The Oklahoma Sooners have a chance to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa with an upset of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Saban shared his fear on ESPN's College GameDay that the OU defensive front can give Ty Simpson, who Saban personally recruited to his 2022 recruiting class, dire fits.
Saban sounded nervous for Chris Kapilovic's offensive line against Todd Bates' trench group, given the athleticism of Oklahoma's defenders.
“But the one issue they’re going to have tonight is Oklahoma’s very athletic. They’re going to move a lot. So, the offensive lineman doesn’t know if this guy’s going to step and strike and butt him in the throat. He doesn’t know if he’s going to use his quickness to get outside or slam inside. So this creates Havoc for the offensive line and creates a lot of negative plays for the Oklahoma defense," Saban said.
Saban, and any Tide fan across the country for that matter, have every reason to fear the Sooners' defensive front. Auburn Tiger fans witness it break Hugh Freeze's planned starting quarterback for the 2025 season, though not the one he ended up with, Jackson Arnold.
Against his old team, Arnold was sacked nine times. Arnold never threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown pass in a game ever again after the controversial 24-17 loss in Norman back in September. Four games later, Arnold was benched, and by the looks of it, he's going to stay behind Ashton Daniels on the depth chart after a successful QB switch in a 33-24 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville and a 353-yard, two-passing TD effort against the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 45-38 OT loss in Nashville.
The Sooners defense has chewed up a former 5-star recruit and spit him out. Perhaps during practices last year while Arnold was in uniform but definitely when he was wearing orange and blue at Gaylord Memorial this year.
Be afraid, Alabama. Be very afraid.