The Football Brainiacs

Coach Josh Heupel

– Said that the other two RBs (Samaje and Ross) are going to have to step in the absence of Ford but also said that Daniel Brooks and David Smith could both get reps. I personally hope they do. Those are two great kids and great Sooners!

– Said it doesn’t matter who the running back is, they aren’t going to necessarily alter the offense for a particular back. Each back has to be able to do everything otherwise you’re giving the opponent a tendency to scout when a particular a back comes in.

– They want to continue to use the RBs in the passing game.

– Said that Durron continues to get better and said the passing game overall continues to develop but said, “I did not like the way we performed last week on third downs. For us to go out to West Virginia and get a win we’re going to have to perform better on third downs.”

– Said that the development off Durron is key because if you only have one legitimate wide out the defense is going to “bracket him…roll to him”

– Asked whether Samaje is ready to take on a bigger role despite his youth and Josh said, “All those guys are ready to play…Samaje hasn’t blinked an eye since opening day.”

– Said that Samaje isn’t just a good runner, he’s also a good pass protector. Said he’s a “really complete player”

– Heupel was asked when he knew Samaje would be able to contribute immediately and said, “thought he would (contribute as a freshman) during recruiting…you never know what you got until they step on the football field on game day but during training camp he was a very mature player”

– Said that WVU is going to be very multiple in their pressures so they’re going to have to keep better at identifying things…said, “it’s a little different than what we’ve faced up to this point”

– Said that the OL handled Tennessee’s front 7 pressure pretty well early but said he felt like they didn’t “handle it as well as we needed to” in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Said the offense in general needs to be more efficient throughout the entire course of the ball game.

Samaje Perine

– Started about saying that he feels ready for this coming week but also said that they have two guys that are possibly going to rotate in with he and Alex Ross…namely, Daniel Brooks and David Smith.

– Said that all the running backs just told Keith Ford to keep his head up and have been trying to support him emotionally. Reiterated that Keith will only be out for two weeks.

– No surprise here…Samaje loves contact, “I look for contact for the most part. I’m not the one that will try to juke you. I will if I have to but I dont look to do that much. I’d rather just go over you.”

– Asked about his speed and he said that he ranges between a 4.48 to a low for 4.5.

– Said that he doesn’t feel overwhelmed…in general he feels comfortable in terms of what to look for in pass protection or run blitzes…how to read the corners, safeties, linebackers…how to read a defenders body language. Was really complimentary of coach Gundy for teaching him some finer points and helping him understand what he needs to do and what he needs to be watching for.

Alex Ross

– Not much to report here but this was certainly an interesting interview opportunity. Alex seems to have fun with media. When reporters ask questions he has an almost sarcastic tone to his voice. Personally don’t mind it. Every team needs different types of personalities and Alex brings a bit of an edge. When he was asked if he can handle a 25-30 carries he said, “but of course” in almost a British accent haha.

KJ Young

– Started out by just talking about how Oklahoma as a program has really made a huge impact on him as a player in his development. Said that he’s grown tremendously since getting here in terms of speed, strength, route running, etc. But really thought it was interesting that he noted that the coaches really developed his confidence as a player.

– Said that Durron helps him quite a bit. He said that Sterling and Durron inspire him to be better and be more reliable.

– Said that he feels like he gets the sense that he continues to get better each and every game as he gets more and more comfortable out there.

– Said that he really feeds off of Sterling Shepard. Also mentioned that at this point in his development he’s focusing on “not making mistakes” which was interesting to note because it’s a very self aware comment to make. Once KJ feels even more comfortable and is able to think less about not doing something wrong and more about what he’s doing right he could be very dangerous.

– Asked about whether he had any fear on the field he said, “This is the University of Oklahoma…fear is not even an option”

– Said that he has continued to get better coming off the ball. Said that coach Norvell has really emphasized it so he’s taken it upon himself to spend extra time working on his explosiveness on the line.

– Talked about his success on third downs and really gave the credit to coach Heupel for calling a play based on the match-up that gets him open.

Coach Jay Norvell

– In talking about Durron Neal he said, “I’ve really been happy with Durron’s progress. This whole season…he’s continued to come on and make progress everyday…he’s got some real running ability with the football…that’s got to add what we do offensively”

– In talking about the offensive performance against Tennessee he said, “I thought we were inconsistent. We did some good things early on in the game. I was disappointed in how we responded later in the game. Thought we could have scored more points. Overall it was good enough for Saturday to win. We know we’re going to have to clean up some of the things that we weren’t clean on…it’s just overall focus, execution, everybody beating their man, making the play…we’re just going to have to do better there to be competitive in tough games”

– Said Sterling and Durron feed off each other…”they’re very close…they’re roommates…they push each other…they play off each other”

– Said that he expects the other guys to get some opportunities to show what they can do on deep balls. Said that each of them has to show the defender that they can take the top off the defense.

– Talked about Miciah, “We still have big plans for him this season. Over the course of the year he’s going to get his opportunities and he’s going to show his ability to make plays. Last week we didn’t play many guys. We just wanted to stay with our rotation…this week will be different”

– In talking about WVU’s defense he said, “They’re very active. They’re very physical. They like to bring pressure…we’re going to have to play a heck of a lot better on third down…”

– Coach Norvell was asked if they hold back on their offensive play-calling during non-conference games. Norvell said, “you obviously play smart. Once you have a lead you want to continue to execute but you try to play smart. You don’t try to do more than you have to do or put your players at risk…there is always a progression to what we do during the season and we kinda grow as we go along.” Took what Norvell said to mean, yes OU has played somewhat “vanilla” up to this point.