It's no secret that Auburn will be going up against one of the most explosive offenses in the country when the Tigers line up against Oklahoma on Monday in the Sugar Bowl.
The Sooners are led by two Heisman finalists in quarteback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook, and running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon offer their own set of challenges out of the backfield.
If Auburn wants to take Oklahoma down, it'll have to rely on its defense to slow the Sooners down, and they're up to the task.
"They're going to test us in every facet of our game," said Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. "They have done a great job of stopping a run. They are really athletic in the secondary and they rush the passer, you know, as good as anybody in the country."
The Tigers allow under 16 points per game, but the Sooners put up, on average, close to 45 points per game. The only games they haven't been able to put up their usual point total were against Ohio State and Houston — both losses where the opponents' defensive lines put pressure on Oklahoma up front.
The case of "the unstoppable force meets the immovable object" is a cliche at this point, but it rings true for this matchup.
To prevent Mayfield from running loose in the backfield and extending plays, Auburn's stout defensive line, led by its anchors Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams, will have to contain him.
“Their front line really sets the tone for their whole defense," Mayfield said. "They have a bunch of players that wreak havoc. They allow their secondary and linebackers to play aggressively because they know they don’t have to cover people that long because of the talent up front.
"It starts up front with those guys making plays, but then also it allows those guys in the back half to make defensive plays."
That's not to say Auburn's secondary is bad, but with such a dominant force on the line of scrimmage, everything else will seem lesser by default. Oklahoma isn't taking the back end of the Tigers' defense lightly, though.
"(The secondary is) real good," Westbrook said. "Those are some big guys that are physical and they can all run, so for us we just have to be great at what we do, perfecting our route running and not telegraphing our routes.”
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