TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Saturday, November 21, 2009 | WIRELESS
CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBER SERVICES | SIGN IN SIGN OUT | MY PROFILE PAGE | MY ACCOUNT

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra!
Follow us on ...
OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL


SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark

OU needs to avoid pointing fingers

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops argues a call. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

 
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 11/11/2009  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/11/2009  7:57 AM
Go to Dave Sittler's Blog

NORMAN - The wheels on the bus are definitely going round and round around the Oklahoma football program these days.

People are also getting tossed under it, as a frustrated Sooner Nation attempts to identify those responsible for the totally unexpected 5-4 start to a season when most Sooners figured their favorite team would be 9-0.

Everyone can agree on one point injuries to key players is boarding on the absurd. In what has almost become a daily ritual, coach Bob Stoops announced Tuesday that another starter is lost for the season offensive lineman Jarvis Jones is out after fracturing a heel in Saturday's ugly 10-3 loss at Nebraska.

The loudest critics insist that even with the loss of All-American talent like quarterback Sam Bradford and tight end Jermaine Gresham, OU's still should have won some of those games it lost by a frustrating average of 3 points.

So who's to blame for one of the darkest periods in Stoops' 11 seasons at OU? An angry Stoops fired back at those who believe that he and his staff are pushing too much of the responsibility off on the players.

"Here's the problem with that: Don't ask us questions, then," Stoops said. "You want to ask me what went wrong (and) I'm supposed to say, 'Well, everything's our (coaches) fault?'

"Then I can't
answer the question if you want me to answer it truthfully."

I think it's a combination of injuries, poor player performances and the inability of some of Stoops' assistants to cure obvious problems. And some of that could be the result of Stoops' stubbornness.

The offensive line remains the biggest problem. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and O-line coach James Patton are still shuffling players from position-to-position this deep into the season.

Some switches are because of injuries, but not all of them. And Stoops dismisses suggestions that the O-line might be better if he went with the same five players at the same five positions so they could settle in instead of getting yanked for poor play or practice habits.

While Stoops has often defended his offensive staff by pointing out the record numbers OU put up last season, he said he doesn't believe those accomplishments make any coach off-limits to criticism.

"We're never off-limits," he said. "We'll all be criticized."

The criticism hasn't stopped Stoops from allowing Wilson and Patton to continue the revolving-door act with the O-line. And he's often shot down suggestions that young players and the veterans who are starting for the first time would be better served to stick to one position instead of being moved to another spot or benched.

Then there's frustrating continuance of the O-line killing drives and scoring opportunities by committing senseless penalties.

"If a guy can't go when the (snap count) is on one, what am I (supposed) to do?" Stoops said. "There are some things that are our (coaches) fault, always.

"And there are some things that the players have got to handle. Some of the discipline issues when you look at penalties, to me, are issues are with our players that need to make improvement there."

That's a touchy issue. Penalty problems with the O-line isn't a one-season deal. It's become a trend. But the difference is previous offenses had so much talent they could overcome those setbacks.

I don't know how to fix that problem. But OU pays Stoops and his staff major bucks to have the knowledge to fix things that should not continue to reoccur.

"You're only as good as your last game," Stoops said. "All of us in this profession are very aware of that."

OU's last game was one of the worst of the Stoops era. But I agree with Stoops' plan to keep telling the truth, even if it's negative comments about individual players.

I don't think college players should ever be booed. But those who come to powerhouses like OU need to understand they will be held accountable.

Stoops seldom calls out a player by name. For example, he said the first of Landry Jones' five interceptions against Nebraska was the fault of the receiver instead of the quarterback. He didn't single out Adron Tennell as the receiver at fault.

But there are times when Stoops can't avoid fingering an individual's mistake. He did it with Jones, noting the Hail Mary pass that was intercepted in the final minute wasn't the play called. But Jones looked away from the sideline before he got the entire signal from the coaches.

"Don't ask a question if you don't want the right answer," Stoops said. "And don't go criticizing (coaches) if we give you the right answer and it is on (the players). It's always going to be on both of us (coaches and players)."

That's precisely the point Stoops needs to make to his team before someone (like a frustrated defense) starts pointing fingers.

All the coaches and players need to remain together inside the bus, instead of becoming candidates to get tossed under it.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark


COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

13 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
Report Comment Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Report Comment
lovethemsooners, Fayetteville (11/11/2009 9:00:16 AM)
This season just needs to end.....mercifully. It's been a disaster since before it started, and with the expectations as high as they were, being 5-4 just plain stinks. Now we know what it's like to be an OSU fan! Stoops needs to go take some time off and get his swagger back. He's lost it for sure.....something Switzer never did. No matter how bad it got Switzer had the fella's ready to kick some tail. Stoops seems to be flipping out, and it shows on the field.
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (11/11/2009 1:31:43 PM)
I will always say it.....

BOOMER SOONER!!!!!
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (11/11/2009 1:53:13 PM)
You can check in any time you like okiedado, but you can never leave.
Report Comment
AZOkie, (11/11/2009 1:04:25 PM)
I still believe that OU is fortunate to have Bob Stoops and his coaching staff running the football program. Although this season has been a disaster (by OU's standards), there is still an opportunity to go to a third-tier bowl game and perhaps reverse the recent trend of embarrassing losses to inferior opponents. I see OU's football program at a crossroads, similar to the one faced by Stoops in his very first season in Norman. Perhaps if he and his staff go back and take a good look at what they did to reverse the damage inflicted by John Blake, they'll gain some valuable insight into what it will take from a coaching perspective to get the Sooner train back on track for 2010. It all starts with recruiting though, and as the old saying goes, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken $#!+"
Report Comment
Sooner transplant, Marion (11/11/2009 9:40:44 AM)
You frickin' idiots! You don't have the answers any more than Stoops does. He really doesn't have to answer to anyone of us or the media. Only Joe C.......and I don't think Joe C is panicking. OU players and staff will sort this out and rise to the occassion. The only thing we as fans should be doing is cheering.....NOT QUESTIONING!
Report Comment
okiedado, (11/11/2009 1:38:42 PM)
see you in norman sooners...
Report Comment
Steff M, Claremore (11/11/2009 10:12:07 AM)
Our offense can't score a touchdown and you want to blame the kicker for losing the game, tool? Even if he makes the two he got off, we still lose. The blocked kick is on the line, or is the kicker responsible for poor blocking too?
Report Comment
Cool Tool, roswell (11/11/2009 8:16:14 AM)
Tress Way is the reason we lost the game at Lincoln ... Tress Way, pure and simple. If he could A) kick a ball in the intended direction and B) kick a ball into the air ... we win that game.

Landry Jones is the other reason we lost that game.
Report Comment
Cool Tool, roswell (11/11/2009 9:20:16 AM)
Yeah! Switzer and Lacewell had the players ready to kick Arkansas' buttocks in the Orange Bowl, as well as USC's and the various Jimmy Johnson coached Miami teams of the 80s.
Report Comment
Whocanutrust?, (11/11/2009 10:42:16 AM)
It's time to rebuild! Sometimes you have to change your way of travel. New flight plans, please.
Report Comment
Pepito, Norman (11/11/2009 7:31:11 AM)
Coach Stoops remains defiant. He remains contemptuous of the press. That hasn't changed since he arrived on campus. Only now, people are tired of this stale act.
Report Comment
gba, (11/11/2009 4:45:09 AM)
fire big game bob and hire gary patterson
Report Comment
hornhater2, (11/11/2009 9:05:04 AM)
You guys are so full of it your eyes are probably all brown. Next year when everything is back to normal you will all be telling us how great the coaching staff is.
 

 
Add Your Comment 
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.

 
Post Your Comment
 



Home | About Tulsa World | Advertise With Us | Privacy | Usage Agreement | FAQ and Help | Contact Us | Today's Headlines
Copyright © 2009, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.