Oklahoma Faces Challenge Saturday

There's been plenty of talk about how OU's game against North Texas is nice and all but doesn't mean much compared to a tougher team. While I agree it is not the same, I think the intensity and focus they showed throughout the game will serve them well against Miami also. They could have easily been blindly looking ahead to the Miami game and that would have distracted them. The same could be said during the Miami game although Utah State is not likely to be as tough to handle. The whole adage of taking it one week at a time seems to be playing out. If they can maintain that level of focus the rest of the season, who knows where they will end up?

Coach Stoops felt the same way:

"We've had some games where we've had lopsided wins, we've gotten ahead in the second half, and the second half gives me nightmares," Stoops said. "I go home just totally aggravated, because guys get in late, lose their focus (and) have penalties. Their intensity wanes a little and you break down in coverage or you miss an adjustment."
Against North Texas, "we didn't have that. To me, it's just reflective of how these guys have been. What I keep saying about them is they have a really great focus to them."

The Sooners are really looking forward to this Saturday and Coach Stoops says the players "realize it's a challenge. I'm sure it's the same for Miami. It's challenging, and anytime it is, it's awfully exciting, too." I agree. I just wish I could watch it live this Saturday. I will be taping it so no worries.

The OU coach had little to complain about with the North Texas game and had some positive comments about the play.

"I was pleased with the overall clean and solid play, really in all parts of our game," Stoops said. "Offensively, everyone wondered how Sam Bradford would handle the situation, regardless of who you're playing going out in your first game, I thought (it) was just remarkable how cool, calm and collected he was and how he executed," Stoops said.
"He was excellent in the huddle (and) at the line of scrimmage. I can think back several years, having new quarterbacks and they're having two, three fumbled snaps. A lot of things can go wrong, but he just executed in a wonderful way."
"Defensively, I thought our structure and positioning on the ball and tackling was very sharp," Stoops said, noting that hasn't always been the case in early season games in other years. Mistakes "have happened in a lot of other games, but it didn't happen the other night."

Some quotes from Miami coach Randy Shannon:

"This week, we play Oklahoma and they are a great team. They have a lot of good players on their team. I know their coaching staff personally. They do a good job of getting their players ready for any opponent. I think that it will be a challenge for us to go out there and play, but I have confidence in what we're doing today. It is a televised game so there will be a lot of emotion, but it's just an opportunity for both teams to go out there and compete. At the end of the day, the best team is going to win the game."
"There's a reason that Oklahoma is ranked high. They have a big defensive line, a big offensive line and they play great offense. It will be a challenge for us to go out there, because we are playing a great defense. Our offense is doing good. We were able to rush the ball for 260 yards and that is something that we are going to continuously try to do. If we can go into Oklahoma and rush the ball for 260 yards, we will win the game. We have to go and get that done."

Sorry coach, the stats on ESPN say you only rushed for 251(a little picky I know ;)). In addition, OU held North Texas to only 15 yards rushing, while rushing for 265 yards themselves. I realize that is North Texas and all, but we'll have to see how that turns out. A more telling result might be the 337 total yards by Miami compared to the 668 total yards by OU. After checking the rankings it appears that Marshall was ranked a little higher than North Texas. I don't know if that will make up the difference for Miami or not. In either case, we are assured of a good game this Saturday.

It appears that Allen Patrick and Chris Brown will be back for the Miami game so that should make for some great option plays for Bradford. I am looking forward to it.

Some of the material here is from this article on SoonerSports.com, while some is from this one.