Sooners Discuss Matchup with Miami

September 4 | Press Conference

Junior Wide Receiver Juaquin Iglesias (Killeen, Texas)

Junior Center Jon Cooper (Fort Collins, Colo.)

Senior Linebacker Lewis Baker (Carrollton, Texas)

Junior Safety Nic Harris (Alexandria, La.)

Senior Defensive End Alonzo Dotson (Alief, Texas)

Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables

2007 Sooner Gameday Central
View complete details surrounding the game against Miami on Saturday...

NORMAN, Okla. -- Head coach Bob Stoops and select players met with the media at the weekly football press conference in the Kerr-McGee Stadium Club Tuesday. View video of interviews with defensive coordinator Brent Venables, juniors Juaquin Iglesias, Jon Cooper and Nic Harris, and seniors Lewis Baker and Alonzo Dotson.

Check Sooner Gameday Central for complete information on Oklahoma's game with Miami. For more information on the Hurricanes, please view the SoonerSports.com scouting report.

HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS
Opening Comments:
“Getting into last week, I was pleased overall with the clean and solid play in all parts of our game offensively, defensively and special teams.

"Offensively, everyone wondered how Sam Bradford would handle the situation. Regardless of the situation and who you are playing, going out in his first game, I thought he was remarkable how cool, calm and collected he was and how he executed. He was excellent in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. I could think back to several years and first year quarterbacks having two or three fumbled snaps. A lot of things can go wrong, and he just executed in a wonderful way. He threw the ball well with those bubble screens.

"It depends how the other team is playing you, sometimes that play is an option instead of handing it off. He hit those guys going downhill going full stride. He really played well and threw some nice deep balls. He was only off-target on two. One was a deep bomb and was just overthrown by a couple of steps, but it was really out there in a good spot. The other one was an out-route, but the rest of it was really solid. Our receivers came up with some great plays off of the catch.”

“Juaquin Iglesias was one of our players of the game and had an exceptional night. He and Malcolm Kelly, who had some great plays of his own. Jermaine Gresham made some nice runs, as did DeMarco Murray in his first start scoring five touchdowns. The protection was solid by the offensive line and they really competed well.”

“Defensively, I thought our structure and positioning on the ball and tackling were very sharp. I have seen us in some early games in other years, regardless of who we are playing, busting assignments and alignments and giving them something because of us not communicating properly. It has happened in other games and it didn't happen last week. Guys were very solid and very good. The secondary and the linebackers really got some good pressure up front.”

“Nic Harris was a player of the game for us. He applied a lot of pressure, had a sack and an interception for a touchdown. He had a very solid day.”

“I was really pleased with the kicking game as well. I felt the guys punted well and Garrett (Hartley) kicked the ball in a great way on his kickoffs. We were able to pin them inside the 15 yard line most of the night. Lewis Baker was exceptional covering kicks.”

“We have a perspective on the win. (North Texas Head Coach) Todd Dodge and his staff have only been there a short while to work with that group. We have full understanding of all of that, but I was just overall pleased with our play. That is what we really always pay attention to.”

On the matchup versus Miami:
“We are really excited to have a great match up this week with Miami. They are another tradition-rich program who we have a good history with and had a lot of great games with, important games. Miami is a program we have great respect for when we watch those guys play. Randy Shannon does an excellent job. I have known Randy a long time and he has been there and always had great defenses. I know he will do a great job with them, and already has with them in the first game versus Marshall. They are well-coached and always in position. They are very competitive and talented guys running around with a lot of speed and size. Miami is an excellent program and an excellent looking team coming in here this week.”

“Offensively, they are excellent running the football. They have two really great running backs. Even when you restrict running lanes, they can find something and make something happen and make people miss them. We will see a lot of athletic receivers and a quarterback who can do a nice job with his legs as well as throwing if they chose to emphasize it more, which I am sure they will. They have a balanced attack, and any time you can run the football it helps with your passing game.”

On challenges his team will be face with Miami:
“The defensive front is one of the better ones in college football. It is early in the season, but watching them last week and watching them play last year, they have excellent personnel all across the front four. They have great depth with guys that come in to rotate. To me, they are picking hairs who is starting because they are all really good. Sometimes I feel that way with our front when we rotate eight or nine guys. They have excellent quality players, not only up front but in their experienced secondary and excellent backers. It is a solid defense and one that has been together. Randy (Shannon) and his staff have always had a record of good defenses.”

On how he will approach the running back rotation this week:
“We are going to play them like we have planned all along. We want to rotate those guys in and give guys a series here and a break here. If a guy breaks a big run then he is usually gassed, then we will throw another guy in there who is fresh. Hopefully in the fourth quarter then we have fresh guys still coming at them. I see that as a great advantage to have some guys that will keep each other fresh who are really quality players. The offense doesn't change with them, but they all have a little different style.”

On the offensive line's play against North Texas:
“Everyone always just loves to talk about the quarterback, but if you aren't being helped then you are going to have a hard time. The line protected him, along with our tight ends and full backs. The protection was really good, and that was a big part of it. Again, you saw some receivers make some plays on short throws that really helped us statistically.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

JUNIOR RECEIVER JUAQUIN IGLESIAS
On playing Miami:
“They're a good team, and always fast. We just have to prepare like we do every week and just focus. We have to be ready for everything that they throw at us and everything they're going to line up for us. It seems like the offense is pretty good and their defense may make some stops for us, so we are going to try and carry it over and come out there ready to play. I think we're ready. We're going to be ready by the time the game comes. We're just going to practice hard and we'll be prepared.”

On past games against Miami:
“Coach pulled up an article about the Miami-Oklahoma game yesterday and it is a big game and it just puts that much more emphasis on the game. We know it's going to be a good game and we're going to give it our best.”

On the emphasis of playing Miami:
“Coach said that these games mean a lot to the fans and a lot to the program, but he told us when it comes to Saturday it we just have to be prepared to play the 2007 Miami team. It puts a lot on our shoulders. But like coach said you come to Oklahoma to play games like this and face these types of challenges. It's a big challenge for us. I know I've been waiting to play against Miami and it's just one of those teams you grow up watching on TV and we're excited for it.”

On moving past Saturday's victory:
“We just take it week by week and we have to consider that what happens in the past is done. This week is different and it's a bigger challenge for us and we're not going to dwell on the past.”

On quarterback Sam Bradford since Saturday's win:
“Yesterday it seemed like he's more confident and we're proud of him. I know I was behind him from the beginning. Just seeing him out there I'm ready for him to play for him to see some more. He did a great job and you can tell just the way he throws the ball that he's more confident in himself and hopefully that will carry over.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SENIOR DEFENSIVE END ALONZO DOTSON
On playing “smart football”:
“I think a lot of the credit goes to Coach Stoops stressing and making it a strong point that we do the things that we can control. There's simple things that we can control before the ball is snapped. After the ball is snapped holding on to the ball and making sure we have great ball security. When you go back over the stats turnovers can hurt you and we all know that in this game. We try to keep that to a minimum. We just have to play smart football and Coach Stoops stressed from spring to summer not to do little things that can hurt us and put us on the eight ball.

On the team's chemistry:
“We spend so much time together. You begin to build a relationship with guys. If I'm with you all day and we go out to eat and the movies you start to care about that guy a little more. So I think we hold each other more accountable and we don't want to let each other down. I think there is a strong bond on this team. It is a special team and we do seem to hold each other more accountable on the field and off the field. We try to do everything we do right so we can go further. We break it down on the simple things and a lot of teams don't do that. I think that the bond has created a focus on the little things.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

JUNIOR CENTER JON COOPER
On his first game:
“I think I did alright. I think I could have done better , along with everyone else. We have a lot more potential than we played, but I think we played pretty well.”

On the team's knowledge on the size of this game:
“Oh yeah. We have known it for a while. We have talked about it for a while. It is huge. We are excited about it, I am sure they are excited about it. I'm sure they are confident and they should be. We are confident too. We are ready for a great game.”

On the performance of the offensive line:
“We feel we have a lot to improve. We played pretty well as a unit but we always feel like we can get better and better every game so we hope to get a lot better this next game.”

On the challenge of Miami:
“They are a great challenge. They are good up front and they have strength, speed and size so we have to get better during the week.”

On Sam Bradford:
“He is a great player, good kid. We all knew what he could do so it was just nice to see him do it out on the game field.”

On the key to Miami:
“We are going to have to be physical, we are going to have to be fast, we are going to have to execute well. We can't make mistakes or they will capitalize on them. They are very capable guys, they move around the field. But we will be ready, the bigger the challenge the bigger the opportunity.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SENIOR LINEBACKER LEWIS BAKER
On Curtis Lofton playing middle linebacker:
“He is a guy that knows what he is doing. He has a lot of confidence going in as a middle linebacker and that makes you feel comfortable going in and playing with a guy like that. He has been here a while and when you see him putting in the work, watching extra film learning the little things, as a teammate you appreciate that. Knowing that he knows what he is doing and he trusts you and you trust him, it makes it a whole lot easier.”

On Miami coming in and running the ball:
“I think that is everybody's game plan in football these days because once you get to the passing game and that is all you have things aren't always too good. But yeah we think they will come in and try to run and our plan is to shut it down.”

On the rivalry between OU and Miami:
“You hear it every once in a while around town and Coach Stoops told us a little bit about it. He talked to us about the history. It makes you want to play harder on Saturday. I grew up in Florida and my favorite team was Florida State so it will be fun.”

On his performance:
“I am happy, as a linebacker I feel I can always do better. It was a fun game but I hope to just keep getting better.”

On the Miami offense:
“They do a lot of things. They try to make it hard for you to key in on one thing. They are good at what they do. I think the main thing is that they are going to come in and try to run the ball and our plan is to stop it.”

On what the win last Saturday did for the team:
“The main thing is that we have a bunch of young guys. Coming out and starting that way gives everybody a lot of confidence and we are going to need that going into this game coming up.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

JUNIOR SAFETY NIC HARRIS
On what he has learned about the history of the OU-Miami series:
“I have learned that before my years of playing it was a great game. There is a lot of tradition and history behind it and it is going to be a great game Saturday. It is going to be a great test early. We just have to come in and have a great week of preparation.”

On coming out so strong in the season opener:
“It is a great start to come out the way we did, you kind of ride on a high. But we also have to keep things in perspective and have a great week of practice this week.”

On Sam Bradford:
“He came out and had a great week. You couldn't ask for much more than what he did. If he comes out and does that again, it is going to be great.”

On the Miami offense:
“From my understanding they are pretty much a balanced offense. They are going to give you a steady dosage of running and passing. We just have to come out and read our keys and play to the best of our ability.”

On Miami with a new head coach:
“They are still the University of Miami and they still have that speed. They are still going to come out ready to play each and every down. We have to come out ready for it and play to the best of our ability.”

On the difference in Miami and North Texas:
“We look at each opponent as being the best we have ever played. We have to come out and play like this game is our last game. We take it one day at a time. We have to play like it is a bowl game. We have to come out and start early. We have to have great preparation to make sure we understand what is coming at us. We can't let the running backs get into the grove.”

On the team's ability to stay focused:
“I think Michael Jordan said it best, 'Focus and determination is to be able to think about absolutely nothing, when absolutely necessary.' So we just came out and had that focus. We came out and didn't waiver. We just have to do the same thing this week. We just try to be perfect and anything less is unacceptable.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRENT VENABLES
On the statement that Miami has declined in recent years:
“I think it is a false statement that Miami is in decline. Their record may not be indicative of the talent they actually have. It is a program with great pride and tradition. In their mind they have a clean slate and they will come here and compete hard all four quarters. ”

On Miami's ability:
“When I watch them I see great speed and ability. They are tough, physical and talented. Those Florida kids are tough, hungry and prideful. We know they are going to be a quality opponent and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors