Alabama

 Our beloved Sooners find themselves traveling to the hostile environs of Tuscaloosa today with everything they wanted still on the line. OU is currently 11th but squeezed out of the playoffs if they were to start today due to other conference bids superseding their ranking. Alabama, after a season opening loss, hasn't bothered to lose again and are all the way up to 4th in the country. A win on the road would certainly move the Sooners up a few spots in the rankings, and deservedly so. A loss, well, that would have us curious which mid-december fast food/lawn care/autoparts bowl we'd be heading to. In short, everything is on the line here.

After a surprising and ultimately meaningless (to the Sooners) win at home against Alabama last season, the Crimson Tide are no doubt anxious to avenge us. They sport a gaudy record in spite of having a mediocre offense and by extension offense. Their D however is excellent. This sounds a lot like a texas team we lost to earlier. I'm nervous.

Offense

I just did a quick google search and it turns out that you can't win games if you don't score. So, this side of the ball is important. Mateer started off the year looking like a heisman winner. After breaking his hand in the Auburn game, he's looked like a participation ribbon winner. This can't stand if we are to make the playoff. As much as Xavier Robinson and the run game are critical to the success of the offense today (and every day), I'm saying Mateer has a great game today. I think he makes some mistakes but comes up in the clutch. I like him for OPG. 

Defense

R. Mason Thomas is doubtful to play today. Normally this fact would have escaped me and I would have picked him right off. Maybe it's a bad sign that I'm not. The defensive line will be the crux of things on this side of the ball, if they don't step up, this is over before kickoff. I think they do and as a result, I think they force Ty Simpson to make some bad plays. I like Courtland Guillory to be the benefactor of this. I think the true freshman gets a pick today, and does a great job against a very tough alabama WR room.

Score

Whew brother, this is going to be a ball buster. I almost hate that we beat them last year even though it was fun. We have everything to play for and so do they. This game is huge on both sides with the added revenge factor and home field for Bama. But, we have the nobody-thinks-we-can-do-this factor and I'm a homer. I think the Sooners pull the big upset, 24-17. 

Boomer to the Motherfuckin' Sooner