Only two teams have beaten Oklahoma in Norman since Bob Stoops began his tenure as the Sooners head coach. One of those teams is in-state rival OSU and the other is this weekend’s opponent, TCU. At his weekly press luncheon Coach Stoops discussed his team’s preparation as well as Saturday night’s opponent.

Ranked #24 in the AP Poll TCU will be Oklahoma’s first nationally ranked opponent of the season. The first thing Coach Stoops addressed was the quality of this weekend’s opponent.

“TCU comes in as an excellent team. They are 4-0 and ranked No. 23 in the country, and really playing well. They are number one in the country both defensively and in turnover margin. They are a hard playing, talented football team. Their quarterback does an excellent job at directing their offense. They run a lot of zone reads and run some no backs throwing plays, and he is very efficient in all of those. Gary Patterson and his staff always do an excellent job preparing and after watching his teams play, they are always very discipline.
 
“It is a big challenge with a ranked team coming in here, and we understand that we have to be at our best. We had a good day of practice yesterday and (all of) last week, but we realize that we have to practice well all week to be at our best on Saturday. So we are going to have to do that.”

Oklahoma’s offense is producing mind blowing numbers but the Horned Frogs have the nation’s top ranked defense. This is the match-up that makes is game so intriguing.

“They run a 4-2-5. They are very disciplined and they play hard. Scheme-wise, they are going to give you your basic zones, but they do a nice job of mixing in different plays. Structure-wise, if you put four down lineman up there, there are only so many ways you can shake them. Their execution and discipline is what makes them so good. They are very sound.”

Player Quotes

"The last time we played TCU in 2005, I played receiver. The memory of that game that stands out the most is obviously losing the season opener at home, and I know I don’t want to feel that way again.
 
"This year’s team is much different than the 2005 team. Nic Harris and myself are both seniors and we have been there and know what we need to do to get things done." – Safety Lendy Holmes on losing to TCU in 2005.

“They just mix it up and put some people in different spots. It’s a little different look from what we normally see, but we’re just going to get in there and watch some film to get used to what we’ll be seeing on Saturday.
 
“It is one of the better defenses. It’s not pressure as much as it is an opportunity to go against a great defense. They’re real quick and have a lot of good linebackers. They have a really good and solid core with a lot of seniors.” – Offensive lineman Phil Loadholt on TCU’s defense.