Saturday's forecast looks favorable for the Sooners
Published: 10/26/2012 7:03 AM
Last Modified: 10/26/2012 7:03 AM
Oklahoma-Notre Dame. It's all over but the forecasting…
Bruce Feldman, CBSSports.com
OU 21, ND 17
"Landry Jones and the newly revved up Sooners receiving corps will be the best passing attack the Irish have faced this season. ND figures to get pressure on Jones, but I'll go with the home team with the more experienced QB in a close one."
Ralph Russo, The Associated Press
OU 28, ND 17
"Best offense Fighting Irish have faced, but also best defense Sooners have faced."
Stewart Mandel, SI.com
OU 14, ND 13
"We all know about Manti Te'o and the Irish defense, which have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game, but Oklahoma's D is experiencing a resurgence of its own under Mike Stoops. It's hard to imagine Everett Golson and the Irish offense sustaining drives against Tony Jefferson and the Oklahoma secondary."
Steven Lassan, Athlon Sports
OU 27, ND 20
"The Sooners will struggle to move the ball on the ground with Damien Williams, but the passing attack should be able to hit a few big plays – if Landry Jones has time to throw. Notre Dame's offense will have success moving the ball at times, but this is the game where not having a consistent passing attack will catch up to the Irish."
David Ubben, ESPN.com
OU 31, ND 21
"Oklahoma hasn't seen a defense like Notre Dame's but Notre Dame hasn't seen an offense like Oklahoma's. The Sooners receivers are getting more and more in sync with Landry Jones as the season goes on, and Oklahoma looks dominant at home once again, flexing against a ranked team."
Steve Greenberg, The Sporting News
Toss-up
"The Sooners aren't great at protecting the quarterback, and Landry Jones has been skittish when pressured. What's the Irish's greatest strength? Their explosive defensive front. That makes this a toss-up game."
John Tamanaha, NBCSports.com
OU 27, ND 13
"We'll take Oklahoma's duo of Landry Jones and Blake Bell over ND's Everett Golson and Tommy Rees. While Jones and Bell operate efficiently in their clearly defined roles, the feeling here is that the Sooner defense, which has come up with nine takeaways in the last three games, will squeeze game-changing turnovers out of the Irish backfield."
Farzin Vousoughian, University Daily Kansan
OU 14, ND 10
"With Notre Dame scoring more than 20 points only twice this season, the Sooners should outlast the Fighting Irish in four grueling quarters."
Mel Kiper, ESPN Draft Yoda
OU wins
"I think Notre Dame is going to be up against it from an athletic standpoint. You look at the multidimensional offense. How 'bout Blake Bell running the football, scoring touchdowns. Te'o is going to have to stop that and counteract that. Oklahoma has too much at home. Notre Dame has gone up against those Big Ten teams. Now they get more speed and more athleticism. It's a hard-fought game, but I'll take Oklahoma, strong on the back end of that defense. I love the ability of Landry Jones throwing it and Blake Bell finishing those drives with rushing touchdowns."
Todd McShay, ESPN Draft Skywalker
OU wins
"I think the interesting part to watch in this game and probably the difference-maker is going to be this defense for Oklahoma, which is a little better than people are maybe giving it credit, going up against a young quarterback in Everett Golson, in only his second true road test and certainly his toughest road test this year. I think Golson makes some mistakes against this Mike Stoops defense which is great at applying pressure, being creative and showing a lot of different coverage looks. That spells a recipe for disaster for a young quarterback on the road."
Staff, CollegeFootballNews.com
ND 24, OU 20
"Notre Dame will find a way. The defense will keep the OU running game under wraps and it will make the passing attack dink and dunk instead of bomb away. It's not going to be a pretty day from the offense, but the Irish ground game will move the chains just enough to pull a Kansas State and keep Jones and company on the sidelines."
Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette
OU wins
"The Irish haven't faced a passing game like Oklahoma's, and it will show."
Matt Rybaltowski, CBSSports.com
OU 27, ND 20
"The Sooners have an astounding 31 explosive plays (19 runs of 10 or more yards, 12 passes of 20 or more) in their last three games. In the loss to Kansas State, Jones had only three completions of at least 20 yards. The Irish, meanwhile, had six runs for 15 or more in last week's win over BYU. Notre Dame has nearly rushed for 800 yards combined in its last three games. The Irish must keep the ball away from the Sooners with their three-headed ground attack of Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick and George Atkinson III."
Matt Fortuna, ESPN.com
OU 20, ND 13
"The more I study this, the more I think the Irish have a very good chance to win, but I just don't have it in me yet to pull the trigger and pick the upset over a Sooners team that's been on a roll lately."
Petros Papadakis, FOX Sports
OU wins
"Oklahoma has not as good of a defense as Notre Dame, but a much better offense than the Irish. And that combination is going to push them through in this game."
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
