Tulsa World: OU notebook

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OU notebook

By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer
Published: 11/12/2008 2:14 AM
Last Modified: 11/12/2008 2:48 AM

Kicked when you're down: There are a couple ways to discover how bad Oklahoma's special teams are. One is to visit the NCAA leaderboards.

The Sooners are the only team in the Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) to have allowed three kickoff-return touchdowns. OU is 109th out of 119 teams in overall kickoff return coverage.

In addition, the NCAA statistics page lists the nation's top 100 field goal kickers. OU's Jimmy Stevens, 4-of-7 on field goals this year, is not among them. More telling than any stat, however, was Bob Stoops' press conference Tuesday.

When a reporter brought up OU's red zone success (53 scores in 56 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line), Stoops responded: "If we could make some field goals, it would even be better."

Have mercy: That the Sooners are second in the nation in scoring and third in total offense is remarkable when you consider how little they try to move the ball in the fourth quarter.

OU totaled 80 yards, three first downs and no points in the final period of its 66-28 crushing of Texas A&M last Saturday.

The week before that, the Sooners tallied 22 yards, one first down and no points in a 62-28 wipeout of Nebraska.

Oct. 25, OU limited itself to 44 yards, two first downs and a field goal in the fourth quarter of a 58-35 victory at Kansas State.

Any frustration in letting off the gas pedal so early?

"It skews everything, not just defensive stats but offensive stats," Stoops pointed out. "But I don't care. I'm not sitting here complaining. If you're 35 or 42 points ahead and you're in the fourth quarter, I'll take it every time. You do your best to manage the game. And there are sportsmanship issues." By GUERIN EMIG, World sports writer

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