Greg McElroy reveals key questions in Alabama vs. Oklahoma matchup

Greg McElroy is set to be on the call for one of the biggest showdowns of the weekend, as Alabama hosts Oklahoma in Tuscaloosa. On the latest episode of Always College Football, the ESPN analyst broke down the matchup and outlined the biggest questions that will decide the outcome.

“The Oklahoma Sooners travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This game is 3:30 Eastern time on ABC,” McElroy began. “The 8-1 Crimson Tide [are] starting to really round into form on the defensive side and the offense, just a super efficient passing attack that has been on their game almost every single week.

“The 7-2 Sooners still [are] elite on the defensive side of the football. You look at the numbers kind of across the board, total defense, stopping the run, all these things — their defense from top to bottom is very much probably the best Alabama will have seen up to this point of the season.”

From there, McElroy posed his first question — can Alabama establish the run? “Alabama, they’re 120th in the FBS in rushing offense,” he said. “They run for under 112 yards a game.” Against a physical Oklahoma front, McElroy said, the Tide can’t afford to be one-dimensional and simply rely on Ty Simpson.

His second question focused on the Sooners’ defense — can Oklahoma’s pass rush get home? “If R. Mason Thomas is out or limited, then you have to wonder, will Oklahoma be able to generate pass rush with just a four-man pressure?” McElroy said. “If he’s not out there, they might not be able to. So what does Brent Venables have to do to accommodate for that lack of a legitimate pass rush?

“He might have to blitz. He might have to manufacture some pressure by sending his linebackers like Kip Lewis or bringing the safety down and blitzing him. And a blitz-heavy approach would potentially leave Oklahoma’s pass defense in a bit of a vulnerable predicament.”

The third question turned to the Sooners’ offensive line: “The Sooners offense, statistically, is one of the worst in the SEC, but it’s really been about the offensive line,” McElroy said. “If you look at the total offense numbers, the rushing offense numbers, the scoring offense numbers, most of their challenges have come because of some ineptitudes along the offensive line.”

Finally, McElroy pointed to quarterback play as the fourth key — can John Mateer play smart football? “When you watch John Mateer over the course of his career, not just at Oklahoma, but also dating back to his time at Washington State, the bigger the game, the more he has been likely to press,” McElroy said.

“In this game, he’s got to play smart because Alabama has forced 16 takeaways this year. They are plus-10 in turnover margin. I do think John Mateer’s legs are massive in this game. Oklahoma knocked off Alabama last year, in part because of quarterback run game, and then they turned Alabama over.”

McElroy wrapped up by saying he won’t make an official pick. However, fans can catch him calling the action live from Tuscaloosa alongside Sean McDonough and Molly McGrath on ABC. We’ll see who gets it done in Week 12.