Familiar foes

By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript

September 07, 2007 01:16 am

— Oklahoma and Miami haven’t played since the 1988 Orange Bowl, but both coaching staffs are very well aquatinted.
Sooner coach Bob Stoops said he first got to know Miami coach Randy Shannon during his days as an assistant coach at Kansas State in the early 1990s.
“I used to bump into him when I recruited southeast Florida for Kansas State,” Stoops said. “We’d bump into him down there from time to time recruiting.”
Shannon, in his first season as head coach, has been at Miami since 1991, working his way up from graduate assistant throughout the years. The only break he took was a three-year stint as an assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Shannon did have a working relationship with one of the Stoops brothers. Mark Stoops was Miami’s defensive backs coach from 2001-03.
“I know him because he’s Mark brother,” Shannon said. “The whole Stoops family is great. Meeting those guys, they’re always wonderful to talk to. They’re very competitive, just like me.”
Advantages?
Miami has new offensive and defensive coordinators this season, while OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables is entering his fourth season and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson is entering his second, though Venables has been with OU since Bob Stoops arrived and Wilson came on as line coach in 2002.
There’s a perception that could make scouting a little easier for the Hurricanes because the Sooners have a well-established track record of what they do, while Miami doesn’t.
Stoops said that isn’t a big deal.
Hurricanes offensive coordinator Patrick Nix held the same job at Georgia Tech last season and defensive coordinator Tim Walton was Miami’s secondary coach.
“It’s not their first year coaching, so we know what they like to do,” Stoops said. “Coordinators do know what they like and they usually don’t stray far from it.
“We’ve got every game Georgia Tech played, and Randy’s been their defensive coordinator. I’m sure it’s going to be very similar to what they’ve been used to doing. We feel we’re very familiar with what they want to do, too.”
Mirror images
OU Starters on both sides of the ball say preparation for Saturday’s game has come without use of the scout team. Instead, it came from going against each other.
OU and Miami run very similar schemes on offense and defense.
“It helps because our defense is very much the same way,” center Jon Cooper said. “They do a lot of stunts, a lot of twists. They’ll max blitz. They’ll cover zero and bring seven guys. Our defense has done that also. It’s something we see a lot.”
Two-back system
Miami will rotate running backs Graig Cooper and Javarris James Saturday. Cooper rushed for 116 yards last Saturday in the Hurricanes’ 31-3 victory over Marshall. James finished with 99 and two touchdowns.
Shannon said he doesn’t really view either one as first or second team. The goal is to get both an equal amount of carries.
“If you can get both players 20, 25 touches a game, they can wear most defenses down,” he said “The way those guys run the ball and the way they can catch the ball out of the backfield makes a really big difference.”
Neither caught a pass against Marshall.
Venables said they might be the best running back tandem OU will see all season.
“They’re both slashers, they can both make you miss in space,” he said. “Any time you have good, quality depth at running back it's going to help you, especially when you come out emphasizing the run.”