This is one of the biggest clashes of heavyweights in recent college football history as Oklahoma and USC, with a few votes the other way in 2003, easily could’ve be playing a rematch national title game.
The two powerhouses were 1-2 in most preseason rankings and did nothing over the course of the season to lose that luster. Unfortunately, Auburn’s fantastic season and the controversy around its exclusion from the national title picture, along with all of the other problems with the BCS mess, have taken away the spotlight for what should be hailed as the strongest national championship matchup since the 1996 Nebraska-Florida Fiesta Bowl (although this should be better than 62-24).
If you want superstars, you’ve got them with four Heisman finalists, two Heisman winners, and enough talent to keep the NFL stocked for a while. If you want top coaches, they don’t come better than Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll. If you want tradition, titles and big time programs, these two have it.
As good as USC was this year, it wasn’t the walk in the park it should’ve been for the far-and-away number one team in America. The Trojans struggled to get past Virginia Tech, Stanford, California, Oregon State and UCLA needing some key late plays to win each of them. Considering Oklahoma and Auburn were hammered every time they were less than perfect, USC was the Teflon team getting a free pass no matter what happened.
Even with the near misses it’s hard to find fault with the Trojans and their first unbeaten regular season under Carroll. When everything was humming, like it was against Notre Dame and Arizona State, this is a juggernaut of an offensive machine.
Oklahoma never quite got all the credit it probably deserved coming from winning the toughest division in college football with arguably the most talented offense since 1994 Penn State and 2002 Miami. But it was the defense that came through with one of the most impressive performances of the year in a 12-0 win over Texas holding Cedric Benson to 92 yards and not allowing any of the other Longhorns to do much of anything. There were tight road wins at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M that showed a few chinks in the defensive armor, but everything tightened up only allowing six points over the final three games.
So let the hype begin between the two titans. The winner won’t just be the national champion, it’ll have a firm hold on the top spot as the biggest, baddest program in college football. The loser won’t be that far behind.
Players to watch: If you’re reading this, you know all there is to know about 2004 Heisman winner Matt Leinart, 2003 Heisman winner Jason White, 2005 and 2006 Heisman winner Adrian Peterson, and future first-round draft pick Reggie Bush. They’re all important and all have to come up big. But in huge games like this one, it’s often the overlooked star who comes up with the biggest performances.
Leinart won the Heisman and Bush won the team MVP, but it was RB LenDale White who was the consistent glue to the offense rushing for 985 yards and 13 touchdowns often stealing the momentum by his pounding runs. In the fog that was the Oregon State game, he plowed through for 116 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, but wasn’t asked to run more than 17 times against anyone else. USC will certainly try to win with the passing game and will need White to keep the OU safeties honest and closer to the line.
For Oklahoma, the offensive line has been the unsung star of the season. Of course White, Peterson and Mark Clayton are fantastic talents and great players, and it’s the line that helped make them shine. RT Jammal Brown is the best of the bunch and the one the Sooners run behind for tough yards. 312-pound Davin Joseph joins Brown to form a steamrolling side of the line that has been nearly flawless all season long. Center Vince Carter is among the best in America and will have his hands full with USC’s star tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson, but he’ll have help from Joseph and junior guard Chris Bush. Senior Wes Sims is a veteran run blocker and sure NFL starter on the left side if he can show that his pass blocking skills have improved going against Frostee Rucker.
Part of Oklahoma’s concern is being burned in the middle of the field if the safeties gamble a bit too much against the run. However, the Sooners have two of the nation’s best in Brodney Pool and Donte Nicholson who must come through with solid, error-free games. They’re both excellent hitters with great range, but it’ll be important for them to not let Bush, Dwayne Jarrett, and the Trojan receivers turn medium gains into long ones and they can’t let the speed demons get a step ahead. Pool led the Sooners with 85 tackles and broke up nine passes while Nicholson made 66 stops with six breakups.
USC’s linebackers are very athletic and extremely quick. Lofa Tatupu and Matt Grootegoed were 1-2 in tackles this year combining to make 153 and are each fantastic at getting into the backfield with offensive lines are preoccupied with the great Trojan D line. However, they’re not all that big with Tatupu going 225 pounds, Grootegoed 214 and weakside starter Dallas Startz 220. Adrian Peterson is 210 pounds and fast enough to match up well with them.
USC will win if… its defensive line wins the battle against the OU offensive line and gets pressure on Jason White. White knows the offense like the back of his hand, but he’s not nearly the same quarterback under fire that he is when he gets a few seconds to let Mark Clayton and the rest of the Sooner receivers time to work. USC’s corners aren’t good enough to last long in one-on-one coverage, so if White isn’t getting knocked down early, chances are the OU offense is working well. The Trojan D line also has to not wear down in the second half. Granted, USC has the nation’s number two run defense, but the Pac 10 isn’t exactly stocked with star runners. The one good back the Trojans went up against this year, Cal’s J.J. Arrington, ran for 112 yards. Adrian Peterson is at his most deadly in the second half after his great offensive line has had a half or so to beat on the D line. One Peterson gets a little bit of daylight and the O line starts frothing at the mouth, it’s over.
Oklahoma will win if… the secondary doesn’t get torched. Just like it’s important to give Jason White time to throw, USC has to keep Matt Leinart clean. The Heisman winner has more mobility than White and proved this year that he’s better under pressure, but he’s a pocket passer who loves to see Reggie Bush fly out of the backfield on long routes. Those take time. Oklahoma’s pass defense allowed 194 yards per game but was surprisingly ineffective at strange times. Kansas State’s Dylan Meier and Oklahoma State’s Donovan Woods, hardly Leinart when it comes to passing skills, each made some big plays to keep their games close. USC likes to set defenses up for the home-run, so the OU secondary can’t be lulled to sleep by the running game and can’t bite on Leinart’s fakes.
What will happen: Either this will be the game USC gets exposed as a way above-average team that was on the right side of every break, or it’ll show it is a team that finds ways to win every big game. Oklahoma has the sort of offensive balance USC hasn’t had to deal with since the near-miss to California and all of the weapons will prove to be too much for the Trojan D. These are two extremely talented, extremely evenly matched teams, but Oklahoma will win with a stunning defensive performance as the Sooner coaching staff will devise a gameplan to keep the Trojan machine under wraps.
Line: USC -3 … CFN Prediction: Oklahoma 26 … USC 13
