Stoops Addresses Media During Bye Week

NORMAN, Okla. -- Head coach Bob Stoops met the media during his weekly press conference Tuesday at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

View video from the press conference by clicking the player to the right. Quotes are available below.

Fresh off a 28-20 win over arch-rival Texas, No. 6 Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) has a bye this week. The Sooners will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 16 vs. Iowa State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT) on Owen Field. The game will be televised on FSN.

For news, notes and features throughou the week, please visit the Sooner Football Notebook.

Head Coach Bob Stoops

Opening statement:
"Going back and talking through the last game against Texas, really proud of our players, once again, to play a real solid football game and win the way they did. I thought some real plusses offensively, I thought definitely our ability to run the football was a big factor in the game. I really believe our offensive line, our tight ends and true freshman Trey Millard at fullback, they all did an excellent job of just blocking and just staying after it and protecting.

"DeMarco Murray and Mossis Madu were also players of the game. DeMarco had 115-or-so yards. Mossis came in and was a great complement to him, had some excellent runs and really ran the ball physically. Both of them took care of the football, that was a big factor too. Landry Jones, once again, as a young quarterback, had an outstanding game. The plus of it all may be how our receivers stepped up and complemented Ryan Broyles, who everyone knows is a special player. The other guys, Kenny Stills and Dejuan Miller in particular, really had big days and made some really competitive, tough catches that really helped influence the game.

"I think defensively, I was pleased with the overall pressure. We got to the quarterback for the most part. We let a couple of screens get away from us, but for the most part our coverage was really good all day. We didn't allow consistency when they ran the ball. They had the big run in the first half but for the rest of the half I think three of the first four possessions were three-and-out. For the most part, we played solid that way. The same with the kicking game, all of the kickoffs and those kind of things were solid, punt coverage was solid. Jimmy (Stevens) made all of his extra points.

"All in all when you're in good situation, up by 18 in the fourth quarter 28-10, you feel pretty good about what you're doing. Obviously, you wanted to have finished the game better, the way it unfolded wasn't played cleanly. The one play where Landry fumbles, there was a mix-up on the formation and the call. No reason to drop the football, just throw it away was the easiest thing to do. That put us in a hole but everyone forgets that on the next play DeMarco runs the ball for 18-20 yards to push it back out again with the run game. Tress has a good punt and you get the good fortune where their guy drops the ball. In the end, we need to finish the game better that way.

"We're 5-0, on the off week now. We've played four out of five teams that were bowl teams a year ago. I think three of them are ranked in the top-25 right now. To be 5-0 feels pretty good. With an off week, to go back through these last five games and we'll look at areas, offense, defense, of what has hurt us in the previous games whether it be formations, plays, blitzes, coverages, whatever. How we want to work against them and improve it because we're bound to see some of it again. That's what we'll work on through the week.

"Practice yesterday was a little bit shorter, not as physical. Today and Wednesday will be physical, our usual practices getting after it. Some of it will be a little more like the spring where we'll have some good-on-good and twos-on-twos, getting a lot of good work that way and then working the particular areas we want to look at. Thursday will be a little be shorter and lighter, most of the coaches will be out recruiting Thursday and Friday. That's how the schedule will go this week and then we'll be back into game week on Monday."

On why OU struggles in the fourth quarter:
"I think there are two reasons. Some of it is we need to play cleaner. Other ways, at certain times, they have good players too and they're going to make some plays. When playing Texas, if you're thinking that in the end they don't have opportunities to make plays, that's not always very realistic. They're a good team, they have good players as do the other (teams) we've played. Some of it has to do with us and some of it has to do with their execution. I think both of it together."

On OU's running game against Texas:
"Our running game performed very well. If you look at just the running backs, 185 yards, that's big. I think Coach Wilson and our offensive staff did a nice job at having some wrinkles in the way we ran it, but it still gets down to executing it. I think our guys up front and all those guys running the ball did a really good job of executing it."

On the offensive line:
"Mostly all of those guys are playing well. It's a work in progress but it's definitely exciting to see the improvement. I think Ben Habern has played pretty well. I think at tackle Jarvis Jones has come on and is playing better. Stephen Good is doing a good job. Eric Mensik at the right tackle is doing a good job. They all continue to make great progress."

On Roy Finch:
"We want him to play. We'll have to see how this week and next week go. We're hopeful that he'll be back to full speed and we want to start to give him some opportunities. We'll just work through the week and see how it goes."

On the freshmen class:
"You look at the freshman that contribute in that huge game against Texas, these guys impacted the game. Kenny Stills had a huge game, great catch on the touchdown. Trey Millard is outstanding every game and was again the other night. Running the ball, catching, blocking, just great. Tony Jefferson has been outstanding every game and had another great game. Aaron Colvin was in there and didn't flinch, had a really good game. Daniel Noble on the d-line continues to play well. Those guys are good players and I saw it before the game. They couldn't wait to play, there wasn't any doubt in their eyes."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Stoops Addresses Media During Bye Week

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