Stoops, Sooners Look to Right the Ship

NORMAN, Okla. -- Coach Stoops and Oklahoma players met with the media Tuesday in advance of this week's top-10 matchup at K-State. The Sooners and Wildcats kick off at 2:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday on ESPN.

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Head Coach Bob Stoops

Opening comments:
"Going back through and reviewing the Texas Tech game, it's really what I said after the game and after reviewing it and studying it, I felt that through the second quarter and the opening series of the third quarter we just got badly outplayed. When I say outplayed, I mean out performed on the field and out coached. It's our job to have our players ready to execute what we are trying to do. They scored their opening drive. We scored our opening drive, it's seven-to-seven. We go back and forth for the first quarter. The second quarter is really where it all fell out. We miss a field goal, they score a touchdown. We have a fumble, they score another touchdown. We go three-and-out four straight times after that. The defense through the second quarter gives up seven points, so there we are 24-7. The opening drive of the third quarter we go three-and-out again and they go score. You are in a situation where you are 31-7. I appreciate the players. They hung in there and battled back. We gave ourselves some chance there at the end to tie it or to win. We couldn't do that either. Give (Texas) Tech the credit they really executed the way they needed to in all parts of the game.

"There are a lot of areas that we obviously need to continue to work on. The guys yesterday had a really good attitude with the way they came to practice and the way they watched and studied the tape. Hopefully we can go out this week and make some improvements. The players are determined to do that and to work hard to keep pushing forward.

"Going up to Kansas State this week is a major challenge. You have a team that's 7-0. They have played well and continue to play well. Their offense is doing the best job, maybe of anybody, of rushing the football. They find different ways to run the football. They are doing a really good job of protecting the ball. I think they lead the league or maybe are second in the league in turnover margin. Defensively they have been very disciplined and structured and good in how they have played. I think they are one in total defense and two in scoring defense. I think we are number one and they are right behind us or real close. They are a team that is playing really well. We know it's always a ruckus environment going up there to Manhattan. It will be a big challenge, but our players are excited about the opportunity."

On the defense playing inconsistently:
"There is no one area. It depends on the personnel you are playing against. The other night they just really out executed us in the passing game and what we were able to cover. We will mix up our secondary. Aaron Colvin will be playing corner some and Sam Proctor at the safety position. We may have Gabe Lynn at corner and Aaron Colvin at safety some. There is still time for Jamell Fleming to be back toward the end of the week. He looks good in recovering."

On poor practice habits last week:
"You are going through some walk through adjustments and you are not making the proper adjustments. Maybe a guy is late and doesn't recognize what you are trying to do. Offensively there were more drops than we normally have. We had to go through repeats of who we are blocking or where the spacing of routes are supposed to be. There are a lot of little signs. You do it again. At the end of the day, though, you can tell that you just are not as sharp as you usually are as a team. You point it out to them as a coach. You correct it and this is what needs to happen to correct it. Give (Texas Tech) the credit, we could have had great practices and they still could have done that to us. I am sure they didn't have perfect practices where everything went just stellar either."

On missing Dominique Whaley and red zone issues:
"Dominique makes a difference. His strength and power is definitely different than some of the other guys. Some of the other things were just a lack of execution. Guys not picking up the run game with their number of blocks and their structure of the defense the way they need to. This is the biggest factor."

On Kansas State:
"They are really good at rushing the football. They lead the league in turnover margin, so they are playing smart. Time of possession they lead the league. They are playing structured defense. They are making teams have to beat them. There is a lot that is good. It's just good quality football. Statistically or not it does not really matter."

On if he felt the team wasn't ready on Saturday night:
"I don't believe that. I believe that at the end of the day you are not going to execute perfectly in every single game. I think too many times our guys are expected to. It's a long day. Just because we are not up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter or 35-7 at halftime something is wrong? That's not being fair of what is being expected of our players. These other teams work hard. They go to practice. We are not going to have it go our way all the time. Just because it doesn't, doesn't mean we aren't ready to play. I think that discredits the other team."

Sophomore DB Aaron Colvin

On playing corner:
"Corner feels natural to me, so when I went back to corner, I just got right into the groove of things. It is hard going from the field side to the boundary side and having a different level of play.

"It is a little difficult playing boundary corner; it is totally opposite than playing strong safety. You have to be a lot more patient at safety and at corner, things are always on the move. It is a big adjustment, but as the game went along I got more comfortable."

On anticipating making the position move:
"I worked a little bit at corner, but not too much. I always like to prepare for the worst. In practice, I was just preparing in case I did have to move to corner but I wasn't too positive."

On how the team is handling the loss:
"It is tough. We had such big expectations for the season, but things happen for the good and for the bad. We need to prepare for Kansas State this week, which is equally as good as a team, if not better. We need to put the loss behind us and get ready for this week.

"We have a very close team, so yesterday we had a player meeting to talk about what we need to do and what we want to accomplish as far as the season goes. I feel like we have a very close relationship - a very close bond so I feel like we will be able to bounce back."

On what Kansas State brings to the table:
"Their quarterback is an excellent athlete. They play hard, they play physical, and they have a little bit more of an old-school mentality. They are going to try to beat you up front and just outwork you."
On how the loss could be motivation for the team:

"It is great motivation, and we should be like that every week. Things didn't go our way last week, but all we can do is prepare; get in the film room even more, get our bodies' right, get guys healthy and just get ready to play this week.

"Taking a loss, I think is going to humble us as a team. I think it is going to cause guys to open their eyes up a little bit, but I think we will be able to get back on that horse very easily."

On being resilient after the loss:
"A lot of guys did not want to go watch film; a lot of guys did not want to see how we played. It was very very difficult, but at the same time we need to be resilient. We still have a chance, it is not over. Things could fall into place for us, so we just need to keep working and be ready every week."

On facing KSU's rushing attack:
"This team, you have to be physical. If you are not physical, we are going to have the same results as last week. Last week it was a little more passing happy with the offense, but this week they will run the ball straight up the gut so you have to be in the correct fits and you just have to be ready to play physical.

"I think we do very well against the run. Texas Tech was really our first test against pass; I think we can do well against pass. I feel like our front seven are one of the best in the country, and I feel like they will be ready."

Junior OG Tyler Evans

On response following home loss to Texas Tech:
"It's definitely a motivator. We lost and now we have to step our game up. If nobody steps up, there will be a lot of trouble. But, I feel as if this loss, yeah it hurts our season, but it also helps our season. It makes us realize we can actually lose. Now we have to respond by playing our real game.

On this week's preparation going into Kansas State:
"I think what we've been doing this week is going to help us to improve our game."

On Oklahoma's struggles with the run game:
"As you saw, we've been struggling with the run game. We've been practicing a lot and I think the number of reps, and the number of guys that have been getting in there is going to help us improve in the areas that we need. I mean, we're just one or two blocks away from having everyone on the same page and have those big runs broken for touchdowns."

On consistency with role players out due to injury:
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to get that consistency to keep rolling and also knowing that our starting center is out and that your left guard has to go to center. Gabe Ikard is doing a marvelous job. He helps us identify everybody like Ben (Habern) did. I feel if we didn't have guys step up in those positions, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Stoops, Sooners Look to Right the Ship

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