BCS Championship: Will the Gators and Sooners Defenses Step Up?

The 2008 BCS National Championship is shaping up to be one of the best matchups since USC-Texas. The might of the SEC will be tested, and the Big 12 will have a chance to change the balance of power in college football.

You have two of the most talented quarterbacks of the decade dueling for the ultimate prize. Will it be a shootout? The defenses may surprise you.

The most common word used in describing the Oklahoma defense has been “shaky.” Though it is true that they have given up a lot of yards, the Sooners defense can make big plays.

OU leads the nation in turnover margin (Florida is No. 2) and has shut down some big offenses. OU held Texas Tech to 21 points (the No. 1 passing offense in the country) and also held Missouri to 21 points (sixth in total offense).  Unfortunately, the defense also gave up 45 points to Texas and over 500 yards to Kansas State.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. When the defense is healthy, they play good football. The question is, can they play good enough to stop Florida? Right now the Sooners defense is weak in the worst possible place: in the middle.

The position of middle linebacker has been a concern since the injury of Ryan Reynolds in the OU/Texas game. Though second stringer Austin Box has played beautifully, he too has been injured. OU has tried all sorts of ways to get around this issue, including moving safety Nic Harris to the MLB position. Fortunately, Box should be healthy by the big game.

If not, will Florida be able to exploit this weakness in the middle? Absolutely. Expect to see Tim Tebow run a lot of quarterback draws and other plays to test the strength of OU in the middle. It takes hitting Tebow with the power of a wrecking ball to stop him on a good day, and a converted safety just isn’t going to do it.

The Florida defense also faces its biggest challenge of the year. Though the SEC has some good offenses, there is no one in the conference like Sam Bradford. Florida has one of the fastest, most powerful defenses around, and they will do everything they can to keep Bradford from getting into a rhythm.

Not to take anything away from Heisman winner Tim Tebow, but Sam Bradford is as cool under pressure as they come. Keep in mind, in his “bad” game, in which he faced a very talented Texas front line who was able to bring a lot of pressure, he was 28-39 with 387 yards and five touchdowns.

People point to this game as the reason that Colt McCoy deserves the Heisman over Bradford, but it would have been hard for any quarterback to put on a better show than Sam did that day.

Florida will definitely mix up their blitzes and bring a lot of pressure on Bradford. They will probably even sack him a few times. Urban Meyer knows how to confuse a quarterback. However, in the end, expect Sam to be able to march down the field and keep his team in the game.

OU won’t keep their streak of 60 alive against Florida, but they won’t be shut down either. Let’s not forget Bradford’s performance against the No. 3 scoring defense in the country, TCU (he was 19-34 for 411 yards and four touchdowns).

This game will be won by the defense. If the OU defense can control the middle of the field, then OU wins. If Florida can knock Bradford off his game, then Florida wins.

Get ready for a great game.