Quotes From Bob Stoops
"It was a good solid win here today. Our compliments to Art Biles and Baylor. They really played disciplined, good football. They are in a bad position. I thought their quarterback did a really good job but obviously he doesn't have the experience their other quarterback has. We caught a break that way, but overall I think they have done a good job all year."
Reading between the lines Bob Stoops is saying that it nice to finally be the team playing someone else without their starting quarterback instead of being the team without the starting quarterback.
Baylor's Nick Florence completed 53.7% (22/40) of his passes for 220 yards with one touchdown and one pick. Unfortunately for the Bears he was Baylor's only source of offense as the Bears were held to just 7 net rushing yards. Baylor's offense was so bad that I couldn't tell how much of their futility had to do with the Sooner defense and how much was attributed to the ineptness stemming from not having Griffin.
"It was pleasing to win a good football game. I thought it was pleasing to go in at half, 14-7, and come back in the second half and play so well and so solid throughout the game. Anytime you have an offensive day when you have no turnovers and fewer penalties, you rush the ball for over 200 yards and throw for near 400 yards and you are doing things that are positive. I was disappointed in the drops, but again I think a lot of that is inexperience. We have all kinds of yardage and big plays, if we just catch the ball better. I'm hopeful and I believe the ability is there. It's just time and time on the field to make improvement and to make those plays when they are there to make."
Sam Bradford might have had a career day had it not been for the drops. I know that frustrations were high with them. There were several murmurs in the crowd, screaming from the coaches and even a little body language from Bradford himself. This has been an issue troubling the Sooners all season long but has never been on display more than it was on Saturday when just about every skill position player on the field dropped a ball.
"Defensively in particular, I thought in the first half even though we held them to seven, there were some plays we could have definitely played them a little bit better and been in better position, and we did in the second half. Anytime you hold someone to six yards rushing, that is positive, and hold them to seven points with as a wide open offense they have, and formations and adjustments they give you. I thought in the second half we really settled in and played good disciplined football to be where we needed to be."
It's a lot easier to hold a team scoreless when you don't have the type of coverage breakdowns that led to Baylor's first and only score. Yes, it was only better but it should be noted that the Bears were averaging 36.2 points per game coming into Norman and had it not been for one defensive breakdown in the first half this might have been Oklahoma's third shutout of the season.
Quotes From Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson
(Discussing the Red Zone) "We had a couple of drops a couple of times that got us into some third-and-eights. We tried to stay in some spread stuff instead of some big guy stuff when it came to our approach. We got down there quite a lot and other than finishing the drive, I thought that our guys played pretty solid. So we will look at what we are doing and look to find how to finish things off."
At least we didn't see any draw plays on third and long. As much grief as we gave Wilson last week it has to be said, this week, that its awful had to call plays when your receivers are dropping passes all over the field.
"We have to work our way into some positive momentum. We had to force it in today and when the guy dropped it, we would throw it right back to him the next play. We have to stay positive and stay aggressive and for the most part we did. The run game will come in time, they were a little committed to load the box. We had a fair amount of pass yards, but we have some inconsistency right now and we have to play through it. I thought our kids battled as hard as they did all year and I was proud of them."
Oklahoma had 25 rushing yards at the half and ended the game with over 200. That's not a bad turnaround. As long as receivers are dropping passes Oklahoma's opponents are going to stack the box and force them to win through the air. As soon as they are able to find success in their air it will open up on the ground as well. Saturday was a perfect example of this.
Quotes From Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables
"I thought that we responded really well in the second half. I thought that they made a few plays on us obviously in the first half. They threw up some balls in the first half and did a good job competing for it and we had a couple of breakdowns. The guys came back and played a lot better in the second half."
"Outside for the most part, when they scored, we had a couple of things during that drive that happened. Overall, I thought that they played pretty well."
In addition to holding Baylor to 29 points below their season average the Sooners also put the brakes on the Bears' running game. Baylor was averaging 196.2 yards per game on the ground which only makes the 7 yards that OU held them to even more impressive. However, like last week the breakdowns in the defensive secondary were costly.
Individual Performances
- Travis Lewis - Led the defense in tackles with 7
- Brian Jackson - 2 pass breakups, 1 interception
- Jordan Lake (Baylor) - This kid has his name called all afternoon! Finished the day with 14 total tackles.
- Jimmy Stevens - 4/4 on field goal attempts, 2/2 on extra points
- Brandon Caleb - 7 receptions, 139 yards
- Sam Bradford - 27/49, 389 yards, 1 touchdown
- DeMarco Murray - 17 carries, 82 yards, 4.8 average