Oklahoma 34, Tennessee 10 - Postgame Quotes

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS

Opening Statement

“I was really pleased with our overall play. I want to compliment Butch Jones and his staff. I really think they are doing an excellent job there at Tennessee. They have a lot of good football players on their team. Overall, I'm just excited about the way our guys have played. Really, for the most part, we're playing really smart and with good discipline. I thought Trevor was really excellent. He moved the ball really well. He missed a few opportunities but still scored on quite a few opportunities through the first half to build a lead.

“I thought our defense was exceptional. They really controlled the line of scrimmage and the run game. They took the run game away the entire night. Late there in the second half, they had two runs in which they got some yards. It is misleading compared to all of the negative and zero-yard runs they had. I thought we got great pressure on the quarterback, and forced turnovers. I thought Julian Wilson had a record night in the way he covered and got the interception. Zach Sanchez, again, had a huge play. They guys up front were just all over the quarterback. I thought they were really good. Michael Hunnicutt was good on the night. I'll have to see what happened on the one block at the end, but the kicking game was solid again. It was a good win and we will see where it brings us tomorrow.”

On what it does for his team when they start fast:

“It just shows you have come prepared to play and ready to execute. It doesn't give you that much comfort when it's early and you still have another two and a half to three quarters to go. You better keep playing. But it is a positive, it gives you energy and it gives you a little boost like that.”

On what it does for his team when his defense scores so often:

“It juices everybody up. It gets the defense hungry for more, it gets the offense excited and it makes a big difference when you make those kinds of plays.”

On if he had a good feeling even when Tennessee almost pulled within 10:

“I thought we were controlling (the game). The odd thing is, before the screen pass that sets up that touchdown, if we're not offsides we're out of it. We already sacked him and they are punting, so we kind of helped. The same thing with the three points in the second half, I knew with the wind we should have punted safe, so there isn't a chance of the ball bouncing off of anyone. I really kicked myself for that, because we helped them get those three points by our mistake. I can live with it the way it happened. I felt positive in the way the game was being played.”

On what Zach Sanchez had to do to get ready to play this week:

“He practiced all week, we just didn't do any tackling drills with him. He's done those so much through the years that he isn't going to forge tin a week. He practiced, so he was prepared to play. He will be prepared next week.”

On LB Eric Striker being so disruptive:

“He is so disruptive. Out there on the field, he is hard to block. He is like a Tasmanian devil out there just running all over the place. He is playing great. He is really disruptive.”

On his defense having great speed:

“Yeah, that's fair to say. We're really strong. There is great speed on it and we have size too. We're bigger than we have been, stronger than we have been and we are playing a lot more disciplined because we know what we are doing. We have it narrowed down, Mike and the other defensive coaches, of the package we're running and we run it really well. We're not having mistakes.”

On WR Sterling Shepard's consistency:

“Sterling is a great player. He is a guy that we always want to try to fin more ways to get him involved in big plays and he can do it. He is having a great year.”

On RB Samaje Perine:

“Samaje gets in there in the second half, and again, he is fresh. He gets in there and he is pounding it. He is a strong, physical player. He has a great base to him. He does everything you want. He catches the ball. He was a big boost there in the second half.”

On almost giving Hunnicutt a shot at a 53-yard field goal:

“I probably should have. He hit a 55 or 56-yarder in warm-ups. I was just thinking, two yards and we can get it, but I probably should have. I have a ton of confidence in him. I should have done it to be quite honest.”

On if how they have played sets them up for the next four games:

“Well, it doesn't set you up for it. My whole deal is we have got to grow from it. We have to better from what we did tonight and see if we can still be better and improve on fundamentals and certain disciplines. To me, it's about growing through it and getting better. We have to be better next week and that's what we have to keep pushing for.”

On if Tennessee is physically talented enough to give them a good gauge on their performance:

“I think they are really talented. They had a lot of great looking players out there. I eyeballed a bunch of them through the years. They match up well, they have great size, speed, good athletes. Yes, I thought they were really good.”

On if Jordan Phillips is okay after not seeing much time in the second half:

“Yeah, he is fine to my understanding. We wanted to get a bunch of guys some snaps.”

On his secondary:

“They're playing really well. They are not making mistakes. They are competing for balls and they're making big plays. It may be as good of a three game stretch as we have had.”

On how much they have improved in the receiving aspect:

“I think we are making good strides there. Durron (Neal) is a guy that I continue to see every week and through the summer really come along. He is capable of making big plays along with Sterling. Blake (Bell) out there in space is a great target and he catches it so well. We just need to keep trying to improve.”

On if Tennessee was daring them to throw:

“Oh yeah. Absolutely. They were in there trying to muck up the run and game, and did some. We popped a few here and there when we needed to and that's why we keep going with it.”

On if last year Trevor (Knight) would have had trouble with that:

“The first couple of games, yeah. We also had trouble with drops and protection and a lot of issues. Again, everyone wants to talk about him, but some of the other things in our early games weren't smooth yet either. They are smooth now.”

On if the team has built on how it finished last season:

“Well, I think we are better than last year. It's not even comparable to last year, the way we started that season and how we started this season. It's like night and day. Now, that can't be the end all. This is only the third game. We have to keep pushing and improving.”

On S Julian Wilson dropping the ball in the end zone:

“I didn't know he dropped it. In fact, I didn't know why they were reviewing it. I said, 'Man, if I were you I would have gone an extra five yards'. I guess he was pretty tired. “

On the steadiness of RB Keith Ford:

“Keith has great hands and is really explosive out there in space. He has played really well.”

On if he has seen enough from Samaje Perine to believe he could fill in for Keith Ford if he needed to:

“Absolutely. We love him. You saw him out there tonight. He's an excellent runner. Even when there isn't much there he finds a way to make something happen with his power.”

On Jordan Phillips' celebratory dance:

“Yeah, I was concerned about it. It was a third-down stop. You get a celebration penalty, they are on the field again and we aren't running off the field. There are a few things we have to talk about.”

On if it has felt good to live up to expectations:

“I don't feel that we have done much yet. I have all of the respect in the world for Tennessee. All I'm saying is that it is just three games. We have a long year and we have to keep getting better. At this point we have done pretty well.”

On the crowd:

“I thought they were great. I appreciate the fans. They were awesome with the way everyone participated and got involved in the game. It really makes a difference to the players.”

On Tennessee QB Justin Worley:

“I made sure I saw him after the game. He is a really good quarterback. He throws it well and really showed a lot of toughness. I think he is going to have a really good year.”

OKLAHOMA OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOSH HEUPEL

On the offense today:

“It started fast and it obviously did not finish the way we needed to, kicking the field goals early in the ball game. We need to execute better on third down and we need to execute better on tight zone as we move down the road.”

On how Trevor Knight performed:

“Trevor played great, was very decisive and accurate with the football. He moved in the pocket and was very accurate on the run, as well. I did not like a couple of the third downs later in the game, but, all around, he played really well.”

On improvements in the pass game:

“We have gotten better in the pass game in the last three weeks. In game one to week two and week two to week three. We need to continue that trend, but (Knight) is a young enough quarterback that he will continue to get better.”

On Knight running the ball:

“Because of the way they were fitting some things we were able to use the quarterback in the run game tonight a little bit at times. It gave us one-on-one opportunities, and I thought we took advantage of that early in the ball game. I think we can better in all areas, throwing it and running it, and certainly in the second half we needed to be better at that and using the clock.

On Keith Ford:

“Keith is physical and does a good job of setting up his blocks and using his keys to get him in the right spot. He is a really good player and we are going to continue to keep him as a big part of what we are doing.”

On Blake Bell in his new position as tight end:

“Played well at times. Obviously we are in a critical short-yard situation and we jump offsides. I thought he did a lot of positive things at the end of the half that were big for us.”

OKLAHOMA'S DOMINIQUE ALEXANDER

On the defensive play this week:

“We prepared really well this week. Everything we saw, and this is how we did practice, it's the same thing we saw in the game. When we saw it in the game it was a lot more clear to us and we were just flying to the ball, and therefore we were making a lot more plays.”

On the big plays the defense made:

“We believe that we are the top defense in the country, and we try to go out there and show it every week. Especially run defense. I think we had them in negative yards rushing before halftime, and I think that's like the third week in a row doing that.”

OKLAHOMA BLAKE BELL

On the false start penalty:

“Yeah it was [frustrating]. It was a little different for me, but there's no excuse. I can't do that and I told the team that. But I got to correct that and work on that this week and make sure that doesn't happen again.”

On starting quickly:

“I think it's just mindset, you know. Getting the guys ready to go and being ready to play. Just getting ready to play and the coaches do a good job of doing that for us.”

On running an up tempo offense:

“I think Trevor's (Knight) doing a great job of actually seeing the coverage and giving me the good ball, so props to him and the o-line doing a good job blocking. Like I said, I think we have a lot more of that to come and it's something we can start working on and getting better.”

OKLAHOMA'S TREVOR KNIGHT

On starting quickly:

“I think coming out and starting quick in the game was big for us. We got three (points) on that first drive, not necessarily what we want, but came back and got a touchdown and jumped on them pretty quick. That was big for us. We need to continue to come out at halftime and get a good drive going like we did, but then continue that going into the second half. We sputtered there on a few drives, and we want to keep continuing to push it and push it down the field into the third and fourth quarter and put some points up at the end.

“But overall, great team win. Defense played amazing down the stretch there with a couple of big turnovers for us. It was a big team win for us.”

On Keith Ford's performance:

“You hand the ball off to Keith and he's going to get yards for you. He's such a physical back, and just sees the field so well, and that was big tonight. Hit a few shots, hit a few shots, and then open it up for him. He got that touchdown there pretty early, so just continuing to give him the rock. Our offensive line did a great job of mashing them off the ball at the beginning of the game and just opening things up for him.”

OKLAHOMA'S QUENTIN HAYES

On the defensive pressure:
“I don't think any offense wants to be constantly pressured like that. It causes them to hurry up and make mistakes.”

On having pressure from all parts of the defense:

“It can be very disruptive as you see. It's in me sometimes. It's in the corners sometimes. It's in the linebackers sometimes. It's coming from everywhere. I think that's one thing that confuses offenses. They don't know where it's coming from.”

OKLAHOMA'S CHUKA NDULUE

On starting the energy with the defensive line:

“That's the all-stars up front with the d-line and the o-line. Defense wins championships. We believe in that and we try to strive for that. It all starts with the d-line. If we don't have a good day everyone else is going to suffer. We take that on us and we go out each and every day trying to get better.”

On the defensive penalties:

“It happens. It's like our chaplain said today, 'You're going to have storms and you have to look to your left and your right and get ready for the next play'. There's going to be adversity but it's what we do to overcome it. That's part of being human. You make mistakes but as long as you learn from it it's good.”

On the defensive plan:

“Shout out to Coach Mike (Stoops) and his crew. They drew out the perfect plan for this game. They put us in good situations. They put athletes where they're supposed to be. They've been doing this for longer than I've been born, so they know what to expect with certain tendencies and certain formations. They put in the right call at the right time.”

OKLAHOMA'S SAMAJE PERINE

On what was working tonight:

“We were just able to go out there and our line was able to open up some holes for us. We hit them full speed, full force and we were able to get a couple of yards.”

On Keith Ford:

“Keith (Ford) is always a hard runner. He's always giving 100 percent even in practice. It was no surprise. I knew he was going to go out there and do his best.”

On getting a lot of playing time in the second half:

“It shows that the coaches have trust in me and they trust in what I can do and trust that I can hold onto the ball. It's just a great feeling that early on you have the coaches' trust.”

On the running back by committee:

“We go out there before the game and coach tells us that we'll constantly be rotating in and we just go out there and give it all we have while we're in during a few short plays and if we're in there longer we give our all and if we're in there shorter we give our all. It's a continuous thing.”

On the OU crowd:

“The crowd was great. In those big third downs they helped the defense a lot. They were super loud. The loudest I've ever hard. It was great to be out there in the middle of all of it.”

OKLAHOMA'S ZACK SANCHEZ

On his pick:

“I had to make up for not being able to tackle tonight. For me to make a play like that was huge for the momentum of the defense and making up for trying to tackle with one arm. Regardless, I should have made those tackles, so I had to do something to redeem myself.”

On being disappointed in his performance even after the win:

“We want to be perfect individually and as a group. It's a big win for us but we'll still go back and look at the film and we still have some things we need to fix and critique, myself included. Especially myself. We're hard on each other and we hold each other accountable. I think that's what makes this defense so good, so that type of stuff is what has us running in the right direction.”

On the defensive front:

“Those guys up front are dogs. They're relentless. Sometimes I feel like we have the best front in the country. Our front seven are dominant. They've got motors. They don't stop. From Strike (Eric Striker) to Tap (Charles Tapper) to Chuka (Ndulue) to Big J (Jordan Phillips) and Dom (Dominique Alexander) and Jordan (Evans) and Geneo (Grissom). Those guys are just relentless guys. If you can have a front like that it definitely makes your job on the back end easier."

OKLAHOMA'S STERLING SHEPARD

On getting the win:

“It was a real good win. We had a lot of momentum going through the game. We just executed the game plan. It was all around a good game. We could have cleaned up special teams a little bit, but other than that it was a good game.”

On Keith Ford:

“Keith is a tremendous runner. He's going to give you power and speed as well, so he did a great job going with that early on. We got the ball in his hands and Keith, that's what he does best.”

On getting field goals verses touchdowns:

“It's one of those things. We just try to keep pushing in the red zone. We'd like to score but sometimes it doesn't work out that way, and that's something we'll correct in practice. We know we've got to get seven or six against West Virginia. They put up a lot of points. So, we're moving on to the next week.”

OKLAHOMA'S ERIC STRIKER

On his performance against the Volunteers:

“My attitude is relentlessness, and I'll never stop. That's every series I go out there, and that's my attitude. I will never give up. I will never stop. I will keep going 'til the clock says zero.”

“It's hard for the [opposing] offense. They can't get anything going when the pressure's like that. We work on that through practice and we pride ourselves on that.”

On quality competition:

“This was really fun. The first two games, you get bored. The coach takes you out, you're sitting, messing with the student section or talking to referees and stuff, just clowning. But this one I was all in—I guess I got out, he pulled me—but it was fun being out there. It's fun out there. Another opportunity to go out there and make plays, so I like that.”

OKLAHOMA'S JULIAN WILSON

On crossing the goal line on his pick-six:

“I was looking down, and once I'd seen red I knew I could drop the ball. I don't know, I guess the felt like they needed to review it, but I knew I was in the end zone.

“Coach Stoops came and asked me, 'Did you get over the goal line?' and I said, 'Yes. I was looking down and once I'd seen red, I dropped the ball.'”

On playing with intensity:

“I feel like I play with intensity every time I step on the field. I always have to have that chip on my shoulder. Nothing's going to be given to me and I have to work for everything I've got, so I go out there every Saturday and try to be an asset to my team.”

On the Sooners' secondary:

“The secondary is playing great right now, but we still have room to improve, and that's why Mike [Stoops] does a good job of keeping us humble and letting us know we're never perfect, there's always room for improvement. So we're going to go in and review the tape on Monday and get ready for next week.”

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUTCH JONES

Opening Statement

"First of all, I'm proud of our guys. I thought they competed until the end. I thought we improved in some areas, but when you go on the road against a quality opponent like Oklahoma, you can't turn the football over. That was obviously critical. A football game can come down to two or three plays. You never know which plays are going to make the difference. I thought that the one critical play was at the end of the first half. You're hoping to go in, possibly 13-7 at halftime and we get a turnover off the field that doesn't go our way, and they score a touchdown. It kind of changes momentum a little bit. Three-and-outs, I thought we were behind the field position game most of the night. You have to force three-and-outs and flip field position. I thought we were behind on that most of the night. Again, I'm proud of the way our guys fought. It'll be a great reference point moving on, for what it takes to play winning football on the road, and giving yourself an opportunity to win the football game. You can't have mistakes; you can't have mistakes at critical moments in the game. I thought our special teams improved a little bit. It was great to see [the] blocked field goal. We will go back and work to be a better football team in this bye week."

On the challenges presented with facing the fourth ranked Sooners:

"There's a reason they're the fourth ranked team in the country. They're a junior and senior-dominated team upfront. They do a great job schematically. They're well coached. We knew that. Trying to change launch points and all that, it was a great growing-up session for our youngsters, but I thought at times we did some really good things. We were able to run the ball a little more effectively in the second half. That was great to see. They're very disruptive, they run to the football and they do a great job."

On the defense's strong showing in the second half:

"I thought we were in good physical condition. That's a good football team [OU]. They possess, they challenge you in so many different ways schematically, and their skillset, they're big up front, they can run the football. They're a very talented team. I thought the defense kept playing. I thought they showed some resiliency. We didn't blink. We talked about not looking up at the scoreboard; just fighting, playing every single down, and having that “snap-and-clear” mentality."

On his team only having one penalty, and their discipline throughout the game:

"If you play with great effort, you don't turn the football over, and you play with discipline, you're going to win football games. We talk about discipline all the time. That's part of that discipline that we talk about with an exceptionally young football team. That is one of the positive points that we will continue to focus on. We can't be a team that beats ourselves, in order to have a chance."