John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
April 14, 2006 12:16 am
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• Sooners ditch scrimmage on final day of spring practice
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has a gambling reputation on the field. Over the years, he’s been willing to take chances other coaches wouldn’t.
Thursday wasn’t one of those days.
The Sooners’ final spring practice was as uneventful as the first 14 and that’s the way Stoops wanted to leave it.
Earlier in the week, he said the spring would end with a short scrimmage at Owen Field. But it was scrapped at the last second.
“I chickened out,” Stoops said. “We’ve gone through the entire spring and didn’t have any injuries. I wanted to keep it that way.”
There was no sense ending the spring on a down note. The Sooners had completed their month-long return to the field and accomplished plenty.
The defense dominated from the first practice and showed the potential to be dominant next season.
The offense benefited from Adrian Peterson going through all practices and getting a young offensive line a ton of practice time.
“We have a long ways from where we want to be,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said, “but there’s a lot of talent and a lot of good players going the right way.”
The offense was limited by what it could due to injuries and low numbers in the offensive line. OU only had seven offensive linemen at its disposal for most practices and scrimmages.
But Stoops said the unit made significant strides in a short time.
“They’ve made it,” Stoops said. “They’ve hung together the whole time and shown a lot of toughness without having much rotation and competed well. There’s good ability there that’s gaining really valuable experience.”
But the work for next season is far from over.
Coaches will begin breaking down video from the spring and the players will dive into offseason conditioning until practice begins in August.
In that sense, Stoops said he wasn’t ready to say the Sooners achieved much in the spring.
“I don’t know if anything is truly accomplished yet,” he said. “I’d be careful to say we’re there in any area. This team is so young and has so much potential for improvement that every area needs to get better.”
He’ll find out in August whether they have.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
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