OU's defensive tackles are the best ... at talking
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
Oklahoma's defensive tackles, Adrian Taylor and Gerald McCoy, are hands down the best interviews on the team.
Their answers are always insightful, usually true and frequently funny.
Here are some samples:
Which teams in the Big 12 have fans that get truly ugly?
"The first thing that comes to my mind is Oklahoma State's crowd," Taylor says. "They really let out what they feel inside. No matter if the defense is about to go out on the field or sitting on the sideline, they will talk bad about you sitting on the sideline. You can't do nothing about it. It's part of the game. Oklahoma State is just the worst out of all of 'em."
Does anything fans say ever make you laugh?
"Yeah," says McCoy, "one team, I think Kansas, they started rooting for R.J. They started like, 'Wash-ing-ton! Wash-ing-ton!' Because they were saying, 'Put him in the game!' I guess he was over there talking back and forth with them. They were like, 'You haven't played yet! Wash-ing-ton!' It was crazy. I was laughing. It was funny to me."
What was the atmosphere like during last year's home game against Texas Tech?
"It was so loud, you really couldn't hear just individual people speak," Taylor said. "It was like 'The Matrix.' Everything just slowed down. You just heard all this noise. Even when we were on the field, Frank Alexander, I asked him a play and we're two feet from each other and I still couldn't hear what he was saying. That's how loud it was."
— John E. Hoover
Sooners try to stay out of the Sun
11/19/2009 10:24:40 PM
Don't share this with anyone in El Paso, but one of the true motivations remaining in Oklahoma's season is avoiding the Sun Bowl. I'm pretty sure the Sooners can get that done by winning at Texas Tech Saturday. That would solidify, at worst, a 7-5 season and, at worst, the No. 4 position among Big 12 Conference teams when they're slotted into bowl games. The Sun comes in at No. 5, or just after the Alamo Bowl.
For now, we should let Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas dream about the scenarios that played out in the El Paso Times last week:
"How would a Southern Cal-Oklahoma game look on New Year's Eve in El Paso? How about Arizona and coach Mike Stoops against brother Bob Stoops' Oklahoma team? That sibling rivalry would be the talk of college football."
The topic got a little play at Bob Stoops' press conference last Tuesday, even, when it was suggested he wouldn't be too crazy about coaching against his younger brother.
That was the media's suggestion, not Bob's, who dismissed the idea that he would hate to see Mike across the field. He also swatted away the notion that Mike might walk to the end of the earth to beat his big brother.
"He wouldn't do that anyway? Whoever he's playing?" Bob boasted.
-- Guerin Emig
Stoops supports gambling on college games (no, not that kind of gambling)
11/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
In his defense of Patriots coach Bill Belichick's fourth-quarter, fourth-down gamble in a loss to the Colts on Sunday, OU coach Bob Stoops this week reminisced about a couple of his own late-game risks.
At Missouri in 2002, the Sooners got a touchdown off a fake field goal when Matt McCoy threw to Chris Chester and Oklahoma held on to win 31-24. And at Texas A&M in 2006, OU clinched a 17-16 victory when Paul Thompson turned a fourth-down sneak from the Sooner 29-yard line into a first down with 1:29 to play.
Stoops' initial recollection of the Missouri game was that the Sooners were ahead by a point at the time of the fake, but actually, they trailed 24-23. A field goal would have put OU ahead 26-24 with 6:33 to play. Instead, the touchdown and a two-point conversion put OU ahead 31-24.
"We forego what, a 30-some yard field goal to throw a fake field with our safety, with gloves on, to our blocking tight end, who catches it with his elbows, and get a touchdown," Stoops said.
Stoops said Tuesday he wanted the touchdown because Missouri quarterback Brad Smith "had been going up and down the field on us late in the game, and I didn't feel a four-point lead was gonna hold up."
Smith did have 391 total yards, but Stoops was quoted after the game as saying, "I didn't feel that any kickers were kicking very well off the grass as high as it was, as wet as it was."
On Tuesday, Stoops recalled that he told his coaching staff, " 'We need a touchdown,' and we run the fake field goal. And fortunately, we make it. Otherwise, I'm a knucklehead. What am I doing? You know, you could've went up (two) points. But the way (Smith) was moving, I just didn't feel he was — that's one of those decisions. I had in my gut that we had to get that to win the game. So that's the call you make."
Stoops said McCoy "didn't throw it to the right guy," choosing a contested pass to Chester in the end zone instead of a wide-open dump off to kicker Trey DiCarlo for a first down.
"That was an option," Stoops said. "(Chester) had to be wide open, and there were three guys on him. That was Chester's first and I think maybe only catch."
Soon after, Chester was moved to guard, where he now starts for the Baltimore Ravens.
"Well, we saw him in the paper with his elbows on the ball," Stoops said, "so that's when we quit throwing it to him."
Then there was the time at College Station, when OU jumped to a quick 17-0 lead, then had to hold off an Aggie rally.
"I didn't want to kick to 'em," Stoops said. "We were into a little bit of a breeze. I equated it, I said it on the phone (to the other coaches), 'It's a 10-yard breeze, it's a one-club breeze.' According to golf, that's an extra club. So they're gonna get it 10 yards closer, and the field goal would have been, they'd have had the breeze behind 'em. It's one of those, you make it, everything's right; you don't and everyone's gonna question it."
It worked out for Stoops. But not before A&M called timeout. And not before OU called timeout.
After the second stoppage, Thompson got up under center and executed the sneak for a first down — but not before Stoops called another timeout.
Thompson barely got it the second time.
I've never had six minutes to decide on a double-down.
— John E. Hoover
Nike Pro Combat: The trickle down effect at OU
11/18/2009 3:44:00 PM
We could watch this guy run All Day. |
Interesting that everyone around here is making such a big deal over Oklahoma's new uniforms for this week's game at Texas Tech, and it's former Sooner Adrian Peterson who has been the most visible pitch man for Nike's new Pro Combat line.
Football fans have no doubt seen the commercial where Peterson chops up various defenders with spins, jukes, hurdles, bullrushes and stiffarms, then heads to the locker room where it seems his skin actually has become part of his uniform. (See the video here)
Even Bob Stoops has gotten a kick out of the whole thing.
"Yeah, I was in Niketown in Chicago this summer with my children and wife and we walk in and there's a huge mannequin of A.D. with the ball and with a Sooner uniform on," Stoops said. "That was pretty neat. So I took a picture of my kids with it and sent it to him.
"Then when I was leaving, they had a football in it, and they had the football with the nose up, so I hit him (with a text message) and said, 'That looks like poor ball security.' He hit me back, 'LOL,' you know, really funny; 'I'll make sure I keep it high and tight.' "
— John E. Hoover
Red Raiders remember OU's "House of Pain"
11/18/2009 8:13:59 AM
With 18 seconds left in the first half of last year's Oklahoma-Texas Tech game, Owen Field became more mosh pit than football stadium.
DeMarco Murray had just scored from a yard out to cap the Sooners' 35-point second-quarter blitz, and the Guy In Charge Of Music put on House of Pain's "Jump Around." It was a stroke of genius, and 85,646 fans broke into spontaneous dancing.
It was also, depending on your perspective, the coolest thing you had ever seen, or the crudest.
According to the Daily Toreador, Texas Tech tackle Marlon Winn likened it to "drinking the most spoiled milk in the world," and remembered "80-year-old women standing out of their wheelchairs and dancing."
"When that came on, every single person in the stadium was jumping around," Tech linebacker Bront Bird told the Toreador. "It was definitely demoralizing to say the least. Hopefully that never happens again.
"I hate that song by the way."
One year later, they still play that song at Owen Field. Unfortunately, it has become contrived and doesn't have near the impact of the original moment.
But what a moment that was.
"Our crowd was unbelievably energized," OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson remembered this week. "Oklahoma State will come and they use a verbal (snap) count here... But that crowd was different. Our team always plays well at home, but outside of playing well, that was the most unique crowd experience that I have ever seen in my time here at Oklahoma. It was huge, and our team fed off that."
-- Guerin Emig
Taking a swing at Stoops-to-Notre Dame
11/17/2009 5:52:32 AM
A few thoughts on the Bob Stoops-to-Notre Dame furor that has hijacked a pretty important game week for Oklahoma...
* The Chicago Sun-Times report that named Stoops and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz as Irish candidates is also the only one that I know of that didn't include Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. Strange. But then, Stoops and Ferentz are both clients of agent Neil Cornrich... And since Cornrich has helped make both coaches millionaires a dozen times over... And since one way an agent milks money from an athletic department is leaking his client's names to other jobs, even ones that aren't open yet... I'm guessing that somewhere in the chain of communication between Sun-Times reporter Brian Hanley and his "source" you'll find... Cornrich.
Stoops dismissed the report as "ridiculous" Monday night and said he, contrary to what was written in the Sun-Times, hasn't "spoken to any confidants about anything."
I'm sure that's true. But I'll bet Cornrich, or one of Cornrich's reps, has.
* Because Stoops, and Ferentz for that matter, is so well-compensated, and if what The Sporting News' Matt Hayes reported is true -- that Notre Dame will owe Charlie Weis and his staff more than $19 million if it fires Weis -- Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick should approach Kelly first out of fiscal responsibility. The Bearcats' coach makes $1.475 million. Stoops is at $3.675 million. Ferentz clears $3 million.
You saw "All the President's Men," right? Remember what Deep Throat told Bob Woodward in the parking garage? "Follow the money."
* Really, this should have been my first point -- Oklahoma is simply a better job than Notre Dame, at least right now. Stoops would have to really be fed up with something/someone to move to South Bend.
Andy Staples of SI.com illustrated this nicely back in February when he listed college football's 12 "destination jobs." OU was second, right behind Ohio State.
"This wasn't a destination job when Stoops took over in 1999," Staples wrote. "But the coach's kid from Youngstown, Ohio, sifted through the wreckage of the post-Switzer era, embraced one of college football's richest traditions and energized a rabid fan base.
Notre Dame? Number 12 of 12.
"Notre Dame's tough academic standards make recruiting more difficult than at the other schools on this list," Staples wrote. "Still, given the administrative support, the facilities, the quality of education the school offers and the NBC contract, Notre Dame should be an attractive gig whenever it opens.
"Yet, for some reason, it gets less attractive every time it does."
-- Guerin Emig
Stoops to Notre Dame? Again? Hang on a second...
11/15/2009 7:58:13 PM
Bob Stoops is up in arms in 2009 ... but is he aggitated enough to leave Norman? |
Well, it has begun.
Bob Stoops to Notre Dame.
We seem to hear this about every two or three years. Yes, Stoops is Irish. Yes, Stoops is Catholic. Yes, Stoops could recruit the heck out of the Ohio and Pennsylvania hotbeds that have long fed the Notre Dame talent pool.
And yes, it seems Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis is on the proverbial hot seat.
I first heard the latest rumor two weeks ago after Weis' team lost again to Navy. Then I got a call from a World staffer about more press box rumblings. Then, these two items from Sunday's postmortem of the Irish's latest defeat.
+ + +
From the Chicago Sun Times:
"As much as Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis wanted to make this game about his team, the 27-22 loss to No. 8 Pittsburgh will serve as more evidence for those who want Weis' tenure as Irish coach to end.
"If athletic director Jack Swarbrick decides Weis' Notre Dame career is over after his fifth season, a source said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will be in the mix to replace him. The source said Stoops has told confidants he would be interested in talking to the Irish.
"Weis wasn't asked directly about his future after the game, but he said he was focused on his players.
''They just lost a tough game to a good team,'' he said. ''Right now, I'm more worried about getting them out of the tank [mentally].''
+ + +
And this from the Chicago Tribune:
" "It's not like you don't evaluate during the year; you evaluate all year," Swarbrick said. "But my practice is to make sure I've got the full season's worth of information and then conclude the evaluation."
"There will be much to discuss. The latest deflation saddled Weis with the same overall record as Bob Davie (35-25) and made Notre Dame 0-for-its-last-8 against top 10 teams under Weis' watch.
"Were change afoot or not, it would seem to behoove administrators to work quickly and decisively. But Swarbrick currently doesn't see reason to veer much from last year's timeline, when he met with Weis on the Tuesday after a season-ending evisceration at USC.
" "I thought from a perspective of timing and communication, last year's process worked well," Swarbrick said.
"Another element that won't change: The irrelevance of Weis' buyout. It wasn't an issue as the Irish stumbled to a 6-6 regular season in 2008. The latest report pegs the buyout at $18 million, but regardless it's "not a factor" again in 2009, according to Swarbrick."
+ + +
And from the Oklahoma perspective, consider that Stoops is on the stretch run of his most challenging season yet. He told me before the season began that chasing the three-national-championship legacies of Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer was important to him, though not his driving force. Now, with three months to reflect on losing Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham and a fistful of games, who knows what Stoops is thinking?
And don't forget that this is a once-invincible coach who has lost three consecutive national championship tries and five straight BCS bowl games. He's heard criticism of him and his program since 2003, and it's only ramped up this fall as the Sooners have bumbled and stumbled to a 6-4 record and tumbled out of the Top 25.
I still say Stoops' young family — in particular his teenage daughter and two pre-teen sons — will keep him in Norman another five years. That, and that annual pursuit of Bud and Barry.
But think about it. If Stoops was ever going to take another college job, would this be the perfect storm?
— John E. Hoover
OU football, 2009: A space oddity or the end of the world?
11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM
Stupid Mayans... |
It's Friday the 13th, and the apocalyptic tale "2012" opens in theaters today. So here is a little perspective for Sooner fans.
If you multiply the yards gained by the points scored, then multiply the salaries of Bob Stoops and Kevin Wilson, then multiply both by pi, Oklahoma's offense last season would have stretched to Saturn and probably halfway back.
Then there's this season, when, at times, the rocket has exploded on the launch pad.
No Sam Bradford, sure. And no Jermaine Gresham. Those guys were two of OU's four solid fuel rocket boosters.
But any such mission can be derailed by glitches. That's Wilson's favorite word to describe mistakes, and it's apropos to this analogy. NASA guys hate glitches almost as much as Wilson does.
"The best thing about last year was we had 10 turnovers," Wilson said. "We've had 10 (this year) in our last two losses."
Think about it. Five turnovers at Nebraska. Five turnovers against Texas. Two losses by a total of 10 points.
"Last year you have 14 games and 10 turnovers," Wilson said.
Blame Landry Jones if you must, or Adron Tennell, for what happened in Lincoln. Or Jones, Dom Franks, Mossis Madu and whoever was responsible for that botched handoff in the Cotton Bowl.
Heck, you can even blame the surreal amount of injuries — an alignment of the planets, solar positioning with the Milky Way, a glitch on the Mayan calendar.
But the fact remains that if the Sooners could simply not have given away the football 10 times — 10 times! — against Texas and Nebraska, they'd be ranked in the Top 10 and they'd be undefeated in Big 12 play, probably on their way back to the Fiesta Bowl.
"That's the main thing to winning and losing," Wilson said. "A boatload of negative plays, boatload of penalties. That, to me, was the regression."
— John E. Hoover
OU's dilemma at kicker
11/12/2009 4:13:42 PM
As usual, an interesting question came up at Bob Stoops' press conference this week.
What can be done in practice to steel the Sooners' kickers for game-type pressure?
"We bring them off the sideline and try to kick while the offense is going through plays, that kind of thing," Stoops said. "We always have music blaring and the defense yelling at them. In the end, that's all you can do.
"I can't get 80,000 people at an away stadium to go practice. I don't think anyone would show up to watch us kick the ball."
That's debatable. OK, maybe not 80,000. Half?
"In the end, no matter what you simulate, you have to be able to respond in that atmosphere," Stoops said. "Hopefully, as they go forward they'll mature and be able to handle it."
So who kicks this week against Texas A&M? Jimmy Stevens, who was benched halfway through the year after a roller-coaster 2008? Or Tress Way, who missed three of his four kicks at Nebraska — left, low and right?
"We'll see who is the most consistent as we go through the week," Stoops said.
— John E. Hoover
Capel tries to reel in his biggest catch yet
11/12/2009 3:14:07 AM
Here's the latest indicator how far Oklahoma has come under fourth-year coach Jeff Capel:
Harrison Barnes, the Ames, Iowa, swingman widely considered the No. 1 high school basketball player in the nation, is scheduled to announce his college destination Friday. He is choosing between Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Iowa State and OU.
Think about that for a second. The Sooners are right there with four of the six flagship programs in college basketball and the kid's hometown school. Dave Telep, the national recruiting director for Scout.com, told the Ames Tribune he sees both Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce in Barnes' game.
Maybe, just maybe, that kind of potential will flourish inside the Lloyd Noble Center next year, on the heels of Blake Griffin and Willie Warren. It wasn't long ago that the basketball inside that building occasionally looked more like hockey. Imagine.
So what are the odds? Forty-to-one, Telep joked (we think) on his Signing Day Blog Wednesday. Which were at least better than UCLA's (45-1) and Iowa State (100-1).
Somewhere in Capel's head he hears Jim Carrey telling Lauren Holly, "So you're telling me there's a chance."
Anyway, Barnes visited OU the weekend of Oct. 3, and contributed a recruiting diary entry to HighSchoolHoop.com about the experience. He met Bob Stoops and Sam Bradford, toured the campus, watched the OU-Miami football game at Capel's house, hit the town with Willie Warren, and played a little pickup against senior guard Tony Crocker.
"He was getting the best of the matchup," Barnes wrote/said, "until I adjusted to the speed. The speed of the college game is so much faster."
Barnes wrote/said "the visit went extremely well."
Just being polite? Well... Consider that a couple weeks later during his visit to Duke, Barnes saw some tape of Capel as the Blue Devils' point guard.
"I've got to give a shout-out to Coach Capel because he surprised me with how good he was," Barnes wrote/said in the diary. "I didn't know he had bounce like that!"
Seems Capel has a little bounce on the recruting trail as well, whether he gets Barnes or not.
-- Guerin Emig
McCoy: The Sooners are playing for "pride"
11/11/2009 11:00:48 AM
The headline to a column on Oklahoma football in this morning's Norman Transcript: "What's left to play for?"
In one respect, it is a legitimate question.
One year after winning a third straight Big 12 championship, playing for a national championship, and scoring touchdowns in historical proportions, the Sooners have dropped way out of Big 12 contention, will be lucky to draw the Holiday Bowl, and just played an entire game without scoring a TD for the first time under Bob Stoops.
The head coach is angry. His fan base is angrier.
There were empty seats in more than one section of Owen Field at OU's last home game against Kansas State. After the debacle at Nebraska, it's safe to assume there will be even more at this Saturday's Texas A&M game.
Message board threads include the following titles: "Maybe it's time for Stoops to move along," "If there is a new OC (offensive coordinator) next year," "Light at the end of the tunnel, or an oncoming train?" and "Is anyone else not renewing their season tickets?"
So again... What's left to play for?
Well, if anyone deserves to answer that question, given the lion-hearted way OU's defense has performed just about all season, it's Gerald McCoy. The defensive tackle/Lombardi Award finalist was asked about it after practice Tuesday night.
"Last year we were in a certain situation where we had a chance to play for the national championship, and we wanted to finish strong," McCoy said. "We don't have that same opportunity this year, but we have pride, being at the University of Oklahoma. So we still want to finish out strong. Nothing changes. We do have a standard to uphold."
-- Guerin Emig
Sooners' best hope arrives Saturday night
11/10/2009 10:57:15 AM
Finally, some good news for the fading Oklahoma football team: Texas A&M is coming to town.
There is something about the Aggies' defense that brings out the best in OU's offense, especially in Norman. The Sooners scored 42 on the Wrecking (Wretched?) Crew in 2007, 36 in 2005, 77 in 2003, 31 in 2001 and 51 in 1999. That '99 game might have been Bob Stoops' breakout game as a head coach.
Ten seasons later, Stoops is in dire need of another one, given what he has endured lately.
Looks like he might get it. Check out passages from the I Am The 12th Man blog: "Oklahoma averages 30 points a game, and 139 yards rushing and 273 yards passing. Playing our defense, you can expect those numbers to go up... Simply put, we really don't stop anyone... Oklahoma will be angry after their poor offensive performance against Nebraska, and will want to take it out on us by scoring a decisive victory. With our defense's poor play, I am not sure how much resistance we'll offer."
-- Guerin Emig
The heat's still on in Norman
11/9/2009 9:43:00 AM
If you thought the beginning of a new week might be a balm for slumping Oklahoma, think again.
The Sooners wake up to the fact that they aren't ranked for the first time since September of 2005, when they left UCLA with Bruins fans taunting them with their record: "One and two!"
They might be without starting guard Brody Eldridge, their highest-grading lineman since moving from tight end, for a while. Dean Blevins mentioned "sprained AC joint" during Sunday night's Oklahoma Sports Blitz. That's the injury that doomed Sam Bradford's season.
In the meantime, the Sooners are probably going to want to avoid the Internet more than usual, and I'm not just talking about message boards.
"Nebraska barely had to show up Saturday night to score its ugly upset over Oklahoma," blogged Allen Kenney, a Bleacher Report contributor. "The Sooner offense did everything within their power to hand the game to the Huskers."
Over on ESPN.com, Tim Griffin called it "painful to watch" while slotting OU No. 6 in his Big 12 power rankings.
"In doing these weekly ratings since the conference began," Griffin wrote, "I can't remember the Sooners being ranked as low during the Bob Stoops coaching era."
"Stoops' season at Oklahoma has to be one of the biggest disappointments since the second 'Matrix' movie," blogged Justin Barney of the St. Augustine (Fla.) Record.
From USA Today: "While Stoops is regarded as one of the nation's top coaches, this has not been his finest season."
-- Guerin Emig
So was it a "serious stain on Stoops' legacy?"
11/8/2009 6:47:20 AM
OMAHA, Neb. -- Good morning from Eppley Airfield.
Had the strangest dream last night. The same Oklahoma quarterback who set a school record with six touchdown passes set another one with five interceptions. His offense managed a field goal, despite spending the majority of the game on the opponent's side of the field. Bob Stoops finished a game without a touchdown for the first time in his head coaching career, and Sooner fans back home reacted with a semi-mob mentality.
Amazing. It really has become one of those seasons where you rub your eyes and splash water across your face to make sure you're really seeing what you're seeing.
I'm operating on two hours of sleep, so any critical analysis I might have to offer would be ill-advised, and certainly ill-received. I'm gonna lay off and defer to a passage I read on Spike's Web site Saturday, several hours before kickoff in Lincoln...
"If the Sooner nation loses their fourth game of the season this week in front of a Nebraska stadium filled with the loudest lunatics in the country, this could be a serious stain on Stoops’ legacy and, as Winston Churchill once said, 'the end of his beginning.'"
The word at the time was "if." The scholar who posted that actually had OU beating the Huskers, 28-10. I cringe at the thought of what he/she might have to say now.
-- Guerin Emig
Eldridge gets a Great Plains boost
11/7/2009 12:00:00 AM
How about a Fumblerooskie for Brody Eldridge this week? |
Good to see Brody Eldridge on the football field, whether it's at tight end, center, left guard, fullback or kicker.
With Eldridge being a role player, it's easy to forget that he missed some valuable opportunities last season.
"We've got all these great rivals," said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "As a Kansas guy, last year, he was hurt and he didn't get a chance to play against Kansas, K-State or Nebraska. In his world, where he's from, those were three big ones that he lost."
Wilson points out that Mr. Versatility — a native of La Cygne, Kan. — was really bummed about missing those three games last year because in the Big 12's rotational system, Eldridge hadn't gotten to play against them previously.
"For him, he was very excited for a chance to play up in Lawrence and then to play against K-State last week," Wilson said. "He always goes at it hard, but there was a little bounce in his step."
— John E. Hoover
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