By JOHN KLEIN Sr. Sports Columnist on Jul 28, 2012, at 8:31 AM Updated on 7/28 at 8:31 AM
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Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has remained pretty consistent in defending Landry Jones and demanding improvement from those around him in the wake of last season’s late slump.
The Sooners got beat at the buzzer at Baylor then lost at Oklahoma State to close last year.
Many blamed Jones.
However, Stoops asserts, and we believe rightly so, that the entire offense was to blame.
Plus, don’t forget injuries.
First, running back Dominique Whaley went down with injury and OU never recovered in the running game. Thus, the Sooners had little or no running threat late in the season.
Then, Ryan Broyles, easily OU’s best receiver, went down.
Even though OU had a handful of highly-recruited and highly-touted receivers still on the team, none really stepped up to be that reliable receiver.
As a result, Jones may have been asked to do too much.
“I didn’t ask him to improve on anything,” said Stoops last week. “I asked about 10 guys around him that they needed to improve.”
Stoops admitted that “the offense struggled” at the end of last year. However, he knows the lack of a running game and not having a safety-valve type of receiver are huge hurdles for any offense.
Stoop said, “It’s more of an issue of the offense and the offense around him than it is him.”
Jones needs a big year if the Sooners are to fulfill the prediction of a Big 12 title. However, for Jones to succeed he’ll need a quality running game and reliable receivers.
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