Bob Stoops and a handful of players met with the media Tuesday afternoon and while they had a lot to say about OU's victory over North Texas we were most interested about what they had to say about the Miami Hurricanes.
"We are really excited to have a great match up this week with Miami. They are another tradition-rich program who we have a good history with and had a lot of great games with, important games. Miami is a program we have great respect for when we watch those guys play. Randy Shannon does an excellent job. I have known Randy a long time and he has been there and always had great defenses. I know he will do a great job with them, and already has with them in the first game versus Marshall. They are well-coached and always in position. They are very competitive and talented guys running around with a lot of speed and size. Miami is an excellent program and an excellent looking team coming in here this week."
We feel that the strength of Miami's offense is their running game, so much so that we've even called the Canes one dimensional. Does Coach Stoops agree?
"Offensively, they are excellent running the football. They have two really great running backs. Even when you restrict running lanes, they can find something and make something happen and make people miss them. We will see a lot of athletic receivers and a quarterback who can do a nice job with his legs as well as throwing if they chose to emphasize it more, which I am sure they will. They have a balanced attack, and any time you can run the football it helps with your passing game."
Defensively we believe that the Hurricanes are the strongest that the Sooners will see all season. I'm pretty sure that Stoops agrees with us.
"The defensive front is one of the better ones in college football. It is early in the season, but watching them last week and watching them play last year, they have excellent personnel all across the front four. They have great depth with guys that come in to rotate. To me, they are picking hairs who is starting because they are all really good. Sometimes I feel that way with our front when we rotate eight or nine guys. They have excellent quality players, not only up front but in their experienced secondary and excellent backers. It is a solid defense and one that has been together. Randy (Shannon) and his staff have always had a record of good defenses."
Allen Patrick will be back this week as well as Chris Brown giving the Sooners four options at running back. What's the game plan?
"We are going to play them like we have planned all along. We want to rotate those guys in and give guys a series here and a break here. If a guy breaks a big run then he is usually gassed, then we will throw another guy in there who is fresh. Hopefully in the fourth quarter then we have fresh guys still coming at them. I see that as a great advantage to have some guys that will keep each other fresh who are really quality players. The offense doesn't change with them, but they all have a little different style."
Player Quotes
"They're a good team, and always fast. We just have to prepare like we do every week and just focus. We have to be ready for everything that they throw at us and everything they're going to line up for us. It seems like the offense is pretty good and their defense may make some stops for us, so we are going to try and carry it over and come out there ready to play. I think we're ready. We're going to be ready by the time the game comes. We're just going to practice hard and we'll be prepared." - Receiver Juaquin Iglesias on playing Miami
"We are going to have to be physical, we are going to have to be fast, we are going to have to execute well. We can't make mistakes or they will capitalize on them. They are very capable guys, they move around the field. But we will be ready, the bigger the challenge the bigger the opportunity." - Center Jon Cooper on the offensive line's approach to the Miami game
"They do a lot of things. They try to make it hard for you to key in on one thing. They are good at what they do. I think the main thing is that they are going to come in and try to run the ball and our plan is to stop it." - Linebacker Lewis Baker on the Miami offense
"They are still the University of Miami and they still have that speed. They are still going to come out ready to play each and every down. We have to come out ready for it and play to the best of our ability." - Safety Nic Harris on the Miami Hurricanes