Stoops, Sooners Discuss Aggies

October 30th Press Conference
   Coach Stoops Weekly Press Conference
   Senior Fullback Dane Zaslaw on His Role this Season
   Junior Wide Receiver Manuel Johnson on OU's Offense
   Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson on the Bye Week
   Coach Heupel Discusses the Annual Holiday Food Drive

Sooner Gameday Central: Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Access everything you need to know surrounding Saturday's game vs. the Aggies.

NORMAN, Okla. -- Coming off a bye week, head coach Bob Stoops held his weekly press conference Tuesday and previewed this weekend's match-up against Texas A&M. The No. 5 Sooners host the Aggies at 7 p.m. (CT) Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised by ABC.

View the weekly press conference as well as interviews with senior fullback Dane Zaslaw, junior receiver Manuel Johnson, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel. Complete transcriptions of all interviews will be available shortly, courtesy OU Athletics Media Relations.

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HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS

Opening Comments:
"I felt the off week was really positive for us. It allowed us to get some extra work on our future opponents, as well as Texas A&M. I think the long weekend gave our guys a chance to rest up and catch up and come back fresh yesterday for practice. I felt they were really moving around in a good way yesterday and felt they were really excited to be back. In the end, I think the off week was really good for us and we are excited to be back at home this week.

"Texas A&M is another really good team here in the South division. They are a team with a lot of good players and I feel they are always well-coached. You have to be really disciplined when you play them.

"Watching their offense, you have to be really disciplined when you play them because you are really defending the wish bone. They just hide it and say they are not running the wish bone, but in the end they are. They are running the triple option and running veer option principles. When you look at the carries at each position, the quarterback has 130 carries, Jorvorskie Lane has 124 and (Mike) Goodson has 109. They are a true wishbone team because they are all carrying the football and make you defend them from the inside out. You have to be very structured in how you defend them and be disciplined. Also, you have to be prepared for the play action pass. They will be a challenge for us defensively.

"Offensively, they play a basic 4-3 defense. They play some cover four and occasionally mix in some cover three. We have to be able to run the ball and we have got to be really efficient in throwing it, whether it is intermediate routes or when we are trying to get on top of them. We have to be disciplined in moving the football. That is what we will focus on, they are always sound structurally on defense. Again, we are just excited to be back at home this week."

On what aspect of the game the team tried to improve on the most during the off week:
"Taking care of the football was the biggest issue. That to me was the biggest factor. I think sometimes we are expected to be perfect. We run the ball as well as anybody, but if we don't get 10 yards a pop on every play in the first half then something is wrong. The other teams have good players, too. I believe we will continue with it and the running game will continue to be effective for us. It is also effective in opening up a good deal of our passing game, which has been very efficient and I don't think anyone would argue. I think taking care of the football was the biggest area we tried to improve on."

On the play of the defense this year:
"They have been very good. I think back to last game where they were out there after some turnovers and some difficult situations and we have gone out and stopped people, whether it be on downs and got the ball back or forcing a punt. They have risen to the occasion on a good number of occasions and have played well. We have played against some different styles of offense and feel we are versatile in that way, that we can match up with all the different styles out there."

On the interior defensive line:
"DeMarcus Granger has been very, very good for us. Gerald McCoy is really getting it. In the last several games has really come on. I think it is more than just the inside. Auston English has been as good as we have had at that position, I don't think anyone would argue with that. Curtis Lofton has had 16, 18 tackles. He forced an interception to save a touchdown against Iowa State, he scored a touchdown against Missouri and he caused a fumble on the goal-line at Texas. He has made some huge, huge plays for us."

On the progression of Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee:
"I think he is being asked to run the football a lot more. Everything goes through him, the reads as well as the passing. His role has increased, but not a whole lot from a year ago because last year it was a lot of the same thing. They ran the triple-option and play action passes and zone reads a year ago, as well. I think it was similar as it was last year."

On who is playing well in the secondary:
"I think D.J. Wolfe has been really outstanding and Nic Harris has been very consistent and very good. There are different games where some other guys have really stepped up. I thought Lendy (Holmes) was very good in the past couple of games. I think Marcus (Walker) and Reggie (Smith) have been solid and good. Sometimes I think the safeties have some more opportunities to show up and make some big plays. They have been solid."

On if the loss to Colorado haunts the team:
"I am not much on what could be. I am pretty much what it is right now, so it doesn't haunt me. We still have four maybe five games to go, so do a lot of other people. Everybody likes to write how it is over and this is going to happen, but no one knows what is going to happen. Judging by what happened during the first half of the season, you sure don't know what is going to happen. We are not in a bad position. In fact, we are in a pretty good position. The bottom line is we have to win this week. That is where all of our energy goes to and that is where my thoughts are. I am not much on what could have been."

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OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR KEVIN WILSON

On why the team has been dominant at home, but mediocre on the road:
“Execution for one thing. We have great fans and we are going to protect our home field, but it's just an execution issue. A couple of guys have turned the ball over and it hurts. We altered the pass game a little going into Colorado, but it's our fault because we just didn't execute. At the same time, I think going into the Cotton Bowl against a good defense and playing well was big. It was loud, but we had half of our fans there so I think going forward we will see if there is something to it, or it is just a coincidence.”

On seeming to having less energy on the road:
“I think that goes back to execution. When you are making plays, players get excited. A coach made the comment a couple of years ago that we needed to get the fans going. I said well if we can make a play that will happen. I think the same thing on the road, when you are executing and get some momentum there is a lot more energy than when you aren't.”

On some of the things accomplished during the off week:
“Getting some of the guys, that may have been on the verge of an injury, a little break. We needed to keep enough of a physical presence to keep these guys used to it, but adversely we took it a little easier. We have been going for 11 or 12 weeks now and played in eight games, so the grind was starting to take an effect. Getting some guys back, while still practicing was a plus. We also got a little game planning going, started to look at not only A&M but some of the defenses down the road.”

On communication with the huddle on the road:
“We haven't really had a problem. There have been seldom if any times where the wrong play has been called. We work a lot of snap-count and silent procedure when we are here in practice. We actually go into the stadium to get a little more of an echo effect, and our indoor facility has quite an echo. I think early in camp we talked a lot with Sam on how to annunciate and communicate within the huddle. The way he has carried himself and the way he speaks out has been great. We have had mistakes, but the communication has been great all year.”

On DeMarco Murray and the running back rotation:
“We need to get Demarco going. We need to get him touches. With the turnovers at Iowa State we just didn't run all that many plays. I think we may have tried to force some things in that first half and that's why we didn't get that many plays in.”

On A&M's defense:
“It is a bend but not break defense. You saw last year, we had some success early, but they aren't going to give you the cheap play. Their secondary and safeties play high and they try to have big strong defensive lineman stop your run. It will be a challenge this week because the team we are playing this week, like Iowa State, is going to make you go the distance. Whether you're running or passing, you are going to have to be efficient. Their offense helps them out with that, they try to keep the ball out of your hands. That was the problem at Iowa State in the first half, and that was the problem the whole game at Colorado.”

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QUARTERBACKS COACH JOSH HEUPEL

On how people can contribute to the food drive this weekend:
“As they are entering the gate they can drop off cash donations. There will be 40 or 50 people at each gate when they walk in to take those. Don't walk by them, reach in your back pocket and give a little something to kids and families in the state of Oklahoma. For more information, email info@the14foundation.com.”

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SENIOR FB DANE ZASLAW

On the switch to fullback:
“Fullback is a position that I have grown to like a lot. You get a lot more glory, if there is any. I get to catch some balls every once and a while and I get to make some blocks for a couple of great backs. It is very exciting.”

On being in the back field:
“Thankfully, in high school I was able to play a little offense. So the transition wasn't too tough, and I feel pretty natural at fullback. I'm thankful to be on the field and help the team win."

On making blocks for big gains:
“It's a great feeling. Anyone at one time can take it to the house, so as long as I am in the game helping the team win that's all I can ask for.”

On the Texas A&M defense:
“Defensively, they are a great team. They cause a lot turnovers so we are going to have to have great ball security. We realize that, and we are working on it so we can do what we need to do against them.”

On the help of the week off on the team:
“It definitely helped. The grind of the season takes a toll on everyone. It's just relaxing to get a chance to go home and spend some time with the family, and then come back rested and ready to work.”

On the offense's confidence going into the A&M game:
“We are going to be more confident when we start to take care of the little things first. Scoring comes after that. We can't have any missed assignments, and we need to take care of the football. If those things happen we won't need to worry about scoring and our confidence will just go up.”

On the mental state of the team:
“We realize that we have to come out and win no matter what. Mentally, we realize that the Big 12 is always a powerhouse, and as long as we win every week, we have a chance to play for the championship. I feel confident that we get a chance to play another game in our stadium with another chance to pick up a win.”

On looking at the polls:
“We don't worry about those. The only thing that we know is that if we keep winning, we will have a chance to win the Big 12. We are concentrating on that.”

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JUNIOR WR MANUEL JOHNSON

On the bye- week:
"I think it was a good bye week, and it actually came at a good time. We've got four Big 12 South games coming up so it was a good time to regroup and get healthy so I think it came at a good time."

On the polls:
"We shouldn't worry about the polls. We've just got to take care of our business and everything else will take care of itself on its own. I'm not going to lie; it's kind of hard to not pay attention to it when everybody's talking about it all the time. But as a team we have to just block that out, and if we do our job we'll be all right."

On playing at home vs. away:
"Honestly I don't think it is too much of a difference. I'm sure some crowds do get loud and affect us a little, but it shouldn't bother us at all. We work all week on mental toughness and we shouldn't have to worry about it that much. So we just have to lock in and concentrate more on road games."

On getting more involved the offense:
"In the first couple of games the opponents watched films and saw that we throw more to Malcolm and Juaquin, so they're starting to cover them a lot more, which opens it up for me. I think on our offense we have a lot of talent, so everybody is going to get their chance. I think this is my time. It depends what defenses think they can do. Some defenses have enough trust in their corner so they can cover Malcolm and Juaquin outside. And some people have faith in their linebackers so they can cover me. So it just depends on what defense the opponent is in."

On Texas A&M's defense:
"They're a good defense. I know their scoring zone defense is probably one of the top in the nation. I think they're holding teams to twenty points a game, but it's going to be a good challenge for us. I know when we get into the red zone we're going to want to score touchdowns and not three points."

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