Grading Bell: Quarterback Blake Bell was asked to assess good things and bad things he did during his first start in last weekend's 51-20 victory over Tulsa.
"I was making some of the right decisions with the football and stuff like that," Bell said following Tuesday's practice. "I think I can get better in some of the other stuff. Maybe footwork and reads and stuff like that."
Bell outpaced all other OU starting quarterbacks with a 413-yard, four-touchdown performance.
Bell said his team is looking forward to the Sept. 28 game at Notre Dame.
"Just the atmosphere and playing a great team like Notre Dame," Bell said. "It will be fun. All the guys, I think, are excited, as well. So this week we're just going to keep preparing and get the looks we need to get and everybody is in the film room and moving the right direction. It'll be a fun game."
Work week: No. 14 Oklahoma will get two weeks to prepare for No. 22 Notre Dame.
How will the Sooners treat the extra week of work?
"I feel like it could either help you or not help you, hinder you," said Corey Nelson, who has a team-high 20 tackles. "It all depends on how well the team responds and how well the leaders step up to let everybody know 'hey, we can't really crap around this week' and let everybody get after it, so that's the type of mind-set that we have to have."
Notre Dame does not have the week off before playing Oklahoma; it plays host to Michigan State on Saturday.
Working on fundamentals: Mike Stoops' defense won't focus exclusively on Notre Dame's offensive schemes this week.
The Sooners are taking time to work on fundamentals mixed in with prep for the Irish.
"It's going to be a very physical football game and it's a downhill game when you play Notre Dame," Stoops said. "We didn't play particularly well in some elements of that last week. I thought there was too much movement at the point of attack and we're going to have to hunker down and really be a physical football team in two weeks.
"We'll work on a combination of fundamentals and certainly schemes from Notre Dame."
No excuses: Mike Stoops will not allow youth to be considered a factor in whether his defensive players can get the job done.
"You guys talk about they're young and inexperienced, but nobody really cares at the end of the day. You either stop, know what you're doing or you don't," Stoops said. "If they're playing, they need to understand where their position on the football needs to be.
"They need to spend more time getting themselves prepared to play, just because they don't have the time of experience. You go through some growing pains, but at the end of the day you have to make plays."
Ten first-year players, including seven freshmen, have recorded tackles this season. Zack Sanchez leads that group with 15 stops.
Getting picked on: Sanchez, as a first-year starter at cornerback, understands that he will be picked on by opposing offenses.
"Especially when you've got (Aaron Colvin) on the other side. You know you're gonna get a lot of balls thrown at you," Sanchez said. "But you've gotta take it and be ready for it. As a corner, you want the ball thrown at you so you can make plays, but I knew that coming in.
"I just try to get in the best position to make a play."
Little-known fact: Oklahoma is one of only five AP Top 25 teams that own 3-0 records with all victories coming against FBS competition.
Original Print Headline: OU Football Notebook
OU
The final two games are May 16 and 17 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. Each of the Tulsa starts are at 7 p.m.
