excited after playing in two straight national championship games.

As we look at the on the field matchups the quarterback play for Oklahoma will be crucial. Oklahoma has been switching back and forth between Blake Bell and Trevor Knight. Knight was the key to the win over Oklahoma State to close out the season and is anticipated to get most of the playing time in this Sugar Bowl against the Tide. If the quarterback play for the Sooners encounter struggles against the Tide’s defense it will be a long night for Oklahoma.

The Alabama defense has had a run the past several seasons like few have had in the history of the game. Their physical, hard hitting style leaves teams mentally destroyed and throws opposing teams’ game plans off track in early downs. This will be very important for Alabama against Oklahoma, who after all, do have some great athletes of their own. Alabama will look to load the box and stop the Sooner run game and force Knight or Bell to beat them in the passing game.

I expect the Tide to use a formula very similar to what Texas used against Oklahoma in their 36-20 victory in early October. The Longhorns stacked the box and stopped the Oklahoma run game and forced Bell to beat them down the field. Bell was unable to do so and had one of the worst games of the season for him and had multiple turnovers against the Texas defense.

This will be what Alabama looks to do as well and the Tide defense being better than Texas should make this even tougher for Oklahoma. This will make the run game for the Sooners very important and I believe they must get over 150 yards on the ground to keep this game competitive. The Sooners will be run out the stadium if they struggle to run the ball successfully against the Alabama Crimson Tide defense.

 The Alabama run game is the key to everything they do and is led by T.J. Yeldon. Yeldon falls in line with a recent run of great running backs at Alabama. He has the right amount of strength and speed that keeps defenses off balance and hard to contain in the run and pass game. If Yeldon has a signature game with over 150 yards, it will be difficult for the Sooners to compete as previously mentioned.

My final analysis of this game is that Oklahoma will keep this closer than most think because of the motivation factor for Alabama. I mentioned earlier how no matter how hard Saban tries to motivate Alabama for this game, the fact this isn’t the national title game for Alabama will play a factor. The Tide will come out hungry, I’m not questioning that, but human nature will not allow them to be as excited for this game as say a team not used to so much success in previous years.

I believe Alabama will find a way to get the win and possibly by double digits. Oklahoma will come out eager and hungry to prove they can compete with the SEC and Alabama, but just want have the horses to complete the task for all four quarters. The Big 12 has struggled so far this bowl season and could be a sign of what appears to be a down year for the conference that usually is top three nationally. Oklahoma will have the chance to earn a huge win for their program and the Big 12 and could end their BCS Bowl game misery that has haunted them for the past decade.

Alabama wins this one 34-24 with a strong game by Yeldon at running back. He will be too much of a physical presence for the Sooner defense that has had its troubles at time this year. The Crimson Tide offense is the most underrated dimension of this team and that will be the deciding factor come Thursday in New Orleans. The Tide roll and send their senior class out with a win and on a high note after a historic Iron Bowl loss.