Some questions are hard to answer on the spot.

Thursday night in Atlanta, the College Football Playoff held a press conference with all four head coaches prior to the College Football Awards Show. All four coaches were asked to identify their opponent’s X factor. On paper, it looks like a good question, but the answers it produced weren’t exactly about “X factors.”

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley ended up spending most of his answer praising Alabama QB Jalen Hurts’ unselfishness. Nick Saban’s answer focused on the Sooners’ explosive offense.

“Well, I think that Oklahoma is a team that certainly knows how to win,” Saban said. “They’ve had some great games this year, high-scoring games where their defense has come through when they’ve needed to, but I do think this is one of the most dynamic teams that I’ve seen for a long, long time in terms of the way they play offense. I think Lincoln does a great job with their players. They’ve got some really explosive players. The quarterback is an explosive player. They can run the ball. They have great balance. I don’t know that there’s one particular thing, other than I think their players know how to win, and they’ve won a lot of close games, and they’ve come from behind in games.

“This is a team that is as explosive as any that I’ve ever seen, and it’s not — I mean, it’s designed that way. It’s not like — and I think it’s very difficult to stop a team like that. And I think that Coach Riley does a great job, and their players believe in it and execute it extremely well.”

The Crimson Tide defense will certainly have its hands full on Dec. 29.