Alright everybody, it’s a sad time for me.  College football season is coming to a close and so is football in general, with the Superbowl a month away.  Obviously I’m excited to see my Oklahoma Sooners playing in the National Championship game, but this is the time of year where sports, in my opinion, take a dive.  It is pretty steady with College basketball with March Madness and all, but I can’t really stand the NBA.  Baseball season starts, but the only time I’m interested in that is if I’m attending a game or if it’s playoff time.  Golf is there in between, but it’s just not as exciting as the other sports.  Anyways, that’s another blog, another day.  Let’s get to why we are really here…the National Championship between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators.  

The Sooners are a 3 and 1/2 pt underdog which is fine with me.  I think it gives more motivation to OU to come out and win, and personally they need something to motivate them after the last 4 BCS losses.  Ridiculous!  Anyways, I heard Tebow and his talk about wanting to face a Big 12 defense and I’m sure he will have some success, but I don’t think that Florida can keep up with OU.  I’m not saying that OU is going to score 60 pts on Florida (but I do think it’s possible with this amazing offense), but I have compiled some stats for your personal viewing to make your decision on your own.  

[Note: Both OU and Florida has played a Div II team, Chattanooga and Citadel, so their stats aren't included.]  OU has faced nine top 50 offenses, six in the top 25, and 4 in the top 10.  Florida has only played two top 50 offenses with Georgia ranking the highest at #20.  So, right off the bat Florida should have better defensive numbers due to the fact that they haven’t played any good offenses.  Keep that in mind when I give you the defensive numbers.  Florida has faced ten top 50 defenses with the highest being #3 Alabama.  OU has faced three top 50 defenses with the highest being #2 TCU.  Now TCU has only given up 18 TD’s all season long and OU has 5 of them.  Almost 30% of the TDs given up by TCU came from OU.  Now, I’m not sure who’s saying that OU hasn’t played a good defense, but they are wrong.  One thing is for sure is that both teams can and will score in the red zone.  OU has been in the red zone 80 times while scoring on 76 of those (69 TD’s and 7 FG’s) for a 95% efficiency rate.  Florida has had 64 trips to the red zone and scoring on 58 of those (48 TD’s and 10 FG’s) for a 91% efficiency rate.   

Now, looking at the stats it seems that Florida has the edge, but if you think about it even though OU has given up a lot of points, it has been to the nine of the top 50 offenses in the nation.  It would be difficult for any team to play that schedule and not give up points.  OU has played a few good defenses and one great defense this year, but Florida hasn’t even come close to playing an offense like OU has.  Georgia (#20 in total offense) is the highest ranked offense Florida has played and OU has played 5 of the top 12 teams in total offense and all of those rank higher than the Gators at #17.  Oklahoma’s defense is not going to be impressed by Florida’s offense.  Yeah, they are going to do things a bit different with a fullback playing quarterback, but it’s nothing new.  Florida’s defense has a huge task in front of them trying to stop Oklahoma’s offense.  And if you look at the season, no one really has stopped their offense.  Texas did beat OU, but it wasn’t because of their defense, it was because one of Oklahoma’s defensive players was injured in the game and he turned out to be a major cog in the defense and they fell apart.  The only other team came close to beating OU was OSU and not because of their defense.  It was their offense that matched OU touchdown for touchdown until OU’s defense stepped up a couple of times with a few stops and a turnover.   So, in my opinion Oklahoma has the edge in the game and should have an easier time to win the game than Florida.  I’ll give my score at the end of this blog, but here are some more things to think about.  

These are my keys to the game: (Rankings are in parentheses)

1. Turnovers.  Both teams are very good at keeping the ball away from the other team and making turnovers.  I wouldn’t expect a sloppy game with a lot of turnovers, but whomever loses the ball doesn’t have a good shot at winning.  

2. Defense.  This could go under the turnover category, but I separated it to show you some more detailed stats about these defenses.  Defensive stops will be huge, because the more an offense (especially OU’s) can be on the field, the more chance of them getting a larger lead and never looking back.  

 
3. 3rd Down Efficiency.  An offense has to keep their drive going and 3rd downs are a big part of whether a team punts, kicks a field goal, or keeps the drive going

 
4. Special Teams.  This has been a problem for OU this year with them giving up 4 returns for touchdowns.  That looks bad, but with 119 kickoffs, bad things are going to happen.  Missouri has the closest kickoffs with 107 and Florida has 104.  But the stats below don’t show that much of a difference.   

So there you have it.  If Oklahoma can come out on top in these keys to the game, they win.  I personally think that Oklahoma hasn’t played against good defenses on a consistent basis like Florida, but they have faced a great defense and came out a 25 point winner, they have the upper hand.  Plus, the Florida defense hasn’t seen anything like OU’s offense ever and that gives OU a huge edge.  The Florida defense is going to have to be quick and rested because they only average 60-65 plays a game, but OU’s offense averages 80+ plays a game.  I think OU’s offense throws Florida off in the first quarter adjusting to OU and they might be able to slow down OU in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but come the 4th quarter Florida will be wore out and won’t be able to stop OU.  Obviously I’m picking OU to win their 8th National Championship with the score of:

Oklahoma – 49
Florida – 28

BOOMER SOONER!!!

Alright everybody, it’s a sad time for me.  College football season is coming to a close and so is football in general, with the Superbowl a month away.  Obviously I’m excited to see my Oklahoma Sooners playing in the National Championship game, but this is the time of year where sports, in my opinion, take a dive.  It is pretty steady with College basketball with March Madness and all, but I can’t really stand the NBA.  Baseball season starts, but the only time I’m interested in that is if I’m attending a game or if it’s playoff time.  Golf is there in between, but it’s just not as exciting as the other sports.  Anyways, that’s another blog, another day.  Let’s get to why we are really here…the National Championship between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators.  

The Sooners are a 3 and 1/2 pt underdog which is fine with me.  I think it gives more motivation to OU to come out and win, and personally they need something to motivate them after the last 4 BCS losses.  Ridiculous!  Anyways, I heard Tebow and his talk about wanting to face a Big 12 defense and I’m sure he will have some success, but I don’t think that Florida can keep up with OU.  I’m not saying that OU is going to score 60 pts on Florida (but I do think it’s possible with this amazing offense), but I have compiled some stats for your personal viewing to make your decision on your own.  

[Note: Both OU and Florida has played a Div II team, Chattanooga and Citadel, so their stats aren't included.]  OU has faced nine top 50 offenses, six in the top 25, and 4 in the top 10.  Florida has only played two top 50 offenses with Georgia ranking the highest at #20.  So, right off the bat Florida should have better defensive numbers due to the fact that they haven’t played any good offenses.  Keep that in mind when I give you the defensive numbers.  Florida has faced ten top 50 defenses with the highest being #3 Alabama.  OU has faced three top 50 defenses with the highest being #2 TCU.  Now TCU has only given up 18 TD’s all season long and OU has 5 of them.  Almost 30% of the TDs given up by TCU came from OU.  Now, I’m not sure who’s saying that OU hasn’t played a good defense, but they are wrong.  One thing is for sure is that both teams can and will score in the red zone.  OU has been in the red zone 80 times while scoring on 76 of those (69 TD’s and 7 FG’s) for a 95% efficiency rate.  Florida has had 64 trips to the red zone and scoring on 58 of those (48 TD’s and 10 FG’s) for a 91% efficiency rate.   

Now, looking at the stats it seems that Florida has the edge, but if you think about it even though OU has given up a lot of points, it has been to the nine of the top 50 offenses in the nation.  It would be difficult for any team to play that schedule and not give up points.  OU has played a few good defenses and one great defense this year, but Florida hasn’t even come close to playing an offense like OU has.  Georgia (#20 in total offense) is the highest ranked offense Florida has played and OU has played 5 of the top 12 teams in total offense and all of those rank higher than the Gators at #17.  Oklahoma’s defense is not going to be impressed by Florida’s offense.  Yeah, they are going to do things a bit different with a fullback playing quarterback, but it’s nothing new.  Florida’s defense has a huge task in front of them trying to stop Oklahoma’s offense.  And if you look at the season, no one really has stopped their offense.  Texas did beat OU, but it wasn’t because of their defense, it was because one of Oklahoma’s defensive players was injured in the game and he turned out to be a major cog in the defense and they fell apart.  The only other team came close to beating OU was OSU and not because of their defense.  It was their offense that matched OU touchdown for touchdown until OU’s defense stepped up a couple of times with a few stops and a turnover.   So, in my opinion Oklahoma has the edge in the game and should have an easier time to win the game than Florida.  I’ll give my score at the end of this blog, but here are some more things to think about.  

These are my keys to the game: (Rankings are in parentheses)

1. Turnovers.  Both teams are very good at keeping the ball away from the other team and making turnovers.  I wouldn’t expect a sloppy game with a lot of turnovers, but whomever loses the ball doesn’t have a good shot at winning.  

2. Defense.  This could go under the turnover category, but I separated it to show you some more detailed stats about these defenses.  Defensive stops will be huge, because the more an offense (especially OU’s) can be on the field, the more chance of them getting a larger lead and never looking back.  

 
3. 3rd Down Efficiency.  An offense has to keep their drive going and 3rd downs are a big part of whether a team punts, kicks a field goal, or keeps the drive going

 
4. Special Teams.  This has been a problem for OU this year with them giving up 4 returns for touchdowns.  That looks bad, but with 119 kickoffs, bad things are going to happen.  Missouri has the closest kickoffs with 107 and Florida has 104.  But the stats below don’t show that much of a difference.   

So there you have it.  If Oklahoma can come out on top in these keys to the game, they win.  I personally think that Oklahoma hasn’t played against good defenses on a consistent basis like Florida, but they have faced a great defense and came out a 25 point winner, they have the upper hand.  Plus, the Florida defense hasn’t seen anything like OU’s offense ever and that gives OU a huge edge.  The Florida defense is going to have to be quick and rested because they only average 60-65 plays a game, but OU’s offense averages 80+ plays a game.  I think OU’s offense throws Florida off in the first quarter adjusting to OU and they might be able to slow down OU in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but come the 4th quarter Florida will be wore out and won’t be able to stop OU.  Obviously I’m picking OU to win their 8th National Championship with the score of:

Oklahoma – 49
Florida – 28

BOOMER SOONER!!!