OU Begins Alabama Game Week

Oklahoma's football team held its first practice session of the Alabama game week at the Everest Indoor Center. Several days of rain have soaked the practice fields adjacent to the stadium so Sooner head coach Bob Stoops moved his team indoors for a two and one-half hour workout.

Stoops said he was pleased with his team's work and that the Sooners are squarely focused on Alabama.

Former OU quarterback Danny Bradley, the father of current Sooner Mark Bradley, was in attendance.

Here is a sampling of the post-practice quotes ...

Head Coach Bob Stoops

On Derrick Strait being named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week: 'I am really proud of Derrick. It was a very well-deserved honor. He's an excellent player, who had an outstanding night. He's played like that a lot for us. For four years now he's been our most consistent player. He plays at a winning level. He's very smart and works hard to make sure he's ready for games.'

On Playing in the SEC: 'There are great programs in the SEC. Alabama's fans are excellent. They've won a lot of championships so they aren't jealous of anyone else. They cheer for you and are polite. They respect the programs that also play good football. It's a great atmosphere.'

On Academic Success of the Program: 'They have great athletes, physical fronts and skill position guys who can make plays. It's a good, quality team, just like you'd expect from Alabama.'

On Alabama QB Brodie Croyle: 'He's an excellent thrower and is a guy that we tried to recruit. Last week, he really picked things up in the second half and played well.'

On OU RB Renaldo Works: 'I'm aware of all of the plays he's made and there have been others than the ones we saw against Alabama. He's had a lot of big plays here throughout the years. There is no reason why he won't have more. It gives you confidence that he can do it against whomever we play.'

QB Jason White

On his season opener: 'We had some positives. We have a lot of things we can get better on. We had a couple penalties and things like that that we can get better on.'

On relief of finally playing: 'It was fun to just be out there. As soon as I got out there, I was having a good time. I was just glad to be back out there with my teammates. I was excited to know that all of the hard work enabled me to be back out there again. It was good to get the first game out of the way. We'll learn from that tape and get better.'

On whether North Texas was his best performance: 'As far as the mental preparation, it was good. I just did my job. It shows how much you can grow up in a couple years.'

On Alabama's defense: 'They have great athletes. They do a lot of things in the secondary that are tough to beat, a lot of man press and a little zone. And they blitz. It's going to be a tough game.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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