Monday, September 30th 2013, 3:21 pm
Coming off their big 35-21 win on the road at Notre Dame on Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners now turn their attention to TCU. Monday, the Sooners and head coach Bob Stoops met with the media to talk about the matchup and the momentum generated from the win over the Fighting Irish. Here are some new and notes from the press conference.
• Offensive tackle Daryl Williams said it shouldn't be hard for the Sooners to move on from the win over Notre Dame. "We know its just one game," Williams said. "We still have a lot more to go and a lot more to reach our goal. We celebrated, everything is good, time to move on."
• Williams said new offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has played a part in the Sooners being better up front, but a lot of the drive came from the players. "We made ourselves tougher," Williams said. "The coaches pushed us to be tougher."
• The Sooners racked up 212 yards on the ground against Notre Dame, but Williams said OU could have been much better. "I think we could have run the ball better than we did," Williams said. "I don't think we've run the ball nearly as good as we could have against any of these teams."
• Linebacker Corey Nelson said the Sooners performed exactly as they wanted to against the Irish on Saturday. "Could it have been better, yes, but we definitely made the statement we thought we could make," Nelson said.
• Nelson said the Sooners' focus needs to be 10 times better this week than it was for Notre Dame to avoid a letdown after a big win.
• Nelson and fellow Dallas Skyline teammate Frank Shannon have a former teammate on TCU, linebacker Paul Dawson. Nelson said there wouldnt be any Twitter smack talk, but Shannon said he and Dawson had already exchanged some playful jabs.
• OU coach Bob Stoops said the Sooners are nowhere near a finished product, despite their unblemished record through four games. "We can get a lot better in a lot of areas and that's what we're going to keep working for," Stoops said.
• Stoops said he hasn't been surprised at all by the play from young, new starters on both sides of the ball. "They're paying closer attention to detail in meetings and practice; they practice harder, more attentive in practice, making more plays and being prepared," Stoops said. "If it happens like that during the week you have a better chance of it happening on Saturday."
• Stoops said that playing Trevor Knight and Blake Bell together was not a bad idea and something he and the coaching staff would consider using in the future.
• Stoops added the Sooners had no new injuries, although Frank Shannon had his hand/wrist in a hard cast that he played in on Saturday.
• Stoops gave high praise to wide receiver Sterling Shepard for his performance on Saturday, saying Shepard was gaining a lot more confidence in himself and doing the little things more. "He was just outstanding," Stoops said. "You should see him without the football in this game. It's really fun to watch. The guy was blocking everywhere."
• While the Notre Dame win was big for the Sooners, Stoops was quick to point to the eight other games OU plays this season. However, he said there was a lot to take away from it going forward. "It should give them confidence," Stoops said. "To go into a great environment against a good football team and play like we did should give them confidence and hopefully it gives them a hunger to do it more and better. That's what I'd like them to do."
September 30th, 2013
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