Oklahoma - Nebraska Quotes - University of Oklahoma

Oct. 28, 2000

Head Coach Bob Stoops
On the Sooners' win over No. 1 Nebraska:
"I guess it's a surprise to everyone but our team. We came into today's game feeling great about our chances. We're excited about the win. Believe me, I recognize Nebraska is an excellent football team. We played well and made more plays and were very fortunate. Our players recognize that our goal isn't to be No. 1 in the middle of the season. We're going to keep plugging away."

On the crowd and its volume:
"It made a difference. I'm sure it impacted their team to a point. That's what a home-field advantage is all about. That's what a crowd is supposed to do."

On the Huskers' early touchdowns:
"It didn't look good early. We just got out of position by overrunning. I think we needed to get used to their speed and the plays they were running. Once we settled down, I believe the second quarter was excellent. We shut them out and had three or four straight possessions of three-and-out. "

On the defense:
"The defense was excellent. I've got as much respect for them (Nebraska) as anyone you'll ever see because of the complications of their schemes and the way they run them. To slow them down and stop them like that for three quarters is amazing. That's as good a defensive game as you'll ever see against Nebraska."

On Derrick Strait's performance:
"The player of the game is a redshirt-freshman, Derrick Strait. He gave up that long ball early but he came back with some huge plays. He's just a ball player. He just makes plays."

On holding Nebraska to under 200 yards rushing:
"That's almost impossible because they know what they're doing. It's a great job of coaching and a great job of our players tackling. They were disciplined in being where they are supposed to be. They played the way they've been coached to."

On the keys to their success:
"I am fortunate and blessed to have the character of our players and the quality of assistant coaches we have. We've got good chemistry going. I like the way our players are hungry to keep getting better."

On Josh Heupel and the Heisman Trophy:
"I don't think there's any question that something is wrong if he isn't up there. The whole country saw this game and how he led us to victory in a big way. He's exceptional. He's a winner and he's everything you want in a quarterback. It isn't the system. He is the system. He deserves to be one of the top one or two players. If we can play well to the end, I don't know what else you have to do."

On playing No. 2 Kansas State and No. 1 Nebraska in back-to-back games:
"I guess I'm supposed to be impressed by that, but I don't look at it that way. They're in our conference. They're good teams and we have to play them. We look at them as conference games we need to win in order to get ourselves in a position to win a championship."

On the team's reaction:
"The kids are excited in the locker room. I told them on Tuesday that if we won this game, it's not the end of the world. We've still have four more games to play in this conference and hopefully, we'll go on to the Big 12 Championship game and a bowl game."

Senior Josh Heupel
On the victory over Nebraska:
"There is nothing like being a college football player and to play in a football game where everyone across the nation is watching. The crowd was great today and it was everything that you dream of."

On handling the lead late in the game:
"Late in the third and fourth quarters, the best thing we could do was just drive the football and get some first downs, but eat up the clock most importantly. We wanted to keep our defense off the field. We had done a great job of that since early in the game."

On the Nebraska defense:
"They messed me up a couple of times. More than anything, I saw some times when they were blitzing and I didn't think we would be able to pick it up without the linemen. Our linemen did a great job of picking up those blitzes. After the first couple of drives, I realized whom they were picking up and I had more time than I thought I did."

On the game plan:
"Take what they were giving you. We thought at first we would have to throw the ball a little bit to open up the running game. We were able to do that early in the first half."

On the postgame celebration:
"I can guarantee you I was having a great time with everybody. When they were coming up the tunnel I was at the top. You have to enjoy these moments. First of all, as a senior it's your last go around. These are the best moments of your life and youth and you have to enjoy them."

On this Sooner football team:
"I'm very happy for this football team. It's been a lot of hard work during the last two years to turn this football program around. There is nothing that comes to my face but a smile when you see the eyes of everyone in the locker room. Coach Stoops talked in the locker room about how this is a special team because there is no one individual who is worried about themselves or individual awards. Everyone is worried about their brother next to them. We are going to enjoy this today and tomorrow and through Monday. Then, we're going to get back to work."

Junior Rocky Calmus:
"It was a great win and when you are surrounded by great athletes it helps out a lot. When you're talking about the Butkus Award, Torrance is just as good. He helps me out a lot. It's a team thing and no individual won this game."

On Oklahoma's resurgence:
"It still hasn't hit me. We're just going to keep winning and winning against big teams. I was used to winning at Jenks (High School) and I came here and lost that first year. We're starting to get that winning back. It's exciting, especially for our older guys who have been working so hard. They were here through the hard times and their hard work has paid off so far."

"All we hear about is winning in October, winning those three games. We got those three and no one thought we could even get one, but we got all three. It doesn't stop here and that's what people have to realize. We still have four games left and they're going to be tough ones. Three are away, so they aren't easy. We do have to stay focused."

On the defense:
"This defense is an assignment defense. The option can really hurt you if you don't do your assignment. There in the first half, it showed. A couple of people got out of place and they scored twice real quick. We got our points and everyone started fitting right and we shut them out."

On the Huskers' early scores:
"I was doing a couple things wrong and they got big yardage. I felt if I had done a little better fitting in the right play, they wouldn't get that, so I wasn't worried. With our great offense and how quickly and how many points they can score, we knew we were never out of it. "

On Roger Steffen:
"Roger gets really overlooked. He came as a walk-on and did his part this time. He is one of the really good linebackers and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves. With the position he plays in this defense, he doesn't get much glory. He is a big key and he makes big plays."

Senior Torrance Marshall:
On Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch:
"We weren't keying on him. Everybody had a responsibility and we knew that going into the game if everyone took care of that, we should be successful in our defense. We were able to do that except for early in the game. We were just excited and the emotion was going. We settled down and just played our responsibilities. "

On defensive leaders:
"Everybody on this defense is a leader. Everyone keeps each other up. We care for one another and if one person is looking down, somebody comes up and gets them motivated. There are 10 other guys besides me, so everyone's got to step up."

On Derrick Strait:
"Derrick Strait has been playing real good football, as well as the other secondary players. They did a good job coming up and playing the option today. At the beginning of the year there was some talk about them being young. But after the first game, they grew up quick. The secondary practices hard and plays hard and I'm thrilled to be playing with them.

"Everybody just wants to play the No. 1 team and win. We have the "S" on our chest and everyone wants to come knock it off. We need to play hard and practice hard, go into every game knowing we can win it and not overlook anybody. "

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma - Nebraska Quotes

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors