Published September 21, 2005 12:17 am -
Sooners will work on themselves
By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
Oklahoma is off to its worst start under Bob Stoops but the Sooners will not spend their first bye week of the season hitting the panic button.
“I want our team to know that we are not far off,” Stoops said at his media luncheon Tuesday.
But this won’t be like the typical bye weeks the Sooners have enjoyed the last several years.
Usually, if OU had a week without an opponent, it would find one. Upcoming foes like Texas would be the focus.
This one will be spent working on the Sooners’ worst enemy — themselves.
“We’ve got a lot of work to get done and we're going to work hard going against each other just trying to establish more discipline,” Stoops said.
That’s what happens when the woes are all over the field.
Defensively, Stoops is miffed with the botched assignments and missed tackles that have plagued each game.
They were particularly bad against the Bruins.
According to Stoops, 137 of UCLA’s 397 yards came after a Sooner defender had missed a tackle. Co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables believes the number should be around 30.
“That’s fundamental, basic football that we can be better at,” Stoops said. “That’s what we’ve got to get across to our team.”
Correcting those deficiencies is where the defense’s attention lies.
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long likened his unit’s situation to starting from scratch. Teaching fundamentals will take precedent over coming up with new schemes.
“I would look at this week for us as like a training camp,” Long said. “We’re back in camp.”
At least he has a good idea where to start.