Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma: A Clash Of College Football’s Titans
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
If you’re not one of the lucky 82,112 to be in attendance Saturday night in Norman, Okla., you’ll probably be glued to your television watching what will be the biggest game of this college football season so far.
Without question, it doesn’t get any bigger than No. 5 Notre Dame versus No. 8 Oklahoma.
These are two of the most storied programs in all of college football.
Notre Dame boasts 13 recognized national championships, Oklahoma has seven. Only the Irish and Alabama (with nine) have more national titles than the Sooners.
The Irish have had seven Heisman Trophy winners, the Sooners five.
Once again this year talk around both campuses center around the national championship.
For the Irish, it’s been 23 years since they were King of College Football. The wait hasn’t been nearly as long for the Sooners, as Coach Bob Stoops led OU to the 2000 crown.
Speaking of Stoops, Oklahoma has had tremendous success under his leadership. In 13 previous seasons in Norman, he has led the Sooners to 10, 10-win seasons and 13 consecutive bowl games, including eight of the BCS variety.
He has coached in huge games and Saturday’s against the Irish will rank right up there as far as regular-season tilts go.
This is a colossal showdown to say the least.
Notre Dame is 7-0. Oklahoma is 5-1 with its only slip up to Kansas State, 24-19, a team that is ranked fourth currently.
Facing the Sooners in their backyard will easily be the Irish’s toughest test to date.
Oklahoma is loaded with star power.
The Sooners are led by senior quarterback Landry Jones, a candidate for the Walter Camp, O’Brien, Manning and Maxwell awards.
Jones is OU’s all-time leader in passing yards (14,032), pass yards per game (312.1), pass attempts and completions (1,155-of-1,841), 300-yard games (23), 400-yard games (nine) as well as total offense (13,691) and total offense per game (304.7).
He’s one of two players in Big 12 history and one of seven in NCAA history to have 100 TD passes and 14,000 passing yards in his career.
This season, Jones has thrown for 1,653 yards, completing 62.9 percent of his passes (134-of-213 passes), with 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions.
Jones is a very accomplished player, Irish coach Brian Kelly said.
He has great weapons around him. The wide receiver crew is as deep as anybody that we’ve gone against. Certainly very good running game, physical. And from a defensive standpoint, probably as talented as a group that we’ve gone against.
The key to defending Jones is trying to get him out of his rhythm, says Kelly. That’s something that’s easier said than done.
He hasn’t been disrupted very much, said Kelly of Jones. And I think, like most good quarterbacks, if you can get into a good rhythm and you’re not disrupted, you’re going to be pretty effective. You can see that’s been the case.
Jones has an arsenal of weapons to get the ball to via the pass.
Kenny Stills is OU’s leading receiver with 38 catches for 471 yards. He has a team-high four touchdown catches and averages 12.4 yards per receptions.
Besides Stills, keep an eye on Justin Brown, who transferred this past summer from Penn State. Last year, he was the Nittany Lions’ leading receiver. In a Sooner uniform, Brown has hauled in 24 passes for 299 yards with a pair of scores.
Four other OU players have double-digit reception totals this fall so by no means are Stills and Brown the only ones who can do damage.
If you key on Jones and the Sooner passing game too much, Oklahoma will burn you on the ground.
Junior running back Damien Williams has really burst on the scene this season. He is a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the ball. Williams has three touchdown runs of 65 yards or more this season.
He has rushed for seven scores in the fall and has gained 552 yards, averaging a staggering 7.5 yards every time he carries it.
Williams killed arch rival Texas, gaining a career-high 167 yards rushing, including a 95-yard touchdown run (the third-longest in OU history).
Joining Williams in the backfield is Dominique Whaley, who was named to the Maxwell Award watch list. He averages 6.3 yards per carry.
Jones and his offense have been on quite the roll as of late.
In the last three games, the Sooners have scored 156 points, including wins over then-No. 15 Texas 63-21 and a 52-7 slaughter over Kansas last weekend.
“If you look at Oklahoma in the last few weeks, just putting up so many points, you’re not going to win those games,” Kelly said. “So it’s going to start on the defensive side of the ball for us and to keep the points down, and then obviously find a way to get some scores.”
“I think we are in a good spot,” Jones said. “The key now is to not get complacent, not think we have it all figured out and continue to work, continue to sharpen, continue to do the things that we’re supposed to be doing.”
During the three-game winning streak, Jones has been tremendous. He has completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 880 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception during that stretch.
In the last two games, OU has total 1,083 yards, including 647 through the air. The offense has scored on 15 of its last 20 drives, including 12 touchdowns.
“I think maybe as a unit we’re playing better,” Jones said. “I think we have more confidence right now going into games for sure than I think there’s ever been around this place, just knowing what we can do and what we’re capable of.”
Jones’ offense ranks fifth in the FBS, averaging 44.7 points per game.
Although the Irish beat Stanford thanks to a tremendous goal-line stand, Kelly says if Notre Dame’s defense allows Oklahoma to get deep into its territory, it will score.
“If it’s first-and-goal from the 5, we’re going to have a hard time keeping them out of the end zone,” he said. “It’s a great short-yardage offense.”
A big part of OU’s success in close is because it will bring Blake Bell in at quarterback. He’s 6-foot-6, 254 pounds.
Obviously Notre Dame’s defense, which ranks second behind only Alabama, allowing 9.4 points per game, will have its work cut out facing the best offense it has seen this season thus far.
Although statistically not as impressive as Notre Dame’s, Oklahoma’s defense is pretty darn good, too.
Irish quarterback Everett Golson, who is expected to return to the starting lineup against the Sooners, will face a defense that allows 15.3 points per game. In the last three games, OU has forced nine turnovers and sacked opposing quarterbacks six times.
It’s a defense led by safety Tony Jefferson’s 48 tackles. Jefferson was a preseason All-American. Safety Javon Harris has a team-high four interceptions, while defensive end Chuka Ndulue is the team’s biggest sack threat with 2.5 on the season.
Defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland is another impact player for the Sooners, too. He has a team-best four tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks.
The Sooners also present Notre Dame a challenge.
You have Roy Finch and Brown as return men, field goal kicker Michael Hunnicutt and punter Tress Way.
Finch returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Kansas last week. Brown ranks first in the Big 12 and second in the country averaging 19 yards per punt return after he returned one 90 yards for a touchdown against Kansas.
Hunnicutt has hit all seven of his field goal tries this season after he tied the OU record for field goals in a season with 21 last season as a freshman.
Way ranks third among active punters in the NCAA with 9,685 total punt yards and No. 10 with a 43.8 average. His career average currently ranks No. 1 in Oklahoma history.
As if Oklahoma isn’t loaded enough on offense, defense and on special teams, it will have that ever important home field advantage against the Irish, an intangible the Sooners have used big time under Stoops.
Stoops OU teams win 95 percent of the time at home (a 79-4 record).
“We know the challenge in front of us,” Kelly said. “Our players understand that it takes great execution and it will take a great effort on Saturday, but one we’re extremely excited about as well.”
My Take
It’s hard finding a way Oklahoma loses this game. This is a Sooner team that has no obvious weaknesses and had it not been for three turnovers against Kansas State, it would be undefeated.
The Irish chances center around getting OU to be careless with the football and getting an early lead.
Notre Dame will want to keep Jones and the Sooners’ powerful offense off the field as much as possible. To do this, the Irish running game will have to be at its best.
Notre Dame doesn’t figure to have much success through the air as it will be facing a secondary that has three future NFL players in it.
By far, this is the Irish’s biggest test to date. They haven’t faced an offense as multi-dimensional as this one and haven’t played in a hostile environment quite like the one they’re about to walk into Saturday night (sorry Michigan State, but Norman will be off-the-charts electric).
Oklahoma’s offense is just too good even going against one of Notre Dame’s best defenses in recent memory. Plus, the Irish offense, which hasn’t done a whole lot as of late and that’s cause for concern against this talented Sooner team.
Look for Oklahoma to end Notre Dame’s undefeated season as this just looks like to tall an order for the Irish.
Oklahoma 27, Notre Dame 14
(I’m 7-0 this season predicting Irish games.)
ND Nuggets
– The Irish are an 11-point underdog.
– According to The Weather Channel’s website, Saturday evening’s forecast in Norman calls for mostly clear skies with lows around 33 degrees. Winds will be light and variable.
– Notre Dame leads its all-time series against BYU 4-2 with the last matchup resulting in a 49-23 Irish win in South Bend.
– ESPN’s College GameDay will be present at the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game, marking the 21st time the show has originated from an Irish game site. Overall, the Irish are 9-11 all-time when GameDay is on hand, including 5-7 when the show is present outside an opposing stadium.
– Saturday’s game will be televised by ABC as Brent Musburger will have the play-by-play and Kirk Herbstreit will handle the analysis. Heather Cox will be the sideline reporter.
– The Irish are averaging only 17.7 points in three games against ranked opponents this season.
– Stoops is 14-1 in Norman against ranked teams, going 3-0 against top 10 teams.
– Four of Notre Dame’s seven wins this season have come by seven points or fewer.
– The Irish have scored first in all their games this season.
– Only five defenses are forcing three-and-out possessions on a more frequent basis than Notre Dame. Forty percent of drives against the Irish this year have been three plays or less.
– Only one player in the FBS has generated more turnovers than Manti Te’o. He is tied for the most interceptions by a linebacker in the FBS (four) and has added two fumble recoveries. Te’o is the only FBS player to rank in the top 10 in both interceptions and fumble recoveries.
