The Football Brainiacs

Mike Stoops

– Mike Starts by comically saying to the press “I know the roofs falling in…tell me all about…you got anything positive to say? Cheer me up!” It was funny actually.

– Injury situation is better than they thought but if Colvin isn’t ready to go it will be Cortez or Stanvon

– In the Baylor game said that “at times we did a lot of good things in the game…certainly disappointed with the last 4 minutes of the first half”. Said he felt like they had good rhythm but then lost it toward the end of the first half. Got worn out later in the game and didn’t tackle well.

– Said Frank Shannon played well and he was need because of Jordan going out; they would have had to go down to their 3rd string guy.

– Said Frank is now just about 100%

– Said they “we feel like we can play (against) all styles (of offense) we’ve learned a lot through the beginning of the season…certainly need to keep getting better and that’s what we will work on this week”

– The young guys that standout in their development, “Dominique Alexander shows great maturity on and off the field…will be an awful strong player in this system”. Also mentioned Zach Sanchez. “Excited about all our young players…I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re doing with a lot of these guys. They show a strong desire to want to be good. They show a very competitive element to the game…there is a lot to build on…we came in with a relatively young group…and lost two of our best players…I’m really pleased with our effort as a whole throughout the course of the year…it shows that we can build and get better. You learn a lot about yourselves where we need to become more physical and bigger and stronger.” Very interesting note there at the end regarding getting “bigger and stronger” at certain spots. Seems to confirm that they want to beef up the D-line.

– Said that the development of size and physicality is in the works but won’t happen till the offseason. “We need to become bigger and stronger”

– Honest talk from Mike, “I know we all want to win and that’s what we are here to do. We understand that we compete at the very highest level here at Oklahoma. Ultimately for us our players they played hard and gave it everything they got. We have to get better. We understand that and our players are willing to do that.”

– “These players have done a lot of good things but we aren’t where we want to be. We know that.”

– Really feel like Mike was saying that he’s proud of what the defense is giving but also seems like a man who understands that this is a building process in terms of talent and experience. I really liked what Mike had to say and it really confirmed a lot of what we’ve been saying here on Brainiacs…this is a process that is headed to a really good place and we are only seeing glimpses of what it can and will become.

– Mike said that Chuka and Geneo will take most of the snaps on Saturday in the first half to replace Tapper. Said that Korey Klein will rotate as well (he meant Matt Dimon lol)

Geneo Grissom

– Said that the defense has put the Baylor gamebehind them and are in the film room getting prepared for Iowa St.

– Said the rest of the D-line has to step up for Tapper’s absence and they are going to get the job done.

– Was asked about the Baylor game and how frustrating it was for the defense to feel like they weren’t getting help. Geneo reiterated that they are looking forward not backward. There is clearly leadership in the locker room because its obvious they don’t want to let this season go downhill. They want to use this time to continue to get better and grow and compete.

– Said that no matter how many people they lose they have to continue to go to work each day in order to be prepared and that the losses should not have an effect on the team.

– Talked about what they said to Tapper after he was ejecting, said that they told him that was a “bone headed choice to make but we all got his back no matter what…” Said that the punch was out of character for Tapper and just a result of youth and frustration.

– Said that the numbers that Baylor put up were embarrassing to the defense and said that they didn’t play well enough to win. But also clearly felt that there were good things that the defense did.

– Said that they feel like their pass rush is getting better…can still be better…but they feel its improving.

– Talked about Frank Shannon showing leadership playing injured and playing so well.

 Chuka Ndulue

– Said that he felt that losing like that to Baylor was embarrassing…said we have pride and beating us that bad is embarrassing.

– Wouldn’t put anything on the offense. He said that the goal of a Mike Stoops defense is shut the other team out. So there is no excuse. “Everytime you step on the field you have to be better”

– Said, our goal is to not allow a team to ever score more than 20 points so getting that many points put on us is unacceptable regardless of what happened.

– Said that the older guys are telling the young guys that Iowa St isn’t going to lay down when they see Oklahoma. They’ve been actively leading the young guys and emphasizing the importance of being great from here on out.

– Said that the defense against Baylor did some good things and some bad things but bottom line is now it’s time to move on.

Dom Alexander

– Said he feels like he and Frank Shannon have great chemistry.

– Said that Jordan and him we’re taking the reps with the 1s leading into the Baylor game.

– In talking about how much he’s grown individually as a player he said that his vision on the field has gotten much better over the year. Feels like he’s seeing the play much better. Said he has a lot more confidence as well.

– He said that regardless of how the offense does the defense has to keep working to get the ball back for them.

– Said he’s excited for the opportunity to get a win for the seniors since this is their last home game. Classy young man!