Oklahoma vs. TCU: Line Play Shapes up as Difference Maker
By Chip Rouse
Most of the advance tactical and analytical breakdowns of the Big 12’s main attraction this week – Oklahoma vs. TCU – naturally center around the plethora of playmakers that exist on offense for both teams.
With so much offensive talent available on both sides, which seems to be the norm and standard bearer in Big 12 football, high-scoring games are more of an expectation and not the exception.
The last few season, the Sooners and the Horned Frogs have been among the leaders in the Big 12 in points scored. Despite this, the four times the two schools have met since TCU became a member of the Big 12 in 2012, the winning margin in all four games combined is a mere 3.8 points with none of the contests being decided by more than a touchdown.
That could well be the case again on Saturday at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium, and there likely will be multiple outstanding individual contributors and perhaps one or two individual plays that will grab the postgame headlines.
At the risk of downplaying the big plays – the exhilarating long pass reception and quick-hitting, tackle-breaking run for big yardage – that all of us as football fans long for, vicariously identify with and most remember weeks and even years later, I’m going to go off the grid a little and suggest to you that the prime matchup and ultimate difference maker in Saturday’s game at TCU will be Oklahoma’s offensive line vs. the defensive front of the Horned Frogs.
An injury to Sooner left guard Cody Ford in the Ohio State game has forced an adjustment on the OU O-line, but don’t be misled by this development. Jonathan Alvarez moves from center to his more natural position at guard and senior walk-on Erick Wren takes over at center, where he played very well against the Buckeyes. Wren was put on scholarship earlier this week, which should give him an extra boost of confidence on Saturday.
Tackles Orlando Brown and Dru Samia, both two-year starters, and Alex Dalton at right guard complete the Sooner starters on the offensive line. How well this group performs against the formidable TCU defensive front, anchored by senior defensive tackle Aaron Curry, will be a critical factor if Oklahoma is to escape Ft. Worth with a win.
It will be the responsibility of the Sooners in the offensive trenches to protect quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has been sacked 11 times so far this season, and give him the time to find open receivers and make plays downfield.
Similarly, the potent Sooner run game, led by power-runner Samaje Perine and speedy, shifty running-back companion Joe Mixon, is dependent on the ability of the offensive line to get a strong push and open up running lanes. The success of OU’s rushing attack is the fuel that feeds the Sooners’ Air Raid offense, opening up the field for Mayfield to go to work on the TCU linebackers and secondary.
Another key TCU defensive player that the Oklahoma offensive line will have in its sights and must contend with in the game is linebacker Ty Summers, who leads the Horned Frogs in tackles. Sooner fans will remember Summers as the player who delivered the controversial hit on Mayfield in the first half of last year’s game that knocked the OU quarterback out of the game with concussion symptoms.
TCU ranks 88th in the country in pass defense and is 44th in the nation defending against the run. This should present the Sooners with plenty of opportunities to move the chains and put up points, but it all starts with the guys up front on the offensive line and how well they do against the big uglies lined up across from them.
Oklahoma is not going to be able to shutdown the TCU offense. The Sooners will need to get some stops, but the Horned Frogs are going to get into the end zone and put up their share of points. For OU to win this game, pure and simple, it is going to have to outscore the home team.
The only way they will get that done is for the offensive line to come up big in the game and allow the Sooners to unleash their explosive offensive weaponry.