College Football

Five Things Oklahoma Football Must Do To Beat Auburn in Sugar Bowl

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:16 p.m. ET

Fansided, Chip Rouse/FanSided via Stormin in Norman

It’s the first day of a brand new year, but for Oklahoma football there is still unfinished business left over from 2016 and hardly time to celebrate just yet.

It’s been almost a month since the last Oklahoma football game. With that much time off away from real-speed, physical game action, there is always some concern about timing issues on offense and execution sharpness.

Of course, that concern applies to both sides. We’ll be able to see fairly early after the opening kickoff, or at least through the first one or two possessions, just how valid the concern is.

Both Oklahoma and Auburn will come into the 83rd annual Sugar Bowl with game plans on how to attack, take advantage of mismatches and exploit weaknesses in the other side’s defense, as well as ways to disrupt and confuse the other team’s offensive plan.

In the end, the team that does the best job of eliminating mistakes and executing its game plan will win the game. What makes the bowl season, and in particular the primetime bowl games like the Sugar Bowl, so exciting are all the moving parts that are in constant motion on both sides of the ball between the opening and closing whistle and generally leave the fans and both sidelines in suspense right up to the very end.

Looking ahead to Oklahoma vs. Auburn in the Sugar Bowl matchup on Monday night, here are five things that the Sooners must get right if they are to reprise their Sugar Bowl victory of 45 years ago over Auburn:

Oct 8, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) stiff arms Texas Longhorns defensive end Breckyn Hager (44) in the third quarter at Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma won 45-40. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Get the Running Game Going

You know Bob Stoops wants to run the football, and it will be important to use the combination of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon and their different running styles to establish an effective rushing attack and. If the Auburn defense is forced to pay attention to the run game, it obviously opens up the field for Baker Mayfield, Dede Westbrook and the other Sooner receivers – including Mixon – to mix and match and balance their attack by going to work through the air.

Mayfield is dangerous enough throwing into tight windows. When he has the time and is able to spot open receivers with space to roam, the Sooner offense becomes extremely difficult to stop. It all starts with the run game.

Perine is 83 yards shy of becoming Oklahoma’s career rushing leader, eclipsing the great Billy Sims, and Mixon topped 1,000 yards on the ground and added 32 pass receptions for another nearly 500 yards and five receiving touchdowns.

Mixon’s threat as a receiver out of the backfield is what makes the Sooner rushing attack doubly difficult to counter. Oklahoma uses Perine and Mixon interchangeably, creating a change of pace that creates adjustment problems for the defense.

Oct 1, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Protect the Quarterback

The Oklahoma offensive line is young, but they have established continuity and have gotten stronger as the season has gone along. Although Baker Mayfield is about as good as it comes at scrambling and making something out of broken plays, it also creates increases the chances for a sack and/or strip of the ball from the quarterback or an errant throw that turns into an interception.

Defensively, Auburn is going to come after Mayfield with its big offensive front and try to put pressure and disrupt his passing rhythm or force his to release the ball earlier than he would like in the passing game. Mayfield is unquestionably the single most important player on the field as far as Oklahoma is concerned. For OU to win this game, the Sooner QB must remain upright as much as possible and avoid injury. The more time he is given to make his reads and lock in on an open receiver, the better are his and the Sooners’ chances of performing Air Raid magic.

Nov 21, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Sterling Shepard (3) celebrates with offensive tackle Orlando Brown (78) and center Ty Darlington (56) after catching a touchdown pass during the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Match Auburn’s Physicality

Auburn plays a very physical brand of football, and that physicality begins in the trenches.

The Sooners ability to unleash Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon on the ground and go bombs away with Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook through the air is dependent on the protection and blocking provided by OU’s young offensive line. The Sooner O-line is going to face perhaps its toughest challenge of the season going up against one of the best defensive fronts in college football.

Auburn’s features two likely high-round NFL draft picks in Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson. The defensive line pair combined for 13.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss this season. They are not only big and strong but very physical.

The Sooners are going to have to match that physicality and find a way to avoid getting overpowered and outflanked by the strong Auburn pass rush. If not, it could be a very long and frustrating evening for Mayfield and rough sledding for the two Sooner running backs.

That physicality isn’t present just on the Auburn D-line and the front seven, it also can be found in the back end in man-to-man wide-receiver matchups.

“We can be as physical as we can for nine straight weeks (referring to the Sooners’ nine-game win streak), but if we’re not physical on Monday night, then it doesn’t matter,” said OU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley told Justin Ferguson of SECcountry.com. “We’re concentrating on trying to be very physical in this game. We know it’s going to be key.”

One big reason Mayfield was able to complete a nation-best 71 percent of his passes and achieve a 197.7 passing efficiency rating (a full six points better than the NCAA record) was because the Sooner offensive line gave him enough time find and open receivers and deliver accurate throws.

This will be something to keep an eye on on Monday night.

Don’t Make It Easier for Auburn by Beating Yourself

As in most college football matchups involving top-20 teams from two Power Five conferences, Monday’s Sugar Bowl showdown between Oklahoma and Auburn is expected to be a closely contested game, with the high probability of being a one-touchdown-or-less difference between the winner and loser. In these kind of games. turnovers and special-team play generally have a huge impact on the outcome.

Auburn has the talent and physical makeup to beat Oklahoma straight up without any help from the Sooners. That’s why ball security is an absolute must if OU is going to make it 2-0 all-time over Auburn and win its sixth Sugar Bowl in eight tries, the most of any team not affiliated with the SEC.

The Sooners were minus one in turnover margin in the regular season, with one more giveaway (17) than takeaways (16). That placed them 72nd out of 128 FBS teams in 2016.

Not beating yourself is more than just turning the ball over on offense or special teams, though. It also includes avoiding costly penalties that take you off schedule on first or second down or enable the other team to sustain drives and scoring opportunities.

The Sooners have done an excellent job in the penalty department this season, leading the Big 12 and ranking 15th nationally committing just four to five penalties per game. They need to maintain their emotions and discipline and avoid being baited into costly penalties, that do nothing but help the other team.

Dec 3, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Justice Hill (27) attempts to elude Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Jordan Evans (26) during the fourth quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Defense Must Step Up

Auburn’s offense may not be as good as Oklahoma’s, but the Sooner defense has made a season of allowing opposing offenses to look like world beaters. Baker Mayfield and Co. are more than capable of winning a shootout with anybody, but that is not a risk you want to take in a highly competitive bowl game or a winning strategy against a team out of the defensive-strong SEC.

As in baseball, where strong pitching is notorious for shutting down equally strong hitting, strong defensive play is what wins championship-caliber football games.

Oklahoma is not going to move the ball at will and score every possession against an Auburn team that is more known for its defensive strength than what it brings on offense. It’s just not going to happen.

The Sooner defense is going to have to get stops and help the offense out by enabling good field position. Auburn prefers to pound the ball with its big, strong running backs, an area in which the Sooner “D” has appeared somewhat Jekyl and Hyde this season. OU has looked outstanding against the run in some games, while in others it allowed huge rushing numbers and didn’t appear capable of stopping anybody.

Look for Mike Stoops’ defense to concentrate on stopping the Auburn run game and force Tiger sophomore quarterback Sean White to beat them with the forward pass, something Auburn is not as comfortable with. The OU secondary has been widely maligned this season, but did a much better job defending against the pass in the latter stages of the season and against some of the Big 12’s better passing offenses.