The Valero Alamo Bowl matchup would have been a nice matchup if it took place in September. These two teams also will have new head coaches in this matchup. Oregon’s head coach Mario Cristobal left to go the University of Miami. While Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to be the next USC head coach. However, Oklahoma is getting a familiar face to fill in as head coach for the bowl matchup. Yes, that is right Bob Stoops is going to be the head coach for this bowl matchup. There are a lot of interesting factors that will play out in this game. With that being said here is my bowl preview for the Valero Alamo Bowl.
Oregon
Oregon not only is losing their head coach, but they are also losing their offensive coordinator after this bowl game. So they still have their offensive coordinator calling the plays in this one, however this offense at the moment is very young and a bunch will play in their first ever bowl game. Outside of Anthony Brown and Travis Dye, a bunch of their offensive weapons are underclassmen. They have done well this season offensively as they average 203.2 rushing yards per game to go along with 31.4 points per game as well. This team is banged up and there is a lot of uncertainty on offense here.
Defensively, Oregon will be without what looks like the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft in Kayvon Thibodeaux. That is the only big piece that they are missing defensively. This Ducks defense gives up 25.5 points per game and 129.5 rushing yards per game as well. Oregon’s defense has a tough matchup in front of them in Oklahoma’s offense.
Oklahoma
There are a lot of question marks offensively for this Sooners team. With no Lincoln Riley at the wheel, how will this offense look? Good news for this Sooners offense is that Bob Stoops is one of the best head coaches in college football history is coming in to fill in. This team will also have freshman quarterback Caleb Williams starting as well. Williams played well as a starter for the Sooners this season. He threw for 1,670 passing yards to go along with 18 passing touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He also added six rushing touchdowns as well to his stats. Williams was a focal part of this offense down the stretch this season as well. The Sooners also have Kennedy Brooks to help Williams out. Brooks rushed for 1,111 rushing yards to go along with 10 rushing touchdowns as well. This Oklahoma offense will be key in this matchup.
Defensively there are question marks surrounding them as well. You lose your defensive coordinator, your leading tackler and the top three sack leaders on your team as well. Those are big blows to try and overcome. However, here comes Bob Stoops doing what he needs to do in these big matchups. Stoops is known for making Oklahoma defenses a threat in these big matchups. He will look to do more of the same in this bowl matchup.
Prediction:
Oklahoma is a 7 point favorite with the over/under set at 60.5. I lean the over here as I see both defenses giving up some points. With the inconsistencies on offense though, I will stay away from the total as a whole. With that being said my official play is Oklahoma -7. The Sooners offense will jump out to an early lead and they won’t lose control over this one. I know Oklahoma has struggled the past couple years in bowl games, but Bob Stoops is coaching this one. We put our trust in Bob Stoops for this one.
-Chris Jones (@cjoneswho1212)
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