Oklahoma Sooners Spring Game Quotes | What The Coaches And Quarterbacks Said About The Red/White Game

Bob Stoops

"I thought that the guys did a good job overall. Always please no one was injured; I think a year ago we lost Geneo Grissom with a knee injury in this game. It's always scares you as a coach. I thought we managed it well. We got right around 100 plays, which is a normal long scrimmage for us. So you get some good work in game type conditions without risking too much injury. I thought overall (in regard to) fundamentals guys played pretty well, didn't have foolish bad penalties and really manage the game pretty well."

On whether they showed all of the offense
"No, it's just we didn't need to beat anybody today. Why are you going to go out and show everything you're going to do when we've got Akron here the first game and then Tennessee immediately right after. So what are we going to do today so that you'll write positively for a couple of weeks? In the end, that wasn't our purpose. Our purpose was to do some basic fundamental things and worry about our tempo and other wrinkles we may or may not have for when it really matters and that's next year."

Lincoln Riley

"Hopefully we don't throw it to them (defense) as much as we did today. We were very, very basic. Honestly in the last fifteen practices we have put less stock in this one compared to the other fifteen. There are a lot of things working against you, as far as playing guys. As you know Samaje Perine was in a blue jersey and I figured out pretty quickly if I kept handing it to him we were going to lose yards. You know, we wanted to keep it simple. This is obviously a little different for me in that this is the first spring game that I have ever had that has been nationally televised. Normally you did not have to worry about that and you could go out there and just run your offense.

‘'After meeting with Coach Stoops we decided that it being year one of this offense that we wanted it to be more vanilla than we would have been otherwise. We wanted to keep some things under the belt. I am very confident, scheme wise, of where we are headed. We have made a lot of strides. One thing we do here in practice, that is a little different for me, is we get so many more team reps than I have ever been a part of. I think just last Wednesday we had 75 team reps, which is like a scrimmage. We have been going into the stadium. We have been putting on the headsets and really getting a lot of good game simulation. Our guys have performed well enough that going into this we could rest the guys we needed to rest, be very vanilla and get a look at some of the younger guys. I think we got all that done."

On QB Baker Mayfield
"Again, I think they all did (made mistakes). Other than Justice Hansen, they all took a little too many risks. Baker has had a good spring. He is sharp. Baker is not a guy who is afraid to take chances and that is the Catch 22 in this offense. You cannot be scared but at the same time they have to calculated and smart. I love the aggressiveness of Baker and I do not want to pull on the reigns. I think he did a lot of good things today and I am pleased with the group. I was able to settle them down at the half and they were able to come out at the half and we played a lot more in control; a lot more in rhythm. Baker was one of those. He has had a very strong spring."

Mike Stoops

On the advantage of coaching in the press box
"It lets you think more in between series. Setting up, and getting more diversification with your formations with more time to think helps. My job is to just communicate to the coaches down on the field, and tell them what I see."

On how the new up tempo offense effects the defense
"It helps us. The speed that they go at helps our guys understand issues that may come up when an offense is going that fast. But it's not about how fast they go, rather the amount of people that are constantly coming in. Being able to track that, and finding the best eleven matchups we can on any given play is a challenge, but it's helping us."

On how he views the secondary play thus far
"I think this starting group has a chance to be very good. We still are making way to many mistakes, but we just need to communicate better and clean up some things. If we do that, I think this group is talented enough to be very formidable across the board."

Baker Mayfield

"Personally I feel like I have a lot of stuff to improve on. Decision making wise, this wasn't my best day, but it was a good experience. When I was able to get the ball in our receivers' hands, they made plays for me. Now, I just have to keep improving and finding ways to get them the ball."

On the deep pass
"I love taking my shots. When you have a one on one matchup, I feel you have to take it. There are times when I need to hold back, and it showed today. I turned the ball over and made some bad choices, but I'm still going to take my shots when I can."

On the quarterback battle
"Today wasn't our best practice, but I wouldn't be surprised if the battle went on all the way through camp. All of us quarterbacks have to be prepared for that, and I'm sure we're all fine with that."

Trevor Knight

On being in another quarterback competition
"It's the same attitude. It's the same attitude I have had since I was seven years old. My dad has always been the one to say that you're going to have to compete in whatever you do in life. That's a big lesson for me, because here I am going into my junior year still competing. That's what you want. You want to be able to go out and compete every day. That's why you come to a place like this. I've said that before. Honestly, it's a privilege to go out and wear these colors and compete each and every day."

Cody Thomas

On how he likes the new offense
"I played in an offense like this in high school, spreading the ball out and throwing it a lot. I like what we've done. We've come a long way since the first day of spring. Today wasn't the only showcase we grade ourselves on, but it's another learning experience. We played pretty well and it's something to learn from."

On giving up baseball 
"It was really hard to give up baseball because it's a sport that I love, but I'm definitely confident that it was the right decision. I'm glad that I'm full-time football right now and I'm committing myself more than I ever have."

Justice Hansen

"I felt good. This offense is a little bit more simplified from what we had in the past so just getting out there and getting everything signaled and then just react."