Football Luncheon Media Session Quotes

September 08, 2014 | Football

By: Athletics Communications

Head Coach Bob Stoops
Tennessee Press Conference

Opening comment:
“Going back and recapping last Saturday's game with Tulsa, once again just very pleased with our overall play. I thought we did a really good job offensively running and passing. I commented, I don't know if it was accurate or not, but I looked up at one point in time and I think we were dead even in yards we gained rushing and yards we gained passing. We just did a really good job.

“I thought the offensive line played well and blocked well for the running game. Some guys up front, Nila Kasitati played and he, Daryl Williams and Adam Shead were recognized by Coach Bedenbaugh and the offensive guys as really having exceptional games.

“The running backs again were really tough and physical in how they ran. They made great cuts. Alex Ross showed great speed going 82 yards for one of the touchdowns, and Keith (Ford) was really physical in one of his. Those guys took care of the football, blocked well and did what they needed to do.

“Sterling Shepard had a career day. I'm really excited about Sterling and what he's been doing. He's just a really explosive player and there were some big plays from Trevor (Knight) to him. I thought Trevor played really well. We still want more in that in a couple of the deep balls Sterling was behind him a few times and we'd like to continue to improve our percentages there, but we still had quite a few big plays.

“Defensively, again really great, particularly in the first half with the first group. We really didn't yield but 90 yards in the entire first half. I thought the guys really tackled well and covered well and got great pressure to the quarterback and did an excellent job. I know we're a lot further along than a year ago with having fewer if any mental mistakes which really helps in the way we're playing.

“Michael Hunnicutt was again perfect on the day. He really did an excellent job. Nick Hodgson hit most of his balls as touchbacks and really played well also.

“It brings us up here to back home this week with Tennessee, a team that's really playing well here at the start of the season. They're 2-0. Coach Butch Jones and his staff do a great job. You can tell watching them on tape in their second year with the schemes that they're playing, guys are really playing well and are comfortable with what they're doing. Worley, their quarterback, has been really good and solid, so again, they're a good football team. When you watch them on tape you see a lot of speed running around and you see a lot of big guys. They've got a great looking team. I know they've recruited strong particularly the last couple of years with Coach Jones.

“We recognize it as another big challenge and an exciting challenge. I know everybody has been looking at this game and it's an exciting game when you play these games out of conference year and year. This is another one of those exciting games and we're looking forward to the challenge of it on Saturday.”

On the injury situation:
“Zack Sanchez is expected to practice all week and be ready for the game. Charles Walker will be a couple of three weeks depending on how his knee heals.”

On how they will prepare this week:
“It's always the same. We're pretty methodical in how we go through the week and how we prepare. On Monday we work certain parts of the game plan. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday it stays pretty much the same. It's no different.”

On DE Matt Dimon:
“Matt (Dimon) was feeling better yesterday so we'll find out today how much he's able to go.”

On LB Caleb Gastelum:
“We're just able to do it right and since we're able to do it we did it and we're excited for Caleb (Gastelum). He had a big day. I guess I forgot to mention defensively, Dom Alexander had one of his best days he's had here. Caleb came in with a tackle for loss, a sack, eight tackles and an interception. He will be recognized as one our players of the game. Chuka Ndulue and Dom Alexander too. It was available and we wanted to extend that to him.”

On how to eliminate mental mistakes:
“We emphasize coming off the sideline and you'd have to ask Josh (Heupel) to be more specific on it because we still practice and do things pretty much the same as we have, and it's just emphasizing coming off the sideline and really do it throughtout the game because for some reason we had trouble even off the sideline with the clock. We would wait to long to make the call or get someone out there, so outside of that I'm not too sure what has made that big of a difference.”

On QB Trevor Knight's progression:
“I think definitely when you look at the number of snaps he's taken from when he started a year ago to now the experience he has through a whole year and then the whole preparation leading up to the year naturally, he's much more prepared to start the game and it should only get better the more he plays. He's played really well and we believe it will only keep improving.”

On Tennessee's D.J. Johnson:
“He's really an excellent player. He was an All-SEC guy a year ago. He's big, physical and he runs well. He's an excellent player there in the middle of their defense, and he's a tough player.”

On whether players in the locker room sense a rivalry with the SEC:
“No. That's been overblown. We don't need to go there again. Let's talk about the players and the teams.”

On if the SEC rivalry motivates players:
“I like it if they're ready to play and if they do their job preparing to play, and I believe they will. Whatever works for them, that's okay. It isn't something I concern myself with.”

On how he revamped the Oklahoma program in 1999 & what Butch Jones may be going through:
“I can't speak to Tennessee because I'm not there, but I can speak to, and it's still fresh on my mind, how shockingly down our program was when I walked in from the feel of the players and their confidence and their attitude and the vibe around the team and the community and around the school and how negatively we were looked upon. We weren't looked upon as winners. We were looked upon in the other way as losers. It shocked me. To me it was about getting the attitude and the expectations there first. The expectations of what we were going to be like and building the players up to patting them on the rear end and put your arm around them and tell them they could do this and that they were capable. I think they were told a lot from everybody that they weren't capable for whatever reasons. It was trying to get that mindset right. That was the biggest challenge. Little by little it started to change and the expectations started to change.”

On Tennessee:
“Again we have great respect for the program and we understand the coaches being in their second season now and they're a better football team than they were a year ago. They recruited really well the last couple of years. They're 2-0 and they've looked really good up to this point, so we understand all of that. We've got to be prepared. Our focus is not on the other team but it's on how are we going to be our best? That's what we try to do and that's what we'll try to do this week.”

On whether he uses the state of the OU program upon his arrival for motivation:
“All the way back there? That's not happening. I don't need that for motivation, but I do keep the depth chart from that first time, and it's different. Those guys, I love them all. That first team did a great job coming together, and one of my favorite wins was that homecoming win against Texas A&M. We beat them pretty bad, and they had been beating us pretty bad for quite a few years ahead of that. That 1999 team is special, but again it's a lot of work getting that mindset back.”

On where he keeps the depth chart from the '99 team:
“It's in my office.”

On Tennessee QB Justin Worley:
“Really good football player. Big guy; throws a great ball. He's got some excellent receivers he's throwing it to with size and speed so he executes really well.”

On what he tells QB Trevor Knight about sliding:
“Coach (Josh) Heupel does a great job with that and that's something they'll talk about when they see the opportunity. If it's a yard short – how to be aware of it and how to try and pick it up in a way that avoids contact.”

On LB Jordan Evans:
“Jordan (Evans) did a really good job. He's played well and I again expect the more experience he gets the better he's going to get.

On RB Keith Ford becoming a better receiver:
“He has done a great job; he's got great hands. I don't ever recall him having poor hands it's just that he's gotten to where he can catch those difficult ones and make it look easy. So he has worked hard on it and all of those guys have really good hands which makes a big difference in their confidence just getting the ball out there in space.”

On getting offensive line players back to full strength and how good they can be:
“Yeah, they're a strong unit. We have a lot of depth in the offensive line, right now. For all of those recruits out there, we are losing five guys. But, these guys right now are really quality players and have played a lot. They're all experienced, they've got the size and they're playing together really well.”

On how WR Durron Neal has improved:
“I've been talking a lot about Durron (Neal) since the start of camp. He's really come on. It's his time now and he's making plays, he's consistent, he's working hard in practice and showing up. He made a few nice plays the other day, as well, so we expect Durron to have a big year.”

On if they will wear alternate uniforms on Saturday:
“We haven't decided that yet. We're checking into it. Some of it might have to do with the production. Meaning the shipments and if it is all prepared to go.”

On if deciding on the uniform is something they will announce before the game or surprise the fans with:
“I don't know. What should I do? I haven't thought about that. I've thought about the football game, not about the uniform.”

On players not making as many mental mistakes:
“I think for a couple of reasons. One is – as I've said this a lot – being a full year into the system. Two things – the players understand it better and even as coaches, we've simplified it in what we're doing. There's still enough there, but we're not doing too much to where the players can have a chance to follow it up so we've found a good balance, I guess, on how much is enough and they totally get it to where we're not going to have a mistake but we're still giving the offense enough to prepare for.”

On not getting many penalties so far this season:
“It has been that way in these first two games. The factors we can control, regardless of who we're playing, we're controlling them in a good way – not having mistakes and not having line of scrimmage procedures or penalties that don't involve the play.”

On the new guys playing in the secondary:
“They're all playing really well. All of those guys had really good games – Ahmad Thomas, Steven Parker, Hatari Byrd, (Quentin) Hayes – all of those safeties played well. We played a lot of them. Jordan Thomas came in and played well; Stanvon Taylor played well. We're getting a lot of guys in there that we're really excited about their progress.”

On if they will put more emphasis on the players behind DB Zack Sanchez as he returns from injury in the Tulsa game:
“We'll work them the same as we always do. They always get a lot of work. You go through a two hour practice and they're training to get ready to play as much as Zack (Sanchez) is.”

On if he would compare Adrian Peterson to RB Alex Ross:
“I don't want to go comparing to A.D. (Adrian Peterson). That's not fair. Alex (Ross) is a big, strong, powerful, fast guy so hopefully he'll just continue to play the way he has.”

On how big-time, nationally-televised games help with recruiting:
“They help. They're exciting games. We sell the fact that we go to Tennessee next year and we have a home-and-home with Ohio State with the recruits we're recruiting so you're going to get the opportunity to play in big games like that, they're always exciting. It provides for hopefully a great home environment here this week so they do help us in recruiting. We do have quite a few guys coming this weekend so hopefully, again, the atmosphere is exciting and it's what you want – it's the atmosphere you want to play in.”

On what excites him most about RB Keith Ford:
“He's powerful, he's strong, he's got great quickness, speed, he's got hands – he's got everything you hope for. He's a solid player.”

On how much of an advantage it is to have three guys at RB:
“I think more than anything the advantage of being able to throw fresh people at a defense to be able to continue to run the football with fresh legs. Had Alex (Ross) carried the ball maybe 20 times already the other night, he may not have busted that all the way. It's just, you're able to have a fresh set of legs coming at the defense all the time and they all have power and size to them to go with it.”

On RB Keith Ford acknowledging when he was recruiting that the days of a 30-carry running back are over with:
“Well and that's okay. If you're their parent you'd probably say, 'How many carries does a guy have? Even as he enters the NFL, how overworked or underworked has he been?' So, that's all right, I would think. And again, with tempo plays and with you getting maybe 80, 85 snaps a game, some people were even getting 100, is that guy truly able to get 50 of them? That's hard to do. And if you're playing at top-speed. So, it works.”

On if guys being in the mold of being every-down RBs even though they aren't gives the offense advantage:
“It does because they've got great hands and they're good out in space catching the ball, running routes, so you can leave them in. They're all physical, to step up and protect the quarterback and they have in a couple of instances already. They've stepped up and have been great at knocking people back and protecting the quarterback.”

Big 12 Teleconference

On the Tennessee program:
“I've got great respect for Coach (Butch) Jones. Butch and his staff are doing a fantastic job. I know they've recruited really well. You can tell when you turn on the film, you see a lot of really big, physical, good looking athletes, with excellent speed and quickness. Being their second year in the program, watching their tape here in the first couple of games, you can see they're more comfortable in everything that they're doing. That's natural, now that they're in their second year, with all their schemes and what they're trying to do. They look like they're really playing well.”

On preparing the importance of preparing two quarterbacks (starter & backup) to play each week:
“Well you always try to prepare two quarterbacks each week. This isn't anything new. I think it's something we've always been trying to do. Your starter being injured has always been a possibility. None of us need a wakeup call with that, just because we've seen a couple people go down. We're always aware that it can happen.

“It's difficult. Each game is so important. It is hard to give meaningful snaps. That all sounds great until a guy goes in there and throws an interception for a touchdown. Now all of a sudden you're holding on; trying to win a game. The other factor is how many snaps your starter has had. In our case, our guy hasn't started a lot of games and played through a bunch of games. We're trying to get him in a position to be more and more comfortable. There's always a lot to consider.”

On using backup quarterbacks in meaningful game situations:
“You don't see it much, to be quite honest with you. It's all a grand idea until you get beat, or if you make some mistake that gets you beat. Then you're a fool for doing it. There's always people who love to talk when they're not in the position and don't have to do it.

On the injury status of CB Zack Sanchez and DE Charles Walker:
“Zack is expected to practice and be fine for the game. Charles will be out a couple, three weeks. I'm unsure right now.”

On whether OU's scheduling process has changed over the years:
“No. If you've watched us since I've been here and Joe Castiglione, our athletic director since 1999, we have always played difficult, challenging teams from strong conferences, every year. We've had years where we've had, I want to say, Oregon and Alabama in the same year. We just got off of a four year series with Florida State and Notre Dame for a home and home. We've had series with Miami, Oregon, Alabama in the past.

“We've been doing this, going on 16 years. We've always done it. The fact that we're now in a round robin, playing nine conference games hasn't changed that. So when we play another one of these kind of games it's like a 10th conference game.

On DE Geneo Grissom's physical attributes:
He has quite a few. He's a great athlete. Geneo's a big guy; has great range. I don't know what they measure him at. He's probably 6'4” 260 pounds. He can run; he's got great hands. I guess the best way to say it is, if our 120 players on our team had a pickup basketball game, he'd be one of the first couple picked. That's the kind of athlete he is, even with that size.

On the young wide receivers' progression:
“They're doing really well. Durron Neal had a really good game the other day. KJ Young has had two good games. The opportunities, they haven't had a ton of them, but they've done well. Those guys in particular have come on. Some other guys are getting better and better.”

On the three running backs at OU, if he's ever had that combination of size and speed:
Not quite that big. We've had big guys. DeMarco Murray and Adrian Peterson come to mind. Those are two great ones, but at the same time, not quite like these guys, no.”

On what he hopes to get out of big games:
“Well, you hope to get a win. That's the obvious thing. You have great respect for the teams you play and the talent they have on the field. The coaching staffs, they put them in good positions. You know you've got to play well. That's what you're trying to do.”

On the importance of the Big 12 performing well:|
“Anymore everybody's paying attention to your strength of schedule and things like that. I guess it's always important that your league plays well.”

Quarterback Trevor Knight

On how playing Tennessee changes his approach to the game:
“I try to take the same approach to every game and obviously with bigger games there comes a little bit more morale and everything. You come into the locker room and everyone's talking about it. I try not to listen to that stuff too much but it is a big game for us, one, because it is the next one. I know that's the big answer but also because it's Tennessee, an SEC team coming to town. They're a great squad. They are going to be the best group up front that we've seen so far this year so we're excited about playing them.”

On the challenges the Tennessee defense will present on Saturday:
“They're big and physical. They're a bunch of big guys. They can fly around. It's going to be a challenge for us, but we're prepared.”

On how he thought he passed in the Tulsa game:
“On some of those deeper routes I just have to make those connections. Most of that's me just settling down, taking a little bit more time to get the ball out there and making that completion.”

Running Back Keith Ford

On the job that the offensive line is doing:
“They're doing a great job. They're the backbone of the offense. Everything really goes by them, from the pass protection to the run blocking. We just all work together as a whole.”

On if it is tough to find a rhythm when alternating carries so much:
“It's really not. We're a group, all of us running backs, all three of us. We really just help each other out. We make sure we are doing our best, make sure we are running hard before we even go in and when you're standing on the sideline you always have to be ready.”

On how he got rid of his ball security issues from last season:
“Just doing the little things during the offseason and really working on ball security. You always have to protect the ball and you have to find ways to protect the ball regardless. Even if one defender is coming to you, you don't know where they are coming from. You just have to protect it when you're going through the hole. I used to hold it like I did in high school, high and tight. Coach Gundy really adjusted it and made it a little bit easier for me to carry the ball.”

On if the running backs group finds themselves pushing each other:
“Of course. In that running back room we are all a family. We're all friends and we encourage everybody to do our best. Even though we aren't in, if somebody gets a big run or if somebody scores a touchdown that's not just him, that's all of us, because of how hard we compete with each other week in and week out. It's just that friendship we have and the bond we have.”

Linebacker Geneo Grissom

On playing on a big stage against Tennessee:
It's huge to make an impression. Coach Mike (Stoops) says it all the time, it's not really about who we are playing, it's about us, and we have to keep that in mind throughout every game. Prepare the same way, prepare with the same intensity every week and just make sure that we are always prepared when the game comes.

On the importance of this game and the playoff implications:
These are the games that people are going to definitely sit down and watch. In terms of adding any pressure, we just look at it as just another game. We have to prepare the same. Obviously this team is going to be the toughest team we've played so far this year. From here on out it's only going to get tougher.

On the team's mentality in big games:
I don't think that this team has any problems with guys being nervous or anything like that. We look forward to games like this. These are the games that I feel like our guys thrive in, with the whole world watching.

On his progression as a player in the last year:
I guess it's kind of hard to measure. I'm not playing the same position, but I feel like I've gotten better. I've got a greater understanding of the game from lots of different aspects in terms of dropping back into coverage and knowing what offenses are trying to do, instead of just knowing what the offensive line is going to do here and there. When they come out in this formation, what are we expecting? Things like that.

Daryl Williams

On what he wants the offensive line to be known as:
“We want to be the best offense in the country. We want to be nasty. We want an offense that people going to see are going to see on tape. We want to be fast, strong, physical people that our opposing team doesn't want to play.”

On playing against an SEC team:
“Nothing against those (Louisiana Tech and Tulsa), but we know this is higher competition so I think it's a big measuring stick.”

On how playing an SEC team affects how the running backs play:
“I think they're the same guys. They don't care what the competition level is. They're going to play it as they usually play it. So, they're going to get out there and try to kill it whoever we're playing it whether it be Tulsa, Tennessee, or Alabama.”