Tulsa World: Stoops likes team, but stronger foes await

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Stoops likes team, but stronger foes await

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 9/3/2008 2:06 AM
Last Modified: 9/3/2008 2:10 AM

NORMAN — Oklahoma's football team may remain a mystery to many people, but not to Sooner cornerback Brian Jackson.

"I think we're pretty good," he said Tuesday at OU's weekly press conference.

A lot of so-called experts think they agree with Jackson. After all, voters in both the USA Today Coaches' Poll and the Associated Press's media poll kept OU at its preseason No. 4 spot in the rankings after the Sooners whipsawed Tennessee-Chattanooga last Saturday, 57-2.

But OU's woeful season-opening opponent has led some to question whether the Sooners are worthy of such a lofty spot. Chattanooga, which is expected to be one of the weakest teams this season in the NCAA's Division I-AA, was the most overmatched team to play on Owen Field in several years.

So, is OU's no-huddle offensive scheme really as efficient as it looked scoring touchdowns on its first seven possessions against the Mocs? And can the rebuilding back-seven positions on defense continue to support the Sooners' fearsome foursome up front like they did while holding Chattanooga to just 36 yards of total offense?

So many questions, so little to go on to this point.

A coaching axiom at every level is the belief that a team makes its most improvement between the first and second games. In OU's case, that should change to between the second and third contests, because Chattanooga wasn't even a glorified scrimmage.

"We realize that we're going to see bigger, stronger, better opponents as we go through

the year," coach Bob Stoops said.

The scheduling upgrade should kick in dramatically Saturday when Cincinnati (1-0) visits Memorial Stadium in a 2:30 p.m contest. The Bearcats also dropped down a division in their season-opening 40-7 win over Eastern Kentucky, but the victory came against a team that was ranked No. 21 in the preseason NCAA Division I-AA poll.

Stoops insisted he came out of the Chattanooga contest with a lot of knowledge about his team. One game into his 10th season at OU, he said one of the most pleasing aspects was the continuing development of the team's personality.

He was impressed that his players remained eager to learn even after they jumped to a 50-0 first-half lead and endured a 72-minute delay to the start of the second half because of threatening weather conditions.

"I liked that even at halftime and different parts of the game they're (still) listening to you," Stoops said. "I've felt all along through the (offseason) with these guys that they are willing to listen and they want to be coached.

"They've had a really good attitude and a great camaraderie about them."

Every team takes on its own personality. And while Stoops said it is too early to officially declare this one of his most coachable OU teams, he likes the character he has witnessed so far.

"I can't say how they're going to evolve through the year," Stoops said. "But I anticipate that it's going to be good, just because all the indications to this point, through winter, spring ball and two-a-days, their overall attitude and everything about them has been better than most.

"I see more guys stepping up, being leaders. Not just the seniors, but the juniors as well."

The willingness to learn is especially critical on an inexperienced defensive unit that is breaking in three new linebackers and two inexperienced players in the secondary.

Stoops, who is in his 25th season as an assistant or head coach, said the team chemistry he feels brewing on this OU club is something a coach can never predict and cannot always produce through hard work.

"On some teams, a certain percentage of guys think they've already got it all figured out, and then all of a sudden you see a few games where they don't," Stoops said. "That's going to happen (sometimes) even when guys are listening. You hope it doesn't, but if you're not at your best, anybody can get you.

"But overall, these guys have shown that willingness to be coached and are eager to learn. Hopefully, it will stay that way and improve through the year."

Senior center Jon Cooper's 30 career starts are the most on this OU team. Elected by teammates as a co-captain, the three-year starter from Fort Collins, Colo., likes the personality that is emerging on his final Sooner team.

"One of the biggest things is that we come to practice with a purpose," Cooper said. "We don't have an attitude, like, 'Oh, man, it's just another day.' We have a purpose every day."

Does that purpose-filled personality equate into victories? At least until this Saturday, that will remain a mystery. By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

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