Stoops & Player Quotes on Houston

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, quarterback Jason White and other selected players met with the press corps in the Stadium Club on the east side of Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

Bob Stoops
Opening Statement
"Going back to last week's game, I felt really good about the opening game of the season. I felt that Bowling Green was a really good team and to come out to play with a limited number of penalties and the execution we had was positive in all parts of the game.

There were some guys who really played well. Jason White, Mark Clayton and Kejuan Jones really had a special game with Adrian Peterson complementing him.

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The offensive line guys have been overlooked a lot. Wes Sims had probably his best game since he's been here along with Davin Joseph, Jammal Brown and J.D. Runnels.

On the defense, we had Larry Birdine, Brandon Shelby and Rufus Alexander named players of the game. On special teams, Antonio Perkins was very good along with Chijioke Onyenegecha. They were both credited with being special teams player of the game.

On Houston
"Houston is a team that a year ago had a great turnaround. Coach Art Briles and his staff have done a very good job. I know that loss last week was probably surprising. It is a very big inner-city rivalry that Rice put a lot of effort into and did a good job.

We're sure that Houston will put a lot of effort into playing us. We watched what they are very capable of last year. They are very explosive with a spread out offense, they scored a bunch of points last year. Defensively, very structured in what they do. We know that they are very capable and our biggest nemesis is on us to make improvements.

On Rufus Alexander
"Depending on what style and formations Houston goes with, Rufus will be a strong factor in there. There are some formations that Gayron Allen will be the better player to defend it. It just gets down to playing to their strengths. Rufus will be the first one to tell you, he had great plays, but he also had some mistakes. He'll grow from those mistakes and evolve into a better all around player.

On the Tailbacks
"It's too early to tell right now on who plays. We'll get in there with Kejuan, Adrian and D.J. to see who fits with what we are trying to go with. It doesn't matter if it's a rotation, just as long as it works.

On Larry Birdine
"Larry probably had his best game here so far, but he needs to keep improving. He's made steady progress and hopefully this game will give him more of a taste of what he is capable of doing.

QB Jason White
On Being Under Center Instead of Shotgun
"It's a lot easier this year to push off the line and hand the ball off or throw it. I'm a lot more comfortable this year doing it. I got some experience in it last year and a lot of work in the off season.

On How Dangerous the Offense Can Be
"I think from just the first game it really emphasized how much we worked on the run game. That is really going to help us out in the long run. Not only does it produce yards on the ground, but it also opens up the passing game.

On Houston's Defense
"They run a lot of different coverages. They have a lot of blitzes and bring a lot of pressure. It's just a matter of getting our run game down and getting all the assignments in the passing game down.

DE Calvin Thibodeaux
On the season opener
"It felt pretty good getting the first one out of the way.

On playing against Bowling Green and Houston
"We enjoy playing against teams that use spread offense and pass a lot. We felt like we did a good job of hurrying the quarterback and getting in there quick to make a play.

Co-Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables
On the season opener
"The defense played well. [Bowling Green] wasn't able to get out of the plays what they wanted to do schematically.

On Bowling Green's offense
"For the most part there were no big plays. They really had to work for the success that they did have.

On Dan Cody and Dusty Dvoracek's play
"It doesn't really surprise us anymore, but it's pretty scary watching them out there. They caused their offense a lot of problems and forced Bowling Green to do some things that they normally don't do."

On newcomers Rufus Alexander and Carl Pendleton
"Those two in particular played well with Carl causing the fumble that Rufus recovered.

On Rufus Alexander
"I'm really happy with the way he's come along. He's made as much improvement as anyone on the defensive side of the ball in the last six months.

Co-Offensive Coordinator Chuck Long
On the running game
"Having the threat of a great running attack really helps you in terms of deep play action calls and bootlegs. There's just a lot you can do with it. We're making a commitment to run the ball and we want to do that first."

On the versatility of the offense
"I would say yes, this is the most versatile offense since I have been here. We are able to do more things formationally, motional, and with shifting. A lot of that is because we have a better team now.

On Houston's defense
"They are more talented than the Bowling Green defense. There will be a lot of blitzing, they bring it every which way and we need to be on our toes and be ready to protect against that. Hopefully, establishing our run game will take out a lot of those blitzes. We like going against a defense that puts the pressure on.

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