Completed Event: Football versus Illinois State on August 30, 2025 , Win , 35, to, 3
Final
Football
35
vs Illinois State
3
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Excited for Matchup with Seminoles
September 07, 2010 | Football
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View video of Coach Stoops, senior DE Jeremy Beal, senior S Quinton Carter and sophomore C Ben Habern by clicking the links to the right. Quotes from the press conference are available below.
The seventh-ranked Sooners square off with the
No. 20 Seminoles Saturday on Owen Field. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) on ABC.
View complete coverage throughout the week, details on attending the game and broadcast options for following the Sooners from around the globe, visit Sooner Gameday Central.
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Head Coach Bob Stoops |
Opening statement:
"Getting into last week's game with Utah State, I just thought overall we were inconsistent really on offense and defense.
"Maybe the one area everybody was talking about coming into the game was the kicking game. That was very solid. I thought Tress Way, obviously when you have an 85-yard punt and kicked the ball off really well, covered well in all of those areas, seemed to do well. Patrick O'Hara made everything that he had kicked, though one he needs to kick better, to say the least.
"Offensively, we had a lot of good things happen. We started the game off really well. Landry (Jones) was really comfortable, moving well. DeMarco (Murray) with the big run. We ran the ball really pretty well for most of the night, although there were some occasions in there where you're getting three, four (yards) that we feel, maybe how they were playing us, we ought to be able to get eight, nine. Those are the things we're trying to work on. A few times, Landry aborted protection when it was there and got a little hurried or rushed for whatever reason. Landry is a sharp guy, a smart guy and has played a lot. I'm sure getting back into the swing of things he'll realize that and see it and continue to make good, solid improvement like he always does.
"I thought our receivers stepped up and played well. It was good to see Cameron Kenney come on and really make some good, competitive plays. Dejuan Miller made some plays. And of course, Ryan Broyles was one of our players of the game, another huge night. Such a special player and competitor, the way he plays. DeMarco Murray, also over 200 yards, was the other player of the game.
"Defensively, we had some breakdowns in the secondary where we were in position to make some plays. A couple of times we get our back turned to the quarterback and ball where you can't make a play. That shouldn't happen, you have to be in a position to play the ball. Another time or two in man-to-man, we bit on a stock route, turns up on us. Jamell (Fleming) on one play just, poor bump-and-run, gets beat on the side on a fake. But the rest of night Jamell had I think four or five passes broken up, he had an interception, he had ten tackles. That's kind of the life of a DB. You can do great all night, you have one play that you're not and it sticks out to everybody. What I see in these guys that have all made these plays before is they were in position to make them, which is also a plus. We just have to be able to finish on a few of those and play the ball better. I feel confident we'll be able to do that and have a solid defense.
"The rest of the night, I thought our front four played well. All the different guys that rotated did a nice job. Same thing at linebacker. Again, in the secondary for a good part of the day we were excellent, but it only takes a few breakdowns to have a poor day. Two players of the game defensively were Quinton Carter and Jeremy Beal. Played really well. Some other guys on offense, Trey Millard really did a nice job too. He's a guy that, again sometimes playing his position at tight end, fullback, h-back type. For a young guy and getting out there for his first time he was very, very good.
"Getting into this week, it's exciting that Florida State is coming here. New coach Jimbo Fisher, not new to them, he's been there a long time, but now as the head coach, has done an excellent job. You look at their production offensively. Christian Ponder does an excellent job at quarterback. You can see the maturity as a senior. He's very athletic, more so than people probably talk about with his ability to run and his feet. Excellent arm. They have a lot of skilled players, fast guys as you expect when you watch a Florida State team. And an experienced offensive line that always does a good job.
"Defensively, they have my brother Mark Stoops running the defenses. They're different than they were a year ago in their structure, probably a little more zone defense. A little bit more of our style of defense. In their first game they really played well. You could see the discipline in players who are in positions to make plays. Again, you see an athletic team; guys that can run and play well. They have some excellent special team players, a big, strong punter who hits the ball. He averages around 41 yards. Greg Reid, also a return man that led the nation a year ago in punt returns, is also an excellent skilled guy with great speed. We'll have a lot of emphasis through the week on where we're punting the ball and getting some hang time and good coverage hopefully.
"Outside of that, it's a tradition-rich program at Florida State, a team that's won a good number of championships through the years. We realize what a big challenge it'll be, but an exciting one here this week."
On the passing performance versus Utah State:
"Early on it was positive and good. And then, somewhere late second quarter in the middle part of the game, it wasn't as consistent as it was early or as it needed to be. Someone had said it the other day, it was kind of uneven. It wasn't where it needs to be. I will say we held quite a few things that we didn't show that we've been working on, which didn't help us. We didn't execute as well in some areas as we should've."
On how facing a mobile quarterback will prepare the defense for Christian Ponder:
"It helps a lot. Obviously, Florida State's offense is like night and day compared to what we just faced, the triple option and the style Utah State played. It's different that way, but it's something we emphasize. We took a lot of time on tape on how to not let him out of the pocket, how to keep him in the pocket where we can stay in front of him. Those kind of things. It was good to see him and good experience going into this next game."
On Tom Wort:
"He did well outside of the really poor and foolish penalties. Outside of that, he had a really good day. But those were huge. That negated the positive play that he had. He was where he needed to be, tackling. He did a real good job outside of that."
On going up against his brother Mark:
"There are not any real positives. We all get around and watch each other. Whether I know a guy or not you can see what he's doing. There's structural similarities of course. He being with Mike (Stoops) and Mike coming from here. A lot of them are common to a lot of teams, structure wise. I don't see that as a big deal. As for negatives, there are many. You don't really want to play your brother. I've said a lot that you want to play your brother in the championship game. Because not only is someone going to lose, but someone is going to win the championship too. That's really the only time you're looking to do it."
On Christian Ponder:
"What makes him so good is first his experience, maturity. Then you have skill and talent throwing the football. He has good feet. He makes quick decisions. All of that. Of course, they always have good receivers and tight ends so you just have to be disciplined in coverage, mix up our coverages, try and get pressure to him. It's the same formula really every week. When you're playing an excellent quarterback, pressure always matters. You need to have a good technique and discipline in your coverage."
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Senior DE Jeremy Beal |
On the pass rush vs. Utah State:
"I thought it was average. The pass rush was good but we just couldn't contain him (Diondre Borel) on Saturday but hopefully it will be better next week."
On the return of Frank Alexander and Pryce Macon:
"It will help the rotation a lot. Frank was supposed to be our starting defensive end and Pryce is a fifth-year senior. Anytime you miss those two guys in your rotation, it's definitely going to hurt. But I'm glad we have them back this week."
On the defensive performance vs. Utah State:
"I thought we played very well at times and at other times we didn't play very well. That's just the story and we were very inconsistent. Hopefully next week we'll be better and more consistent."
On the Florida State game:
"For what I've seen so far, they are a very good team, very talented and a good offensive scheme. It's going to be a tough game come Saturday."
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Senior FS Quinton Carter |
On the defense against Utah State:
"As a defensive player you never want to see anything like that especially with so many passing yards. The majority of the game was great, it's only a few big plays that makes it go wrong. You have something to prove every game especially when you go out and have an embarrassing show like that. You feel that you have a lot to prove."
On Florida State:
"They're a great team and we have to prepare and practice hard and get ready to show up. They have a great tradition and they are a great team."
On the Florida State offense:
"Kind of reminds me of our offense. They have a good quarterback and they have a nice run game, as well as a nice pass game to complement each other."
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Sophomore C Ben Habern |
On the Utah State game:
"Going back and watching film, we realize that we missed a lot of opportunities: had a touchdown called back, had some penalties in the redzone and had a tipped ball that got intercepted in the redzone. So going back and looking at those little mistakes that are definitely correctable and going back and looking at the offensive line and realize that we were a couple blocks away from DeMarco getting over 300 yards rushing.
"Going back and watching that film we realize we were pretty close to putting 52 points up on the board. That's one thing we're still kind of progressing and working on, getting the little kinks out and everything like that, but I still feel like we played a pretty good game."
On Florida State:
"Florida State is a great team. They have a rich tradition. They've won national championships and conference championships, so they're a great team. We're just really excited to play them. We know they've got a lot of talent and we know that once we go out there, we're going to be playing against a lot of great players and some of the best maybe in the nation. We know if we play well against them, then we feel like we can play against anybody in the country."
On having the nation's longest winning streak:
"That's something that's a pretty big deal, especially in college football. We know that if we have that winning streak, we want to keep it going. We don't want to lose obviously. Knowing that coming in is a team like Florida State, we know that we got to be on our toes and we got to be ready to play a great game because if we're not careful, they could take that winning streak away from us. But it's a cool deal knowing that we have that, and playing at home in front of our fans is definitely helpful; they help us a lot when we get that energy going."
Oklahoma Press Conference - 9/9/25
Tuesday, September 09
Sooner Sports Talk - 9/8/25
Monday, September 08
Sooner Football With Brent Venables - 9/7/25
Sunday, September 07
FB Highlights: OU 24, Michigan 13
Saturday, September 06
