T-Minus 24 hours & counting; are U ready?

So you’ve read Tru2OU’s take. God love ’em. He’s diehard OU like my crew and I bleed for The U. I have no issue with a passionate and logical explanation regarding why he feels his squad will prevail on Saturday. But now it’s my turn…

As for the pic above, that’s for the haters. The ESPN talking heads and other national media members simply covering this game on the surface and giving Miami no chance tomorrow. That’s bogus. You’re talking about a very proud program with the most impressive collective body of work the game has seen these past 25 years.

Why aren’t the Canes getting the benefit of the doubt here? Because of 7-6? Florida State and UCLA had matching 7-6 records last season and both cracked the top 20, while Miami is on the ground floor looking up. How is that right?

Oklahoma is being painted as an invincible squad in the National Championship hunt even though they’re coming off of a three-loss season last year and a four-loss campaign in 2005. The Sooners are 1-1 in the last two games. A beatdown of a 6A high school masquerading as North Texas and an OT loss to Boise State, where this highly-touted defense gave up 43-points (35 of coming in regulation).

The Sooners lost some big time talent on their defensive side of the ball, yet the media has this team simply ‘reloading’ and ready to go in the second game of the season. They sport a redshirt freshman behind center in Sam Bradford, yet all the talk is how the inexperienced quarterback carved up North Texas and he’s getting the job done. The three running backs are being hyped and the homefield advantage is yet one more difference maker.

Oklahoma. Oklahoma. Oklahoma. That’s all we’re hearing. No one wants to talk Miami unless it’s about a down 2006, a new head coach, a new quarterback or the fact the program is ‘a few years away’ from winning a game like this. People act as if it’s The Aura of OU post-2000 going up against the Canes of last season. I’m amazed no media members are pointing out what seems blatantly obvious to anyone who scratches the surface here.

Oklahoma is suiting up a redshirt freshman quarterback against a stingy Miami front seven. Randy Shannon and new defensive coordinator Tim Walton used heavy rotation on their defensive line against Marshall and were in the backfield all day. The front four will pressure Bradford as he’s never been pressured in his short tenure. He had all day in the pocket last week. That won’t be the case tomorrow.

The Sooners boast a solid running game with three backs, yet for all the talk about the Canes last season, few are pointing out this bunch sports the fourth-best rushing defense in the nation. Oklahoma will get their yards on the ground, but the assumption that they’ll run all over Miami is a joke.

Regarding the Canes offensively, this is hardly the juggernaut it was 2000-2002. Still, there is some talent there which is ready to take things to the next level. Javarris James is a completely different running back with Graig Cooper pushing him for playing time. Miami has a legit one-two punch on the ground for the first time since 2001 when Clinton Portis had freshman Frank Gore backing him up.

The wideout position is improved as well. Sam Shields was suspended last week, but returns tomorrow to kick off his sophomore campaign as Kirby Freeman’s favorite target. Shields will bring more to the table that back up Khalil Jones did last week. Senior Darnell Jenkins is known for stepping up in big games and his experience should be a factor in Norman, while Lance Leggett will be good for a few grabs and creates a mismatch with his 6’3″ frame.

As for Freeman, I’ve echoed coach Shannon’s sentiments that Miami needs #7 to simply manage this game. He needs to step up his play from last week, but he doesn’t need to carry the Canes on his back. That challenge goes to the running game and defense. Bob Stoops will obviously attempt to put this game on Freeman, the same way the Canes will put it on Bradford, but strong defense and a potent rushing attack will be the difference. Which D responds better and stops the run? Which squad pressures the quarterback into more mistakes? Who capitalizes on turnovers?

At day’s end, both teams boast solid defenses, strong running games and inexperienced quarterbacks. OU may have the better receivers, but what does that mean if Bradford can’t get them the ball with Calais Campbell and Eric Moncur in his face all day? Not a whole lot.

Oklahoma is coming off a better season, sits pretty with the higher ranking and has the homefield advantage. That said, they don’t know what to expect from Miami.

I won’t say that the Canes held back the entire playbook last week, but guarantee there will be some wrinkles this week the Sooners aren’t expecting. Miami didn’t need to bust out the big plays against Marshall. A steady running game and basic passing game were enough to dominate.

Conversely, the Canes know what the Sooners are bringing after they threw everything but the kitchen sink at Mean Green in the 79-10 beat down and boast the same offensive playcallers as last season.

In all reality, this game should be much more evenly matched than it’s being given credit for. Especially with a chance of heavy rain and serious humidity. Throw in those conditions and who’s really getting the ‘homefield’ advantage here?

Neither squad needs this game for conference bragging rites, though both need regarding the National Championship picture. Sitting pretty at #4, Oklahoma needs the win to keep on chugging through the season, en route to the Big XII title game. Miami, on the other hands, needs this win if they want to enter the title race – as well as earning back some national respect after the debacle that was last season.

Flat out, the Canes need this game more. That doesn’t guarantee a Miami victory, but if there’s any program in the nation who comes out strong when their backs are to the wall, it’s The U. We saw it two years ago in a lopsided 27-7 road beatdown of #3 Virginia Tech – a game where Miami was given very little chance of pulling the upset.

The Canes also tend to fare well in big time road games without the pressure of a “turn on a dime” fan base in their ear after every miscue. Sometimes the Orange Bowl can be more hostile for Miami than a big time road venue. Strangely enough, the road can actually provide the Canes more comfort than a home game.

On paper, Oklahoma should win this one. But games aren’t played on paper. Both squads are 1-0 and neither have been punched in the mouth yet early in the season – especially OU and the candy-ass squad they faced last week. Marshall is a powerhouse in comparison to North Texas – a squad who needed seven overtimes to beat lowly Florida International, who wrapped up the season 0-12 and lost this year’s opener 59-0 at Penn State.

My gut tells me that Oklahoma is strutting into this game a bit too overconfident, while Miami is laying low and listening to the words of their new head coach, a three time National Champion as a coach, grad assistant and defensive coordinator. Randy Shannon helped beat Oklahoma three times as a player and knows what goes into winning a game of this caliber. The Canes will be prepared and head to Norman today feeling this game is theirs for the taking, if they follow orders correctly.

If the Canes play close to a mistake-free game and bring the thunder against an unsuspecting bunch of Sooners, Miami comes home with a win. Get tagged between the eyes early and the hostile environment will take its toll and the Canes fall short.

I hate to even make a prediction as there are so many scenarios here, but I’ll ride out my ‘best case scenario’ I’ve been feeling all week and call for the Miami upset, though an Oklahoma victory would hardly be shocking.

Should the Canes lose, I do believe they leave with the nation’s respect. This game will be the antithesis of the 31-7 loss at Louisville last year where Miami threw in the towel when faced with adversity. It’ll be closer than the current -11.5 spread and beatdown some experts have predicted. A Shannon-led bunch of Canes will bring it for 60 minutes. Bank on that.

Miami 20, Oklahoma 16

.:Canes305:.

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