Damien Harris on Oklahoma’s defense: ‘they’re a lot better than people give them credit for’
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By now you have heard all the jokes about Oklahoma’s defense. It doesn’t matter which quarterback Alabama rolls out for the Orange Bowl, the Sooners won’t be able to stop them anyway.
That’s one of the more popular ones.
However, if you ask Damien Harris, that’s not what Alabama’s offense has seen on tape.
“I think they’re a lot better than people give them credit for. I’ve said this all week, I don’t think that they would be one of the top four teams in the playoffs if they didn’t have a quality defense,” Harris said on Thursday during his latest media availability. “They’ve got a good front seven that plays very physical, a lot of strong guys inside, and they’ve got a lot of guys in the back end that can make plays on the ball. I definitely give their defense a lot of credit, and we know they’re going to present a lot of challenges for us, so come Saturday we’re going to have to be at our best.”
The Alabama running back was then asked a follow-up on whether Oklahoma’s defense is better than he assumed prior to studying the Sooner unit on film leading up to the Orange Bowl. According to Harris, OU’s unit gets a bad rap due to playing in a league known for explosive offenses.
“I always kind of thought people didn’t give them enough credit, and I think it’s because, number one, their offense is so good and they score so many points, and two, they play in a conference where scoring, that’s what everybody does,” Harris continued. “They’re playing teams like West Virginia, all these teams with really explosive offenses.
“When you play a team that can put up 50 and 60 points every single week, it’s kind of hard to stop. I think that they haven’t gotten enough credit all year, but definitely watching them on tape, we’ve seen a lot of things that prove that they’re a good defense.”
Even if Harris is correct and Oklahoma’s defense is underrated, the Sooners face their toughest test of the season on Saturday. Considering the over/under point total in the game is currently stands at 77, the smart money is on a high scoring affair when the Orange Bowl kicks off this weekend.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
