Sooners count on experience, speed to put brakes on LSU’s top-rated offense
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ATLANTA — Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray knows the Sooners defense is preparing for its toughest challenge of the season and believes experience on the national stage will be a big factor.
No. 1 LSU (13-0) enters the College Football Playoff semifinal in Saturday’s Peach Bowl leading the nation in yards per game and red-zone production. The Tigers are the first SEC team with a 4,000-yard passer — Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow — a 1,200-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers.
Murray is confident, though, that No. 4 Oklahoma (12-1) has plenty of momentum as the Big 12 champion, and the Sooners are familiar with this setting after making it to football’s final four for the third straight year and the fourth time in five seasons.
“I think it’s going to be extremely critical for us to use that experience to our advantage for this game,” Murray said. “I think we’ve been in a lot of big games as a group, and I think it’s just going to be extremely critical for us to just stay true to us and understand that if we just do our jobs, our jobs are enough to get done what we want to get done.”
LSU’s offensive line is arguably the nation’s best, but if the Tigers have an occasional weakness up front, it’s in pass protection. LSU ranks 77th in average sacks allowed, and Burrow went down 28 times after getting sacked 35 times last season.
But Oklahoma must knock off the Tigers without two of its top players. Sacks leader Ronnie Perkins is suspended for the game, and strong safety Delarrin Turner-Yell, second on the team in tackles, broke his collarbone in practice last week. Then there is starting nickel back Brendan Radley-Hiles, whose status is uncertain with a head injury.
Replacing Perkins will be tough. His primary backup, Marcus Stripling, has one sack in 13 games, so one possible replacement could be Jalen Redmond, who shares a tackle spot with LaRon Stokes but played end last season. His 5.5 sacks this year are second on the team, and he had 1.5 in the Big 12 championship victory over Baylor.
LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger still sees plenty of talent on the opposing side.
“This might be the fastest defense we face,” Ensminger said. “They can run. Their defensive line can run, their linebackers can run, their secondary can run. They present problems with their speed.”
The Sooners’ quickness will affect his play selection, too.
“I think you have to be a little bit faster with this defense as far as calling plays and getting it in and let’s go,” Ensminger said. “It will be a challenge.”
Oklahoma has made considerable improvement under first-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, moving from 119th to ninth nationally in third-down percentage, from 57th to 11th in tackles for a loss and up 90 spots to 24th in total yards.
Speed is the key, and Murray moves quickly. His 155 tackles ranked second in the Big 12 and were the most by a Sooner since Curtis Lofton in 2007.
“I think one of our goals this season was to have one of the fastest defenses in the country,” Murray said. “So I think that’s something that’s been presented to us by our coaches and that’s something that we truly try to embody.”