OU coaches determined during the offseason that a quicker tempo was needed. So through three spring practices, the Sooners have worked extensively on installing a version of the no-huddle offense.

"We're looking into doing that (exclusively)," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said Monday, "and if we feel it's going good, then we'll consider doing that.

"We won't go to it if it's not a good deal."

Wilson said head coach Bob Stoops and "defensive coaches" approached him after the Fiesta Bowl with the idea of speeding things up offensively. Wilson was offensive coordinator at Northwestern and at Miami-Ohio and ran a version of the no-huddle.

Wilson said the Sooners gave it a try in 2002, his first season at OU under then-coordinator Chuck Long, but quickly abandoned the idea for a more conventional scheme.

"After a couple weeks of practice," Wilson said, "I said, 'I don't think this is us. I don't think this is good.' "

The general idea is that a team doesn't congregate into a huddle after a play, instead immediately lining up at the new line of scrimmage. Signals are then sent in from the sideline and the ball is snapped. The result will be more plays and, coaches hope, more points.

The top eight college football offenses in 2008 ran versions of a no-huddle. Four of those -- Missouri, Houston, Texas Tech and Tulsa -- ran more than 1,000 plays (OU ran 975). Tulsa (1,126) and Missouri (1,112) led the nation in total plays.

Last season, OU led major college football with 80 touchdowns and ranked fifth in overall scoring at 42.29 points per game. The Sooner offense averaged 448.93 yards per game, ranking 19th.

"I like it. I think it's going to be good," said offensive tackle Branndon Braxton. "Some people say maybe we shouldn't stray away from the other offense because we scored so many points, and I agree. But I also think this is going to be good for us. I don't think they'd put us in a position to do bad."

Wilson said quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel took the analogy of average teams using the no-huddle and spread offenses to level the playing field against more talented clubs one step further.

"What if you're a pretty good team?" Wilson said. "Maybe you can get farther ahead."

Said Heupel, "It gives you more opportunities. It's like fast-break basketball. Up and down. You know, Billy Ball. Get as many shots as you can."

Wilson said with quarterback Sam Bradford, seven experienced linemen, two tight ends, two running backs and four wide receivers all back in '08, the transition should be smooth.

One concern Heupel had, though, was that Bradford might be tempted to speed things up too much.

"Because you're playing at a quicker tempo at times," he said, (a quarterback needs) to make sure you still play within your comfort level and you don't get into hyper speed and all of a sudden things get outside of your comfort level and you're not seeing things on the back end and you're making poor decisions and you start pushing things a little bit."

And a warning from Wilson: "A lot of no-huddle teams a lot of times don't play good defense," he said. "It's not that you get in a game and go three-and-out. I think it's the way you practice. It's hard to practice. So we're trying to find a balance in a way that we can have defensive improvement."

There is a proliferation of no-huddle teams in the Big 12. For OU, Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas are on the schedule in '08, and the Sooners played Missouri twice in '07. Seeing it in practice might make it more routine for the Sooner defense on game day.

Wilson doesn't foresee anything to the extent Tulsa's Gus Malzahn orchestrated last season, when the TU led the nation in total yards featuring an occasional run of gadget plays.

"It's just the mechanics of calling plays. It's not necessarily that you're doing a different offense," Wilson said. "Going no-huddle is nice, but you'd better be able to block and take care of the ball and be smart. There's a fine balance there."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com