By Hunt Palmer
For the first time as conference foes, LSU and Oklahoma will battle on Saturday night. This one figured to have playoff implications of some sort when it was initially scheduled, but that didn’t hold up. Oklahoma’s first foray in the SEC resulted in a 1-5 start, but last week’s domination of Alabama has bolstered the Sooner spirits a bit heading into the season finale.
Brent Venables was a complete 180 from Lincoln Riley, and that’s shown. This Sooner offense has been atrocious all season, but the defense has been steady if not dominating. A mid-season coordinator change may have sparked some life into the offense. It was better against Maine, an FCS opponent, and Alabama.
LSU played well on both sides of the ball Saturday against Vanderbilt. We’ll see if that continues on Senior Night.
Let’s take a dive into three matchups to watch on Saturday under the lights of Tiger Stadium.
Oklahoma Linebacker Danny Stutsman vs. LSU’s Offensive Guards
Stutsman is one of the best linebackers on Oklahoma history. He’ll finish his career in Norman in the Top 5 in school history in tackles for loss. He ranks fourth in the SEC in tackles this season with 100, and he leads a really good Oklahoma front.
The Sooners are sixth in the country in yards per carry allowed at 2.9, and that number is just 2.6 over the last five games. Ole Miss’s long run against this group was nine yards. Jalen Milroe only gained 29 yards on 15 carries.
Certainly, the matchup goes a little deeper than Miles Frazier and Paul Mubenga or Garrett Dellinger, but this is certainly a key. LSU must get the second level blocked.
While the Tigers have leaned on the pass significantly harder than the run, it’s inarguable that the Tiger have been a much better offense when the running game has gotten humming. The results at South Carolina and against Vanderbilt confirm that.
Josh Williams and Caden Durham, whose mother ran track at Oklahoma, will certainly get the ball early and often. If they produce, advantage Tigers. But that’s been a chore against Stutsman and these Sooners this year.
LSU’s Interceptions Issues vs. Opportunistic Oklahoma
Garrett Nussmeier played extremely efficiently last week. He never put the ball in harm’s way and piloted the offense expertly. We know how quickly that can change.
Oklahoma has some ball hawks in the secondary, especially Billy Bowman Jr. The Sooner safety has four career defensive touchdowns including three pick sixes last season. In his career, he’s got 11 interceptions.
If Venables and Oklahoma have their way, Nussmeier will be in a lot of passing situations, and the Sooners will bring exotic pressure looks. That’s where the turnovers come from.
These stats are jarring. In the Sooners’ six losses, they’ve been outscored 58-7 on turnovers. In the five wins? They’ve bested opponents 77-8.
It’s hard to boil down a statistic any more than that. Nussmeier has to realize that Oklahoma is unlikely to mount drive after drive offensively. That group has been as bad an any in the SEC this year. What the offense can do is use a short field to create points. Milroe turned it over three times last week. That’s a roadmap to hell.
If the Tiger signal caller makes two poor decisions, it could be real trouble. If he protects the ball, LSU should be in good shape.
Oklahoma Quarterback Jackson Arnold’s Legs vs. LSU’s Front Seven
This has become a key nearly every week. DJ Lagway of Florida played on one leg, so he wasn’t a running threat, but the rest of the SEC quarterbacks on LSU’s schedule can move.
LaNorris Sellers, Jalen Milroe and Marcel Reed diced LSU play after play. Diego Pavia and Taylen Green were bottled up. The results spoke for themselves.
Oklahoma couldn’t find anything offensively this year. The passing game has been the worst in the SEC, and for much of the season the rushing game was about the same. That changed a month ago. The Sooners ran for 381 yards against Maine and 257 more against Alabama. Arnold has been a key piece to that. He ran for 45 yards and a score against Maine and then carried 25 times for 131 yards against the Tide.
Arnold isn’t big, just 6-foot-1 and 201 lbs. He’s a good athlete, and his running ability is about as dependable as anything Oklahoma has right now. The Sooners’ top four wide receivers have missed time this year. Leading rusher Jovantae Barnes has missed the last two games with an ankle injury. True freshman Xavier Robinson stepped in and ran for over 100 yards against Alabama. Arnold is going to be asked to do a lot on Saturday.
And don’t be surprised if a package exists for freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. to come in and run the ball as well.
Either way, LSU’s front will have to handle the quarterback run again.
