The Football Brainiacs

Mike Stoops

– Talked about the fact that Baylor gives the defenses a lot of run pass conflicts, a lot of space to cover on the field and a lot of isolation plays…”they’ve got good people doing it.” “They put you in a bind on every snap”

– To defend them “you’ve got to change up looks, change up leverage from time to time…stop the run…get the QB off his spots”

– Talked about how their ability to run the football is what makes their system work.

– Said that they beat people with isolation and running by people…”they create so much room on the football field…their splits are so wide…everything is isolated…its hard to buy help for corners and safeties…they know what they’re doing and they’re very effective”

– Said that OU can’t win a game if the defense has to play 90-100 snaps. Clearly feels the offense needs to control the football and control the tempo of the game. Too many plays are just going to stress the defense and covering for that long is “virtually impossible”

– Defense has to come up with turnovers and has to get stops on 3rd down…need some tipped balls…basically said they’re going to have to do what they have to do every week.

– Said that Baylor is a different run style and that Baylor is more physical than other teams they’ve seen…they have more physical running style…they’ll test us inside.

– Frank Shannon practiced today and he will play against Baylor. “He’s in good shape”

– Talked about how well Jordan played and how athletic is. Said he has to develop physically but said he’s what you want in terms of athleticism…said “he’s just scratching the surface like Dominique”. Said “I don’t see anything on the football field that he can’t do for us long term and be a great player. He showed great signs of that playing his first game with meaningful minutes”

– Talked again about how important it is for the offense to control the clock. In explicating that as it pertains to the defense he said “Football…there is only so much you can go in with…you try to throw as much as you can at these QBs and as much at their offense…once they see it a time or two its like a batter going up against a guy five times in a row…he starts to get a feel of how he’s pitching him…how we’re attacking their offense and then they’re able to adjust. You’ve got to have enough ammunition to go in there with to fire a bunch of bullets and hopefully they don’t get to see them all but if you run out and they’re seeing them over and over then it gets a little harder to fool them. You can only trick people so many times or show them different looks…that’s what the game comes down to.”

– Corner have to match up…”Have to win some battles…there’s a lot of competitive one on one battles and you’ve gotta make you’re share”

– They spread everything so far that it takes forever to get there.

– Laughed at how everyone said OU defense played bad last year despite holding Baylor to their lowest yardage of the year

– Talked about how few INTs Petty has thrown…Mike said that its virtually impossible to get underneath defenders against them…everything is a PA…spread the field so Petty isn’t seeing a ton of underneath coverage. Said its very difficult to add coverage off a lot of their PA…”the run pass conflict they give you is consistent, it’s competitive and it’s good”

Geneo Grissom

– On why the Baylor offense is so potent, “They are big physical guys…Lache Seastrunk is one of the best backs in the nation. He hits through holes that aren’t even there…they’ve got great receivers…great quarterback…all around explosive offense.”

– Defense has to get 3 and outs and get off the field quick

– Seastrunk is definitely the difference between Baylor this year and in previous years…gotta to have gap integrity and make sure we’re doing our jobs. “He makes you respect the run no matter what…he can probably get a 1st down on 3rd and 8″

– Entire offense though is very potent…”we’re going to have our hands full”

Jordan Evans

– Talked about the difference at OLB and ILB and how at ILB he has to be ready to take on a lot more blockers whereas at OLB he’s able to use his speed a little more

– Talked about how when he was recruited he was recruited specifically for his athleticism and that his speed can help against high powered offenses like Baylors.

– Talked about how serious the team is taking this game…they respect Baylor’s offense and they are coming in and watching extra film every day.

– Talked about how the Tech game helped in the preparation for Baylor.

– Lache Seastrunk forces a team to respect the run which then opens up the PA

– Bottom line is we’ve got to get 3 and outs and the offense has to stay on the field

– “If we do what we can do we can keep them from that deep ball”

– Said he is currently only weighing 207 lbs…was sick and lost about 13 lbs…said the trainers are having him eat constantly…drink the shakes…weight is coming back slowly.

– Said the game hasn’t quite slowed down yet…”its college football it’s still fast…but after a couple series I got comfortable”

– Talked about how close he and Dom are and how the situation has definitely brought them closer and closer.

Aaron Colvin

– Excited to go against an offense like Baylor. Knows they’ve got be locked in because Baylor can hurt people.

– Said the key is staying locked in on their guys and staying disciplined. Feels that if they can do that they’ll be fine.

– Have to make every play a challenging play. “They get a lot of easy plays sometimes because of their athleticism and defensive guys not staying on their assignment.”

– Talked about how Petty can make the throws that a lot of QBs can’t make

– On how much Baylor spreads the field “Their alignment is crazy…how they’re spacing out the field…there is just so much room. It’s a great scheme they have the athletes for it…they try to get their athletes in space…they try to let them make plays and they do it…they’ve done it all season…we know what we’re getting…you can’t really describe the alignment you’ve just got to watch film”

– Talked about how they try to get the defense in one-one-one situations and “see who’s better…my guy or your guy…as a secondary that’s challenging because sometimes you’d like to get help underneath or over the top or whatever the case may be…it’s you…whatever you do is going to show up on the field”

– On playing those one on ones and the challenge of it AC said “I love that…I’ve been doing it for 3 years…we’ve played a lot of man before”

– Said the fans have been so supportive this year and he thinks the fans are going to show up for the Baylor game and the players appreciate it.

– On the double digit spread “I think its pretty disrespectful” Said “we know what we’re capable of and we’re not really worried about what anyone has to say”

– Said that the Texas Tech is somewhat similar to Baylor and that game gave them so confidence. Said they know what to expect from Baylor…they’ve played them before and they’re doing similar things but talked about how they have the athletes for it (the scheme)

– Said the secondary and pass rush goes hand in hand “we can’t do our job without them, they can’t do their job without us…if we’re on our game we know it makes the defensive lines job a lot easier”

– “Seastrunk is a great back…without stopping him we’re not going to be able to stop their offense…we know that.”

– “We’ve got to stay within our scheme and trust Coach Mike…”

– Said that Baylor is effective, in part, because when they run it so well the secondary starts to bite on things…and they like to take their shots a lot…they keep the defense off balance.

– Said all their WRs have great size, speed and strength

– “We know what they like to do…it comes down to the matter fact of stopping them”

– Said that K-State was successful because they competed…played hard throughout the game and didn’t have too many mental busts

– Said he doesn’t feel like Baylor is NOT overrated but feels like Oklahoma has been underestimated all season.

– Said last year as a defense they were able to challenge a lot of their plays.

Zack Sanchez

– Talked about how he was originally committed to Baylor and why he switched…said it was the tradition at Oklahoma…and the competition of being at OU…real competitive on the field and in practice…”I think it would help me grow as a football player”

– Interesting nugget: Coach Venables had actually called Sanchez before he left to tell him that Coach Mike would be taking over so it sounds like Coach V was recruiting Sanchez prior to his departure.

– Initial reaction to OU’s interest…”finally! I was excited about it” Said it was hard to tell Baylor but he said his father taught him he had to be a man about it so he called the coaches himself. “I feel like it was the best decision for me”

– Said he always looked at OU growing up as a football player…said great players always want to be recruited by the top football programs.

– Said he’s very close to a lot of the guys on the Baylor team and it was hard to split with them but said it wont be strange but it will be more of a challenge because he says he knows many of the WRs there like Corey Coleman. Said knowing them could help in the game but said you never know because competition brings out different things in different players.

– Said the Baylor game is by far the biggest challenge…they’re going to try to take the top off. But said they are going to be ready for them.

– Talked about how he was disappointed with how he played against Tech and that “you can’t play like that I understand…the freshman thing for me is not…something I live by…I hold myself to a higher standard and so does Coach Stoops…so do my teammates…I was disappointed in my play and I’ll be better this upcoming week.”

– Said he expects Baylor to attack him…he said “with the history (of the decommitment)…they’re probably going to take extra shots at me but it’s something you have to be prepared for”

– Said he learned a lot from the Tech game and how those mistakes help you to iron out things you need to work on…looks for himself to get back in his “groove”

– Talked about the double digit spread is just motivation “as a competitor you don’t like that”. Said it reminds them of the beginning of the year when they we’re being written off and said that they might have forgotten that a little but this just gives them extra motivation.

Chuka Ndulue

– Said the key to slowing down Baylor’s offense is “do what you’re told to do…trust your keys…be in your gap…it’s going to work if everyone does that”

– Said there is no perfect game and the defense will give up plays but they have to continue to come back and play disciplined football

– Talked about how Petty knows how to read the defense…said if he’s given time he can dissect a defense.

– Said the extra time definitely helps…allows them extra time to rest but also watch extra tape on Baylor

– Said that Seastrunk makes it hard to make their offense 1 dimensional.