Coach Stoops Meets with Media Tuesday

NORMAN, Okla. -- OU head coach Bob Stoops met with the media at his weekly football press conference Tuesday at the Kerr-McGee Stadium Club inside Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.

The Sooners have a bye this Saturday and Coach Stoops used much of his time reviewing the 41-24 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Oklahoma returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. against Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference opener for both schools. Fox Sports Net will have the live telecast. Please view Sooner Gameday Central for complete broadcast options and game information.

On the loss to UCLA:
“UCLA is a very good, solid football team. We went out there to the Rose Bowl to play them, which is an excellent place to play. Again, we really just made too many mistakes to give ourselves the opportunity to win.

Sooner Gameday Central - Kansas State | 2005 Season Statistics

"The biggest issues as you watch the game, the major factors to me, are the turnovers. When we have the ball on the ground the number of times we did and lose three of them -- your opportunity to win, especially away from home, decreases.”

On where to improve:
“In the end, we have to do a better job in a few areas. One is being responsible and taking care of the football. Two is protecting the quarterback, and we did do a better job to some degree.

"Opening up the second half and having the quarterback get blindsided and giving up a touchdown is just not acceptable and we have got to be better than that.

"All of those turnovers, a muffed punt just gives them the ball back and puts them in scoring position and it's difficult to overcome that. A first-and-10 fumble, again, gives the ball away and they get more opportunity with it Those are factors that offensively, we have to be better at to get the ball back.

"The encouraging part is that we did throw the football better. Rhett's play at quarterback was solid for the most part. He had some big runs, some big first-down pickups, running the option and other plays, as well as throwing the football. He threw it much better and our receivers caught it better and got open better and at times we protected it better.

"I feel like we are making progress but we have to make it quicker and we've got to get some things done right away.”

On the defense:
“Defensively, I thought we were very good against the run game, until the last drive, and that part is unacceptable. We had been playing so well up until that part and to give up some yards at the end is not acceptable.

"As you watch that, I thought two big factors were the turnovers our defense forced that were taken away from us. Those are big factors in the game. When you have two turnovers that are going to put you in scoring position taken away, that's hard to overcome because that balance out some of the turnovers we have and it gives us opportunities for points, more time for possessions or yards and all of a sudden they are taken away.

"Both of them, to me, were at critical times. The first one was at the 7-7 tie and at the time we had a chance. When they fumbled the snap, we were in great position to score with the wind behind our back. The second one was a 10-point game and we had just lost the ball on fourth down and we had a chance to have some great momentum, but again, things happen. Those are factors in the game that can't be denied.

"That is a part that I want our team to know that we are not far off. We'll get those turnovers; we'll get those calls as we go through the year if we keep making them and keep making progress.”

“We still needed to tackle better defensively. We counted up and we gave up 130 yards after catches and that is too many yards to give up after missed tackles. We need to be better there. We still have some busted assignments that are simple fundamental football that we could be better at. That's what we need to get across to our team.

"The biggest factor is that we can play smarter than we're playing. We can play harder, as you watch that, our guys wanted to play. Our guys have to learn to play in a higher tempo than we are playing and we as coaches have to get that done.

"That's what we are going to push through here and the next few weeks. I think, too, at times we need to be more physical, and again, those are things we have prided ourselves in that we can be better in, but we have to better at it if we are going to have any chance to continue to improve and I believe we will. I believe we are capable of it and we are going to push hard this week to get it done.

"In our kicking game, the missed field goal hurt. That was a very makeable field goal that we didn't make. The rest of the kicking game such as punting has been very good, averaging 45 yards a punt. That is very good along with our kick coverage. We stopped them inside the 20 I think every time. Our cover units, they had the number one returner in the country, and UCLA only averaged one yard all day. That part you can build on and get better. We had some nice kick returns.

"We are going to work hard this week on ourselves. Everybody always wants to know what we are going to do this week, we are going to practice Monday through Saturday. We'll practice Saturday morning and give them Saturday afternoon and Sunday off and be back at it Monday.

"We have a lot of work to get done and we are going to work hard going against each other and trying to establish ourselves better in all of the area I just talked about. We'll be working ourselves and for Kansas State as we go through the week.”

On any position changes:
“There are still guys in competition. In the secondary, there are still guys that need to step up and play better. They need to compete harder and challenge more and we are going to give other guys more opportunities as we go through this week and next week to see who is going to do what, as well as in the offensive line and across the board.

"Offensively, there are receivers as well that need to step up and make some catches. We have a touchdown drop, we have to be able to make a catch in the end zone for a touchdown. Across the board we are going to keep having guys compete to play at a better level.”

On Rhett Bomar:
“He hasn't been out here very long. The first game he didn't have many opportunities and the second game he did and he is showing more confidence and is more comfortable in a short amount of time. That should only continue to improve.

"He is capable of doing what we are asking; he's capable of making all of the throws. It's just about getting the confidence, comfort and the time. We have seen great progress in him and I think it will continue to improve.

"We don't want him to keep taking the hits he's taking and I think that comes from experience too, by learning how to get out of the way and not taking the impact directly. In fact, we are making him watch tape of Brad Smith (Missouri) and Vince Young (Texas) and the guys that run quite a bit step out of bounds, slide at the end and avoid the square hits. The good part about this is that our players take notice that he is tough and will go after it.”

On Paul Thompson moving to wide receiver:
“It is not the ideal situation, I understand that. If I was selfish and not concerned about my guys at all, he would stay as quarterback and that's it.

"The fact that he is a junior, all he has is this year and next year left to play and what he has done for the program already, coming out of his red-shirt year because we had no one else at that time to prepare. He has worked too hard here for me to not give him the opportunity to get on the field more. That is just the way I am and the coaches are and I think the team is excited about it.

"Yesterday he made a big play when we were going against each other as a team trying to pick up our tempo. We had a blitz drill going and he ran a fade route and he looked like he had been here forever. Rhett threw it up high, which is kind of neat Rhett throwing to him, and he timed it perfectly. He was a high school six-foot-ten high jumper and he went up and put the ball away.

"The team went crazy. They loved it because they see that excitement in him that he's got this opportunity. We feel the progress Rhett made in one game, the fact that he is a red-shirt freshman and his potential; we have to keep developing him.”

On Reggie Smith returning punts:
“I'm going to have a guy back there that will catch the ball every time in practice. Unfortunately, Lendy (Holmes) demonstrated that all throughout practice but hasn't done it in a game.

"Jejuan Rankins does it but he has had a bad ankle. Reggie needs to do it better in practice before I'm going to put him in the game and that's the bottom line.

"I want to see over and over again that the ball is secure. I'm going to take the guy who can catch it every time even if he doesn't go anywhere with it. He played the full game at safety and has potential at being a great return guy, you see it in the kickoff returns. Hopefully we'll keep seeing him progress.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors