Sooners Regroup, Focus on Oklahoma State

NORMAN, Okla. -- Head coach Bob Stoops, Kevin Wilson, DT Gerald McCoy and OL Brian Lepak met with the media Tuesday to preview this week's contest against Oklahoma State.

The Sooners (6-5, 4-3) and Cowboys (9-2, 6-1) meet for the 104th time in Bedlam Series history Saturday. The game kicks off at 11:30 a.m. (CT) and will be televised on FSN.

For complete coverage throughout the week and broadcast options for following the Sooners around the world, visit Sooner Gameday Central.

Head Coach Bob Stoops

Opening comments:
"Compliments to Texas Tech. They played an excellent game and beat us on every part of the game. I said after the game, when you're able to beat Tech, you beat them as a team. I say that because I thought defensively we weren't able to come up with stops. They really moved the football on us and I think a big part of it was their ability to run the football. But then on third downs, they converted 8-of-17, so we couldn't get off the field.

"With that, offensively, we couldn't stay on the field. We were 3-of-13 on third downs. They ended up with 15 minutes of possession time more than we had. In the end, you have to have them sitting down on the bench and you can't give them that many opportunities. Again, Tech played a good game and we didn't play a good game in any part.

"That leads us to this week, our final game of the year here with Oklahoma State. They are a team that is really playing well. You look at their ability to run the ball and work some play action pass off of it. They have been really strong through the whole year. Their defense has made a lot of progress and improvement from a year ago, they are near the top of the league in most categories and are playing very soundly. (Keith) Toston, their running back, is one of the top rushers in the league and is doing a really great job running the ball. I'll be asked about their quarterback situation. In the end, we prepare for the offense and not the quarterback. They will run the same plays regardless of which quarterback is in there so that won't change our preparation at all."

On having the home-field advantage:
"Fortunately being here at home, we have played better here at home through the year. Hopefully our fans will jump in and give us some assistance on Saturday."

On replacing injured starters:
"In the end, usually the backup doesn't have the experience and maturity that the starter does. It's hard to replace experience and maturity at any position, let alone the quarterback. It has made it incredibly difficult. Not just when you have injuries, but when you have them to seniors and guys that have that experience, maturity and experience in the huddle. There is a void there and you can't replace it. You try to, you work around it, but in the end a lot of those seniors are major players and guys that have earned that respect and leadership by their time on the field. They're great kids, but you really have a hard time leading if you're not playing. If you're not the one sweating and you're not the one black-and-blue in the huddle, it's hard to have a lot to say."

On Texas Tech's success running the ball:
"They did a nice job scheming it and then sometimes in executing it we got out of position on some occasions and their running back is a good player. He made some people miss him a time or two. He did a nice job with it and blocked it well. I thought their running back did a nice job."

On OSU's run game:
"They do a nice job in all parts of their run game. It is a power-running game in some occasions, in others it's just zone blocking and they have always had the ability to pull the ball with Zac (Robinson) in particular. We have got to be really physical, good in our blocks, tackling and disciplined to be where we need to be."

On Ronnell Lewis at middle linebacker:
"It's going to be Austin Box first. He (Ronnell Lewis) has a chance, how much he plays or not we will see, he has made great progress. He has a bright future. He has been a great player on our special teams, in particular kickoff coverage, he has been really special. If he continues to make really good progress, he has a chance to have a really bright future."

On if he has ever had this many injuries during his coaching career:
"No, it's not even close. For me, the saddest part is that they are seniors. Now with Ryan Reynolds and Auston English last week, it's just too bad. I feel for the kids, for the players to have missed what they have. I know how much they like to play and how important it is to them. Without all those seniors, you just hate that for their senior year."

On Patrick O'Hara:
"Patrick's doing a good job. I was asked yesterday about the fact that it was only his second game to ever play in and I think that maybe that is a good thing. He doesn't make too much of it. He's out there, he goes through his routine, takes a big swat at the ball and is hitting it well. Hopefully he can continue it."

On the group of seniors that will be honored on Senior Night:
"These guys have been an awesome group of seniors. They are just great-attitude kids. You can't brag on them enough. They are always positive, they are a happy bunch. They have been really good leaders. I appreciate their commitment and the attitude they have brought to the team. They have a great work ethic, they are humble guys and they go to class. They are just really a great group of kids."

On if this season is different for him as a coach:
"It is. For 11 seasons, in all but three of them, this is the third, we go in to the last game with an opportunity to play for a Big 12 Championship. So this is different, but there have been a lot of unusual circumstances around this year. I'm not a knee-jerk guy and I'm not going to overreact to it. In the end, I understand what we have had to deal with the whole year. With the strength of schedule along with all the players that we have had to play without, to think it is just going to be the same is unrealistic."

On keeping his players upbeat:
"I think it's just being sensitive to them as young men. They are still working hard. They are still putting forth the effort and investing in the week and getting ready to play. They are still young kids. Everything in life doesn't always go your way. In the end, we have had a lot of fortune around here. This has been a very unusual year the way it has all happened and you have to work through it. Some things are our fault as coaches, some things are their faults as players and then other things are nobody's fault. The fact that all of these guys are out, you can't blame anyone for that. In the end, let's deal with it the best we can, keep coming to work and keep enjoying being here the best we can. The kids have done a good job with it."

Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson

On Oklahoma State's defense
“Everybody talks about how well they're playing. One of the strengths of that team is the experience on defense. They're starting seven seniors, some names that you've seen for three or four years: all three backers, two inside tackles, and two of their corners. They have a lot of experience and are playing really well. We'll have our hands full. They're playing good.”

On the offense's struggle on the road compared to its success at home
“The strength of our schedule defensively, as far as the talent and the teams we've been up against, is against the guys on the road. Matchups, more than anything else, starting with playing against Texas, Miami, Nebraska, Texas Tech, and BYU were all against solid teams. We haven't really played a weak defensive team on the road. They've all been either really good or pretty good. That makes it more challenging. Another thing is having our youth and inexperience and not having strong leaders. Because of what's going on, when things go a little south or we don't have success, we kind of stumble. At home, when we struggle a little bit, we still have our crowd behind us and have stayed a bit calmer and played better.”

On bouncing back from disappointments and injuries
“We've been scrambling with new things each week. It's almost like we're not near the end of the season because we're trying to work this up, because we had a situation here and our depth has been depleted. Initially, we thought we had some strength at tight end. We put Brody Eldridge on the line, then we moved him back to tight end, then we need him back on the line and now there's not a tight end presence. We've kind of went around the gambit of what we've been doing. I don't think we've gotten consumed with anything other than trying to improve and play better each week and play our best game each week. It's been hot and cold. Maybe that's who we're playing or where we're playing. We've been up and down. It's about finding consistency. To be a championship team you have to do that. I think also to be a championship team we have to find a means outside of improving or working and continuing to improve our team with talent and development. I think we need to improve our mindset and our attitude. I think we've had a lot of negative vibes with our team this year. We've always had a positive mojo. Even when things weren't always rosy, we still had a lot of positive energy. We talked a lot yesterday with the team about perception and reality and the reality of where you are and the perception of where you are. The reality is that we're sometimes pretty close to being really good, so let's make sure we perceive ourselves as that and go out this week and get after these boys.”

On the coaching staff keeping a positive atmosphere for the team
“We, as coaches, have tried each week. Sometimes we've connected and sometimes we haven't. Regardless of any injuries we've had, we still have had a chance to have won games and been in games, except for last Saturday. Our margin of error maybe isn't as great, but we're still in a chance to win those football games if we play sound, smart and fundamental clean ball. You get a good play, work it up, call it right and execute it; you'll go out and win some games. We're trying to maintain an extremely positive outlook because there have been some flashes of this team being really good. We want to go out this week, our last game, and play our best game. If you're a good football team, you improve every week and get better. It would be nice to see if we can respond and have a good week this week.”

Junior DT Gerald McCoy

On the mindset with one game to go:
“We want to finish out strong. We didn't reach our goals that we wanted to, but one of our goals was to beat OSU and that goal is still in front of us so we have to do that.”

On the team's focus:
“We have talked about it and we know what has to be done this week and we have been working extremely hard to make sure that gets done. We just have to finish the season out strong by beating OSU."

On how important it is to win at home:
“It's very important and Coach Stoops has a great streak going and we have played a big part in it and it would be great to finish out with a win.”

On how Coach Stoops has handled the season:
“This is why he is such a great coach, he always keeps his composure. He stays focused and he has kept us that way and kept our energy up and hasn't let anybody get down. He has never been down. He comes in everyday with high energy and ready to work. That' s just how he has been all year.”

On Saturday's defensive performance:
“There was a lot of tension on the defensive side of the ball because that wasn't us and not how we play football. We decided yesterday, well every Monday we meet before practice and usually we just decide what we are going to do, but we said 'let's fix it.'”

On OSU's rushing game:
“We are very excited because last year we didn't stop the run at all. We got blocked and they moved the ball on us last year and we are not going to allow that to happen this year. Last year we didn't do that and that's one of our goals to make sure we do that this year. We watched the game from last year and the things we need to fix and we have been working hard to fix those this week. If we stop the run we take away a lot of their offense and I think it will kind of get them flustered and they will have to figure something out. So that is why we emphasize trying to stop the run so much.”

On replacing Auston English and Ryan Reynolds:
“It's kind of hard to replace both of those guys. They have so much experience, they are veterans on the field and play to win for us, so it's really difficult to replace them. We do have some good back-ups for them. Austin Box will step in and Dominique Franks has been doing pretty good, but I mean you can never really just replace them.”

Junior OL Brian Lepak

On starting at center against Oklahoma State
“It's a great opportunity and I'm really looking forward to this week and practicing and I'm definitely looking forward to the game on Saturday. It's nice to be assigned a specific position. I've been kind of rotating around with the interior three, but I'm focusing on center for this week and getting ready to go.”

On his preparation as a starter
“There's a little more pressure knowing that you're going to start, but you need to prepare the same for every week. Even when I wasn't starting I knew I would have to be ready to go in like I was a starter because you never know what's going to happen. Last week, Ben Habern got hurt against Tech, and I had to go in for him right there in the second quarter. Preparation doesn't change at all. You still have to watch tape, take all the reps in the practice and take all the mental reps and be ready to go.”

On the Sooners being 6-5
“Obviously this season hasn't gone as well as we've wanted it to. You have expectations before the season starts on how things are going to turn out. When you get disappointed you kind of have to reframe it. At this point in the season it's about what are we going to do to get better? What are we going to do for ourselves? So this weekend it's about going out and beating Oklahoma State. Let's play to the best of our ability and let's go get it done. It's not about them. I hear a lot of people talk about us spoiling their season. We don't think that as a team at all. It's about us and about what we're going to do. It's another game and we're going to play Oklahoma State and we're real excited about it, they're a big in-state rival. It's about us progressing and getting better as a team.”

On the team's energy going Oklahoma State
“It's still a really big game for us. Obviously they have a lot on the line with trying to go to the Fiesta Bowl and stuff like that. We have a lot on the line because there's a lot of pride in our home winning streak and a lot of pride about wanting to get to a good bowl game. We want to win. That's a part of what you do when you come to play college football. When you come to a program like Oklahoma you want to win. Especially in a big in-state rivalry like this you're going to have just as much energy going into Oklahoma State this week as we would if we were 11-0 right now getting ready to play for a Big 12 Championship.”

On growing up in Oklahoma and having his first start be in the Bedlam Game
“It does make it special. I grew up watching Oklahoma football and grew up watching the Oklahoma State game two days after Thanksgiving . That's what I grew up watching. The Oklahoma State game and the Texas game, those are big special deals. It does make it a little more special having Oklahoma State be my first start.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Regroup, Focus on Oklahoma State

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