[ad_1]
Three months ago, Oklahoma was 1-2 with their five-consecutive Big 12 championship streak appearing to be in jeopardy. Fast forward to the Cotton Bowl 2020, and the now-No. 6 Sooners have won eight straight games after blowing the gates of Florida No. 7 55-20. With the win, there’s a good chance Oklahoma will end the year as a top-five team, if not a top-four, because they played their best football at the right time.
From the start, it was Oklahoma night. The Sooners defense fended off star Gators quarterback Kyle Trask three times in the first quarter, helping them take a 17-0 lead with a pick of six. Of course, Florida didn’t have its top four receiving targets – Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland – and Trask, while he could, never quite set the pace with his new receiving corps, many of whom spent the season on the reconnaissance team. In his defense, it was going to be nearly impossible. Florida had three practices after Christmas to prepare for the game, and it showed.
Despite the obstacles, Florida actually responded well to the early deficit and at one point rallied with 13 unanswered points to make it 17-13 in the second quarter. But then Oklahoma responded with two quick touchdowns in the final five minutes of the first half to come up 31-13 and never looked back.
The second half is where the overall depth started to show. The Oklahoma running game, hosted by Rhamondre Stevenson, achieved a whopping 435 yards – a Cotton Bowl record. Stevenson led the way with 186 rushing yards, while Marcus Majors and Seth McGowan also had some great moments. The result was a school record for points by the Sooners in a bowl game.
The Gators were never able to catch up. The Oklahoma defense took over in the second half and kept Florida’s normal offense from unleashing. After starting 4 of 5 on the third downs, the Gators went to 0 for their next 8. And although the offense racked up 521 yards, it was 6.4 yards per play after waste time. For most of the second half, the Gators hovered around 5.5 yards per game.
It was Florida’s worst loss since the 1996 Fiesta Bowl and the most points awarded by a Florida team since that game. Even though Dan Mullen’s team won the SEC East and gave Alabama a run in the SEC Championship game, they will finish 8-4 and likely be out of the top 10.
Here’s what else we learned from this year’s Cotton Bowl.
1. Oklahoma would make a fun case in the eight-team playoffs
The college football qualifying selection committee has had a harder-than-normal job this year, justifying two of the four teams that have made the pitch. The amount of dissatisfaction with the current format indicates that at some point the field is going to expand – likely to eight teams. One thing that allows the hot team to have an end of season race. Oklahoma would be that team this year.
After starting 1-2, a lot of people counted the Sooners. And to be honest, it’s easy to do in this format. Choosing the top four teams leaves some room for error, but not much. But after winning seven straight Cotton Bowl games, Oklahoma was playing as a top-five team, even though they were not ranked there.
How would Oklahoma fare against, say, the No. 3 Ohio State in an eight-team playoff? It’s a fun thinking exercise. It’s not the one we’ll be seeing play anytime soon, but if / when it does, it could give credence that teams that peak at the right time are just as capable of winning a national championship as the team. the best ranked. .
2. Florida had a glimpse of its future
One of the most grueling #embracedebates of this game will be Florida’s position to play the Cotton Bowl shorthanded. As mentioned above, many key players on both sides of the ball have withdrawn or been unable to play due to COVID-19. This is the history of college football in 2020. Rarely have we seen teams at their full strength for long periods of time. In fact, Mullen said the Gators were so shorthanded in some positions that they just couldn’t have played the game but chose to continue, using many of the players who were on the squad. scouts this season.
“It wasn’t the 2020 football team that you saw. There were about 25 guys missing from the 2020 football team tonight,
he said after the Cotton Bowl. “It was kind of a boost for us [to 2021]. ”
Mullen has done a good job giving opportunities to other players out of necessity. Quarterback Emory Jones had a lot more playing time than any game this season and showed some great running and pitching moments. In fact, finished tied for first on the team with 60 yards on 10 rushing attempts and a touchdown while throwing for 86 yards. And with Pitts, Grimes, Toney and Copeland, Florida had a new set of wide receivers. In all, 12 different players caught at least one pass for 271 total yards.
Results were mixed – there were a lot of crashes – but Mullen knew what he was up against and chose to look into getting the guys ready for next year. This isn’t to apologize for the Gators’ performance or to say they didn’t care to be there or to diminish what Oklahoma was doing. It’s just the reality of the situation.
3. Oklahoma’s defense lived up to the hype
For most of the second half of the season, there have been discussions about improving Oklahoma’s defense under the guidance of coordinator Alex Grinch. It showed up in this game. Yes, Florida was exhausted from its best players. Yes, the Gators still had more than 500 yards of offense by the time the final whistle sounded. But you have to look deeper. The Sooners started out hot with three takeaways, then were sold out in the second half. Florida couldn’t convert a first down after getting four of their first five. Four of his six second-half practices lasted 22 yards or less.
Oklahoma’s defensive front played an important role in its success. Defensive end Ronnie Perkins and linebackers David Ugwoegbu and Nik Bonitto were all over the trenches, stopping games before they started. This disruption was essential in making the normally powerful attack on Florida much less effective.
It was never a closed defense and the numbers for the season were a bit inflated due to a few bad fouls from the Big 12, but this group played well together in the home stretch. This strong defensive effort helped the Sooners withdraw in the second half.
[ad_2]
Source link