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Oklahoma football: Sooner offensive line a finalist for Joe Moore Award

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 014: Offensive lineman Cody Ford #74 of the Oklahoma Sooners engages the crowd before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 014: Offensive lineman Cody Ford #74 of the Oklahoma Sooners engages the crowd before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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We’ve been writing all season about Oklahoma football being blessed with one of the best offensive lines in the country, and for 2018 that judgement is down to three on a national scale.

Related Story. Sooner O-line is prime reason why the offense is so explosive. light

On Tuesday, the Sooners were named a finalist for the 2018 Joe Moore Award, which recognizes the best offensive line in college football.

Conference championship week has now passed on the 2018 college football calendar, which means the next thing on the calendar is the presentation of all the national individual awards, including the granddaddy of them all, the prestigious Heisman Trophy.

OU quarterback Kyler Murray is a finalist for this year’s Heisman Trophy, as well as the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award.

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Oklahoma has the No. 1 offense in the country this season, led by Murray and orchestrated by head coach Lincoln Riley, who calls the offensive plays for the Sooners. Front and center of all that is the offensive line, which is a prime reason OU has been so explosive and virtually unstoppable this season when the Sooners possess the football.

The Sooners rank first in the country in scoring offense (49.5 points per game) and offensive yards (577.9 yards per game). OU also leads the nation in yards per pass attempt (11.6) and yards per rush (6.7) and is on a pace to average 8.7 yards per offensive play this season, which would be a new NCAA record.

Oklahoma is the only team in the country this season with at least 40 rushing touchdowns and 40 passing touchdowns, and five times already in 2018 the Sooners have rushed for at least 300 yards and passed for more than 300 yards in a game. Additionally, OU was second in the Big 12 allowing just 1.23 sacks per game.

The five starters who make up OU offensive line unit in 2018 are redshirt freshman Creed Humphrey, tackles Bobby Evans and Cody Ford, both redshirt juniors, and senior guards Ben Powers and Dru Samia.

The two other finalists for this year’s Joe Moore Award are the offensive lines of Alabama and Georgia.

Oklahoma and Alabama will face each other on Dec. 29 in one of the national semifinal games as part of the 2018 College Football Playoff.

This is the fourth year for the Joe Moore Award: Recent past winners were Alabama (2015), Iowa (2016) and Notre Dame (2017).

Most of the individual honors will awarded this week, while the teams fortunate enough to still be playing get some valuable down time before  returning to action in the myriad of postseason bowls, capped by the College Football Playoff that will crown the 2018 national champion.

The voting committee of the Joe Moore Award will announce this year’s winner by a surprise visit to the winning school’s campus in late December.

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