The Football Brainiacs

Coach Mike Stoops

– Coach Mike feels like they get things corrected. He emphasized that people weren’t in position and the position on the football was off because of misalignment. He said that what happened

– Talked highly of Chuka and Wade but also really high on Matt Dimon. On Matt Dimon “Came on. Gives us another guy that’s reliable. Can play physical for a true freshman….adds depth to our interior defensive line.”

– Really proud of the inside guys considering how young they are. He said they aren’t perfect by any stretch but says they’ve held up great for young guys in a new scheme. Sounds really pleased with the progress but concedes there is a way to go.

– On whether the misalignment has anything to do with Corey not being on the field, “Corey was kind of our conductor on the field. He can get people lined up because he’s a very experienced player. He helped out Frank tremendously. Now Frank has to pick up that roll…and that’s something that, again, Frank has to worry about getting Frank lined up…you have to know what you’re doing first before you can help anybody else…we’re having a hard time helping each other because we are recognizing, seeing things, late and you really can’t help anybody else out”

– Talked about TTech’s tempo being a concern but said they get a good look from their own offense but the communication is going to have to be improved.

– On whether Charles Tapper can handle the run as well as the pass, “Charles will be a great player. He can do anything.” Talked about Charles and Dom and how good they can be, but they are still young and they are still working to make sure they are consistent. But sounded very high on the potential of both. Unequivocally said they would be great players.

– Talked about how they have to be aware of Texas Tech’s tight end. “He’s a big target…he reads coverages well…he’s very complete. There are no holes in his game”

– Emphasized that people have to realize how young and inexperienced guys like Jordan Wade and Charles are…”what these guys are doing at such a young age makes me feel good about our future, makes me feel good about what we’re doing now. These guys, we’ve thrown a lot at them and they’ve handled it well”

– Coach Mike talked about how he has to temper his expectations and look at the big picture and recognize that the guys are showing great improvement and great effort.

PL Lindley

– Talked about how the offense is showing them a lot of up tempo looks in practice to prep for Texas Tech

– Talked about how excited he is to be back on the field.

– Talked about how he started out the season as a defensive end but with Corey going down it was necessary for him to move to Corey’s spot in order to help the team out.

– Talked about how feels like he’s getting more comfortable on the field.

– On what he feels like he needs to work on, “knowing my assignments better, reading formations…”

– Talked about how important it is to get turnovers against Texas Tech because of their ability to put up a lot of points.

Eric Striker

– Eric Striker was his usual entertaining, no nonsense self! Love this guy! He was asked if he is curious how this team will do against an offense like Texas Tech. He said , “no.” Continued by saying, “we’re cool. we got it.” Let me be clear, this guy isn’t intimidated by anything and his short response was as if to say he doesn’t care about how good an offense is they are going to be prepared to play.

– When he was asked about what he likes about playing a team like Tech outside of just getting to rush the QB he said, “nothing else.” Again, this wasn’t a statement of intimidation. This was more Striker because Striker.

– Talked about how its not about getting sacks, its about moving the QB so that the team can get sacks.

– Talked about how they have to be ready to get lined up properly against the tempo. Definitely emphasized the need to know where they need to be in a hurry.

– Talked about how they were in the wrong gaps and weren’t fitting right in the first part of the Kansas game.