No. 8 Oklahoma and its stout defense to face No. 23 Missouri and its FBS rushing leader

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — No. 8 Oklahoma and its fourth-ranked rushing defense will seek to maintain College Football Playoff placement against FBS-leading rusher Ahmad Hardy and No. 23 Missouri on Saturday.

The Sooners (8-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference, No. 8 CFP) will need to slow Hardy if they are to follow their 23-21 win over then-No. 4 Alabama with another top-25 victory.

Hardy has rushed for 1,346 yards in 10 games for Missouri (7-3, 3-3, No. 22 CFP). The Doak Walker Award semifinalist ran for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 49-27 win over Mississippi State last weekend.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables noted that Hardy has nearly 1,000 yards after contact this season.

“I’ve never heard of such a stat,” Venables, Oklahoma’s defensive play caller, said.

Venables said his Sooners, allowing just 82.2 yards per game on the ground, will need to handle more than just Hardy to limit Missouri’s offense.

“You’ve got to win up front,” he said. “I think that’s where it starts. They’re doing a great job of knocking people off the line of scrimmage, both the inside and outside run game, all their gap schemes, and they do a nice job with all the presentations.”

Hardy has 15 rushing touchdowns this season. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said getting his star going against Venables’ coaching will be a challenge.

“He’s very good at knowing your tendencies, taking specific plays and tendencies away from you, making you play left handed, not doing what you want to do,” Drinkwitz said of Venables. “He does a really good job of staying ahead of the calls. Knowing, once I take this away, this is going to be your secondary answer.”

Bad memories

Oklahoma had last year’s game at Missouri won until a series of bad events sunk the Sooners. They gave up a touchdown to former Sooner Theo Wease Jr. that tied the game at 23 with 1:03 remaining. Then, as Oklahoma looked to drive for the win, Triston Newson sacked Jackson Arnold and knocked the ball loose. Zion Young recovered the ball and ran 17 yards for a touchdown with 22 seconds to play to give the Tigers a 30-23 win.

Injury report

Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula was listed as doubtful on the SEC’s student-athlete availability report on Wednesday.

The freshman has missed the past three games with a dislocated left ankle. He was carted off on Oct. 25 against Vanderbilt.

Oklahoma defensive end R Mason Thomas was listed as questionable. He suffered a quadriceps injury while returning a fumble 71 yards for a touchdown against Tennessee. He has 23 tackles, including 9.5 for loss and 6.5 sacks this season.

Dangerous receivers

Two of the SEC’s best receivers will be on opposite sidelines — Missouri’s Kevin Coleman Jr. and Oklahoma’s Isaiah Sategna.

Coleman keeps the chains moving. The 5-foot-11 senior has 56 catches for 600 yards and one touchdown.

Sategna has 53 catches for 718 yards and five touchdowns. He also has 266 punt return yards.

Burlsworth finalist

Oklahoma offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu is a finalist for the Burlsworth Award, which goes to the nation’s best walk-on.

Nwaiwu transferred to Oklahoma before last season after spending his first three seasons at North Texas, where he initially walked on. He is Oklahoma’s only offensive player to start every game over the last two seasons.

Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield won the award in 2015 and 2016.

Almost automatic

Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell missed his first field goal of the season before making his next 21. Along the way, the left-footed kicker has 14 field goals of at least 40 yards and seven of at least 50. He has four makes of 55 yards this season.

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