Offensive Media Session Quotes

Co-Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel

On if the team is playing smart football:
“You definitely find more as you watch the tape. The old adage is that it's never as good or as bad. We took care of the football last week, which is a positive thing. Our young guys and skill players have done it the last couple of weeks. The turnovers were on the quarterback last week. We have to keep that going here through Saturday night.”

On if he is happy with the fast starts after making an emphasis:
“Yeah, it is something we have always tried to emphasize around here. We are starting quicker, dating back to late last year. At the end of the day, our guys are executing at a high level and are really involved and we need to continue that.”

On Tennessee's defense:
“They're athletic, long, and tough in the interior. They have speed out on the edges with their corners. It's a huge test for us.”

On if you have to account for an All-American linebacker:
“Yeah, but at the same time he is in the middle of everything. At the end of the day, our guys have to body him and block him. He is long, athletic and can run sideline to sideline. He is very active inside the box. We have to do a good job in our identifications and find ways to get a hat on him.”

On if his experienced offensive line helps with that:
“Ty (Darlington) has done a great job at the center position and handling all of the things we put on his plate which is a lot. At the end of the day, our communication between our guards, tackles and tight ends has been pretty consistent.”

On if Ty Darlington ever shows that he is the young guy on the offensive line:
“No. He has been around here for a couple of years though. He played ball as a true freshman and got thrown into the action late in the week when our guy was medically ruled out. He went in and played against a good defense and played extremely well. He had a great player in front of him in Gabe Ikard who was an All-American. He continues to push and get better every single day and has taken advantage of every opportunity that he has gotten. That's why he has played the way he has the last couple of weeks."

On if it was good to get Cody Thomas some game snaps:
“Yeah. Obviously, would like to have the opportunity to do that and we were able to get him in. I thought he handled things extremely well and communicated well. He was accurate with the ball for the most part."

On if there is anything he tries to do scheme wise to exploit Tennessee's youth on defense:
“No, I mean, we are who we are. At the end of the day, offensively, I think you have to play to your personality and do things that get them outside of the comfort level and execute and that's what we have to do on Saturday.

On if Blake Bell can change how you attack a defense:
“His size and length gives you a different option out wide. I don't know if that is out in the slot or like we had him last week or is connected and runs out on the corner. From day one we have wanted to get him involved. We want to get him involved this week.”

On if Blake Bell is still picking up things and progressing:
“He is a pup at his position. He has been playing it for like seven whole months and he really doesn't have that much game experience underneath him. He is going to continue to get better as he sees more things.”

On if Tennessee is a tough team to line up against schematically:
“Yeah, multiple. They are playing some odd front this year, which they didn't play a ton last year. Obviously, we understand what they are seeing. We just have to continue to block accordingly.”

On throwing the deep ball on Saturday:
“Some good, some not so good. I think there were opportunities for more big plays out there. We could be better executing the quarterback and wide receiver on some off those. Also, understand that you aren't going to completely every deep ball. We feel like we are a lot better than we were early last year.”

On what the biggest difference is between Sterling Shepard now and a couple months ago:
“I think he is just growing into the position and playing out wide. He is understanding more and seeing different looks. At the end of the day I think it is easier to go inside to outside rather than outside to inside just because of the amount of bodies that are in the middle of the field.”

On how you don't lock in on one guy as a quarterback and spread the fiekd:
“I think at the end of the day with some our route combinations you're looking at it is based off of the safety rotation. At the same time, when there are one-on-ones across the field you are going to play to your best personnel and your best matchup. It may be Sterling, it may not be. We have to continue to develop, to have a comfort level and trust in all of our guys if we're going to have the type of passing game that we need.”

On If he thinks Trevor Is relying on Sterling:
“Is he relying on him? Is he solely going to him? No.”

On what he saw when Geneo Grissom was on offense at tight end:
“He is long and athletic. I think the move back with what we are doing defensively fits him to a tee. I think everyone could see his range when he dropped back into coverage and picked the ball off. He is tough to throw it over.”

On if he is happy with the wide receiver group as a whole:
“I feel like we have made some strides. We have had a young guy in K.J. (Young) step up and play well and handle the situation the way we hoped he would. At the same time, I think our passing game in general could be more precise and better in everything that we are doing.”

On what Trevor has done to calm down before games:
“I still get nervous too. You know what I mean? All that means is that you care. When you put in a lot of time and effort it means something to you. I think the biggest thing is that the speed of the game slows down and understanding defenses. Our offensive schemes have more time on task. You get into the flow of the game quicker and I think he has done a better job with that.

On if he reminds Trevor of how he played last time he was on a big stage:
“At the end of the day, we are only as good as our next performance and that one is Saturday night. Should he have confidence because of the way he has continued to execute? Yeah, absolutely.”

Co-Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell

On the game against Tulsa:
“Overall the guys have been fairly clean. We've executed well early in the game and also at the beginning of the third quarter, which is a big emphasis for us. We want to come out of the locker room at the third quarter just like we do at the beginning of the game, and we did a good job of that last week. We really want to continue that consistency and everybody be focused in. We still are making some mental mistakes that we don't want to make that we've got to push. I think everybody in college football is the same. Nobody's a finished product at this time of year. We're all working to improve and to clean up our weaknesses and we're the same as everybody else in that regard.”

On the offense's execution:
“We've started well and I think that's a credit to how they prepare during the week. It's just not Saturday.Saturday's the fun, and we talked about it today. The kids have already been watching Tennessee. They put the last game behind us. They really have a good work ethic and a good solid preparation ethic that will hopefully carry us on to have a great year.”

On Sterling Sheperd:
“Sterling has been the same since we've got him. He loves to play. Some kids just come out every day like it's a game because they love the game and they love to play. They love to compete and Sterling (Sheperd) is that kind of guy. It makes him a lot of fun to coach because he's very competitive, but I just think he's added more tools in his tool kit. He's doing different things. He's playing in the slot. He's playing outside. He's returning punts. He's just doing more. As you become a bigger part of the offense, there's more responsibility and he's taken that on. I grabbed him a few weeks ago. He was kind of dragging at practice, and I said, 'Wait a minute. You want all this action, you got a lot of work to do.' I said, 'Ryan never came out. Ryan was in there every snap.' There's an added bit of conditioning he has to take on and he's got more responsibility to handle more that we're asking him to do."

On playing Tennessee on Saturday:
“I just think it's natural. Obviously, Tennessee has great tradition playing in the SEC. It's only natural. You turn the film on and they're playing Alabama, they're playing Oregon, they're playing Auburn. They're playing some of the best teams in college football and it gets your attention. It gets all of our kids attention. It's a chance to come home. Obviously, play a night game, play on TV. Those are all the things kids come to Oklahoma for."

On Tennessee's defense:
“I think they're young, but I think they're athletic. Their linebackers are very athletic. They're corners can run. They're aggressive. Where going to have do do a great job of protecting the football, getting hats on hats, beating guys on man coverage. They've done a great job on third down. I think they're holding their opponents to 22 percent. So, we've got our work cut out for us. To be exact, to be really sharp in our execution and route running and timing and then covering these guys up. These guys are a little more athletic and can bounce around blocks. We're going to have to really do a great job of covering them up up front."

Offensive Lineman Nila Kasitati

On the buzz in the locker room this week:
“I don't think it matters who [the opponent] is. The guys are just pumped up. It's still early in the season so we still have camp on our minds and we're excited not to hit each other. We're ready to come out and play whoever it is that's in front of us.”

On having all the depth back at offensive line:
“That will be great. Last week me and Tyler (Evans) were switching out. That was definitely nice just keeping both of us fresh.”

On Tennessee's defensive line:
“I think they're pretty big, as well. They've very quick, as well, so everybody has their strengths.”

On having physical running backs:
“It's just a booster for us big guys seeing them go hard. Seeing them go as hard as they do and wanting to get more yards, it just makes us want to finish off our guys and make sure we execute our plays and making sure we're going to the right guys and calling off the right blocks.”

Center Ty Darlington

On gaining confidence and experience:
“We have that “next-guy-up” mentality. There are a lot of starts between all the other guys up front. I definitely have the fewest, but I have to step up and be the guy to direct everyone and make the whole thing run as far as getting to the right guy. I'm comfortable doing that. I'm not intimidated by that at all. We've got a couple games under our belts, and as I get more experience I will continue to gain confidence.”

On Tennessee:
“Tennessee is a really good team. They look really good on film. We're just starting to get into our preparation against them. They're big and athletic, and we're excited for this challenge for us as an offensive line to show that we can dominate an opponent like that. It will be a challenge for us, but I think we have a mentality going into it of that's what we want to do. We want to dominate the line of scrimmage.”

On the buzz in the locker room:
“I don't know that it's just because it's an SEC team, but it's a game that we've had circled on our schedule. It's a big non-conference game sort of like Notre Dame has been the last couple of years. There will be a lot of recruits here and a lot of family. My family is coming up from Florida for this one, so it's definitely a lot of excitement, but at the same time you have to prepare this week just like you would every other week.”

Running Back Samaje Perine

On going into Tennessee week:
“We're very excited about it, but we're just taking it day-by-day and doing what we have to do to get better.”

On how physical the running back rotation is:
“We're on one of our bigger years. We have the biggest rotation in the past few years, and it's just a mentality that we go into the game with that we're not going to let a single person tackle us. It's going to have to be a group tackle.”

On if he's excited to play Tennessee:
“For me it's an exciting time. I grew up watching Alabama and Tennessee and those SEC teams. Getting to play one this early in the season and this early in my career is just a blessing. I'm going to go into it with the best of my abilities.”

Co-Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel

Co-Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell

Offensive Lineman Nila Kasitati

Players Mentioned

Blake Bell

Ty Darlington

Geneo Grissom

Gabe Ikard

Nila Kasitati

Nila Kasitati

Samaje Perine

Samaje Perine

Sterling Shepard

Cody Thomas

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics