Highlights From Bob Stoops Weekly News Conference

Coming off of the first win of OU's 2016 season, head coach Bob Stoops spoke at his weekly press conference as his Sooners get set to host Ohio State this Saturday. 

Here are some highlights from his session with the media:

Opening statement...

“I was just really pleased we played the way we’re capable of. Without foolish penalties, taking care of the football, without very few mental errors, those kind of things. Really played in a pretty sound way. I thought offensively, Baker [Mayfield] was excellent, really decisive getting the ball out quick. I thought a lot of receivers really played well. A lot of guys made big plays. We’re consistent catching the ball and executing so that’s good. I thought our running backs played well, offensive line was good. We had the balance we’d like to have.”

“Defensively, very solid. Very good again against the run. The execution overall with the first whole group was really solid, really good. Had two breakdowns in the second half. One safety checked something that he shouldn’t have and the other the corner just didn’t get to the position he needed to on some basic coverage but other than that everybody was really good in the way they played.”

“I realize the level of competition wasn’t what we’re used to playing, but I like the fact we took care of things we could control and played in a better fashion that way.”

“On to this week, big week with Ohio State coming to town. Excellent football team that everybody knows that Coach Urban Meyer and his staff do a great job, great tradition, really an exciting week for everybody. Offensively everything goes through J.T. Barrett, an exceptional athlete at quarterback, throwing the football really well. A lot of excellent players. Curtis Samuel, number four, is a guy that first comes to mind. So many different ways they can get him the football, electrifying guy in the way he can run. Excellent running back in Webber as well. Wilson another great athlete they put out at wide out and can play in the backfield as well. Talented guys around all of them.”

“Defensively, same thing, very sound, haven’t given up a touchdown yet this year. Very, very good defense. Four-man front most of the time, they’ll get into some of the three-man front, but mostly a four-man front with a lot of good players. I love their middle linebacker, McMillan, great player. I really love their free safety, Hooker, great athlete back there, covers a ton of ground and already has three interceptions. Really great player.”

On what playing Ohio State can do for the OU program…

“Well when you play these games and win them it gives you a boost. They’re exciting for everybody, they’re challenging in the great competition you’re going against but they can give you a lift when you win and they force you to really have a good week of practice and have improvement, especially early in the year here. So everyone realizes the challenge of it all.”

On the cornerback spot opposite of Jordan Thomas…

“We’ll see, those guys all played better outside of the one play, and that’s more of a mental error than anything. All of those guys played in a better way this past week, so we’ll work on that this week and see who it is.”

On how close wide receiver Mykel Jones is to having a role in offense…

“Much closer. Played well the other day. Showed a lot of good things. Had one mental mistake but he’s getting closer.”

On the atmosphere in the stadium on Saturday…

“It seemed great. To be honest I kind of paid attention when I took the field and waiting for the coin toss, looked around and thought it looked great. Seemed like from what you could tell that everybody was having fun up there. I didn’t look at it again until I took the field in the second half, probably only because we were up 42-0 or I wouldn’t have looked up again.”

On Ohio State being a special team despite only returning six starters…

“Yeah, you see excellent players. They’ve got good players at every spot and they’re coached well which is obvious and you see the athleticism, the speed everywhere.”

On Bobby Evans performance at right tackle in his first start along with Dru Samia’s play at guard…

“It went well. Bobby did a nice job there, and Dru is doing well inside. I believe he’ll get better, there’s a little bit of an adjustment in there, but he had a really good game again. But he’s a guy that will continue to get better in there but that combination seemed to play well for us.”

On defensive end Neville Gallimore’s performance…

“Neville did play well, and continues to get better and that gives us confidence to give him more snaps. We like what he’s doing.”

On what OU and Ohio State playing does for college football…

“I think it’s exciting for college football fans, even that aren’t Oklahoma or Ohio State fans. Everybody likes to see these kind of matchups and they’re exciting for everyone really.”

On if he grew up watching the Buckeyes…

“Yeah I grew up watching Ohio State football, I can’t say that we were Buckeye fans, but everyone of course watched them and paid attention. Of course everybody knew of and loved Woody Hayes, and his legend, loved his teams. He had great teams, great players, building that tradition for such a long time. When you’re in Ohio, you know of it, for sure.”

On what Ohio State football meant to him growing up…

“They were iconic, they were like Oklahoma, Ohio State, you know the ones  that traditionally have that tradition that goes back 50 or 60 years. They were always one of the elite teams that you paid attention to, followed and watched when you could, everyone wasn’t on all the time so you always thought it was a treat when one of those type of schools was on and you got to see them.”

On if he knew the rule regarding the end of the Oklahoma State vs. Central Michigan game from Saturday…

“I don’t want to say I knew the rule, but it’s unfortunate like I said in my show, the very first pass that ULM threw the other night we had about a five or ten minute review whether it was complete or not, and we can’t take 10 or 15 minutes to review whether they should have another down or not? It doesn’t seem fathomable that that happened. We run the same play, so I’m not disagreeing with Mike [Gundy], but I thought it was a good call, what he did. When we do it, we run a receiver down the boundary and try to do the same thing. Bottom line is, it’s the right thing to do when ruled correctly.”

On Mark Andrews becoming the fastest OU receiver to score 10 touchdowns…

“He’s an excellent player. He’s an unusual matchup and a great route runner, great hands. Coach Riley has done a great job in finding big plays for him.”

On Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel…

“They play him everywhere, exceptional speed and quickness, definitely a guy you have to know where he is all the time.”

On the similarities between Houston and Ohio State’s offenses…

“They’re similar, they have a lot of similarities of course. Each will do a few things a little bit different, but overall there’s a lot of carry over.”

On how it benefits the Sooners…

“It does in that you’ve practiced against it quite a bit and now you’ve got a chance to hopefully make some adjustments from it as well.”

On the similarities of Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. and Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett…

“There’s some advantage there that we’ve dealt with a guy who’s similar, and you can try and tweak and adjust some things that maybe you thought you could’ve done better. The other side of that is they got to see how you want to play it, so they get to make their adjustments as well.”

On if he thinks current Houston coach Tom Herman will talk with Ohio State coaching staff, seeing he was the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator two seasons ago…

“Oh absolutely, sure. And I’m sure there’s been conversations this week and last week. Just like we relay conversations with people as well in the offseason.”

On his policy of not letting Joe Mixon speak with the media…

“Yeah it’s something we’ve talked about, and I’ve talked about with administration and we’re working on that, so there’s a possibility.”

On what worries him about Ohio State…

“It starts with their quarterback. They do a great job. The balance to be able to run and throw. Their quickness on the outside. Defensively the same thing. Their strength up front, quickness in the secondary.”

On what a win against the Buckeyes would do for his team...

“Obviously it would be a huge boost, to be heading into Big 12 play the following week. It’s always a huge boost to win a game like this.”