That definitely makes me nervous. Especially with how predictable we've been been lately, that extra preparation could really hurt us.
They didn't impress against Louisiana-Monroe, struggled against a very average WVU team, and finally got on track against Tulsa (sort of like State's first three games).
Then again, we didn't impress against Temple, lost to an over-rated UM team, struggled against a bad Purdue team, and then looked a little better against an incomplete MSU team. Michigan and MSU are far better than any of the teams OU has faced, so we may have some advantage there, but who can say?
The advanced stats think OU has
an average attack-- decent at rushing, but poor through the air. But it also think they're
good against the run and elite against the pass.
With all the starters they lost on that side of the ball, I can't see how that's possibly accurate; but if it is, we're probably in trouble.
Assuming those stats are correct, I think we commit to stopping the run and containing Bell (which, for the reasons you stated above, shouldn't be a real problem outside of the redzone and short yardage situations), thereby forcing him to beat us with his arm. In theory, that plays right into our strengths, though I've seen enough cracks in our previously impervious run defense to be worried.
