FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — “Cornbread” won’t be included on the holiday menu, but No. 1 Alabama’s offensive line is still confident it has the right recipe for its Orange Bowl matchup against No. 4 Oklahoma.
Starting left guard Deonte “Cornbread” Brown was one of three Alabama players who did not make the trip to Florida as he, backup offensive lineman Elliot Baker and backup tight end Kedrick James were all suspended for violating team rules.
The loss of Brown leaves a 6-foot-4, 344-pound hole in the left side of Alabama’s offensive line. The redshirt sophomore, who has started five of the past six games, is viewed as one of the team’s best run blockers. Instead, Alabama will look to senior Lester Cotton to step back into the role.
Cotton, 6-foot-4, 324 pounds, started Alabama’s first seven games before being replaced by Brown. The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native was Alabama’s starting right guard last year and has made a combined 26 starts in his college career. However, his inability to provide a necessary push in the running game ultimately saw him lose his role on the first-team offense.
Cotton has had a streaky senior season. Through 11 games, he’s earned a run-blocking grade of 64.1, according to Pro Football Focus. However, he’s graded out below in 60 run blocking in four of Alabama’s past five games, including a 46.1 grade against Missouri the game before being replaced by Brown in the starting lineup.
“Obviously Deonte played really well for us coming into this season, but we have a lot of confidence in Lester, all the games that he’s started around here,” offensive coordinator Mike Locksley said. “We’re fortunate to be able to have that kind of depth to where when you lose a guy like Deonte you have a three-year starter like Lester Cotton there waiting to go. Tremendous confidence. I have a ton of confidence that Lester will come in and do the job.”
The notion heading into Saturday’s game is that Brown’s ability to maul defensive linemen could have come in handy as the Crimson Tide looks to put together long drives to keep a high-flying Oklahoma offense off the field. Oklahoma ranks No. 1 in the nation in scoring (49.5 points per game) and total yards (577.9 yards per game). The Sooners also lead the nation in plays of 20 or more yards (105), 30 or more yards (55), 40 or more yards (33), 50 or more yards (20) and 80 or more yards (3).
However, despite Oklahoma’s ability to score quickly, Alabama’s game plan on offense isn’t necessarily to try to control the clock. Instead, Locksley said his offense will continue to take the same approach it has all season in order to take control of the game in its own way.
“People misconstrue controlling the tempo with playing slow or running the football,” Locksley said. “But for us controlling the tempo is being efficient on first and second down which allows you to sustain drives.
“For us we’ve been really fortunate that there have been some first and second downs where we throw a 5-yard slant and it goes 60 yards. That’s still being efficient, and we’re not going to apologize for scoring fast.”
Alabama should not have too much trouble putting up points regardless of who is clearing the holes. Oklahoma ranks No. 54 in the nation at stopping the run, allowing opponents an average of 156.99 yards per game on the ground. That’s coupled with a Sooners’ pass defense that worst among Division I schools, giving up 291.4 yards per game through the air.
Alabama and Oklahoma are set to kick off on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The matchup will be one of two College Football Playoff semifinals as No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Notre Dame player earlier in the day in the Cotton Bowl.
