What Alabama Wide Receivers Coach Sees In the Oklahoma Secondary

The Sooners secondary has a notable name, but the backend has been vulnerable throughout the season.

Oct 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (2) intercepts a pass during the first quarter against the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 7 Alabama football program hits the road for the final time in the regular season as they'll take on the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend. The Sooners are struggling in their first season in the SEC but, coming off a bye, are perfectly capable of upsetting the Crimson Tide in their final home game of the season.

Oklahoma entered the season expecting strong defensive play given what was returning and so far they've largely held up. The Sooners have allowed 319 yards per game, good for 24th in the nation, but in their biggest games of the year the Oklahoma defense has left plenty to be desired.

Alabama's offense looks to replicate its last road performance where they dominated the LSU Tigers, but will have to contend with a defense with pro prospects at linebacker, Danny Stutsman, and safety, Billy Bowman Jr.

A closer look at the Sooners defense reveals a strong run-stopping unit, and perhaps a secondary that has room for improvement. Oklahoma is allowing just 109 yards on the ground, good for 18th nationally, but is all the way down to 55th against the pass giving up 210 yards per game with 14 passing touchdowns allowed.

"They have two really experienced guys at the safety position," Alabama wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard said. "Number 2 [Billy Bowman Jr.], he's going to try to knock your head off. I appreciate the way he plays the football and the game of football, additionally, number 3 [Robert Spears-Jennings] is a pretty big human being who also likes to strike and knock your head off. Very disciplined guys, they bring a lot of different schemes to their gameplan, so obviously very smart. You can tell that those guys are very much leaders in that secondary.

"Their corners are very, very active at the point of attack. They do a great job of trying to make sure that when you're catching the football you're going to feel them at that point of attack. A tremendous secondary that we're going to go against once again in the SEC."

Oklahoma has had mixed results against quarterbacks in ranked matchups this season. Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava passed for 194 yards and a touchdown in a victory, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers passed for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interceptions, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart threw for 311 and one touchdown while Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne threw for only 143 yards but had three touchdown passes.

The Sooners secondary is bolstered by Bowman who has 43 tackles with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries this season, but he's only one man on the back end and Oklahoma has shown throughout the year that they're vulnerable to the pass.