The offense's quest? Perfection

By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript

September 26, 2007 12:51 am

— Oklahoma returned to practice Monday after its fourth straight blowout win and its fourth straight game in which the offense rolled up at least 50 points.
What do you think was the first thing cued up when the game film rolled?
Highlights? Wrong.
Basking in the glory of a win ends pretty fast when the mistakes are pointed out. The penalties, the missed assignments are all there to see.
“Look at how well you played, but look at how much better you could have played,” center Jon Cooper said is the first thing the players hear the day after a victory.
The players don’t hear much about leading the nation is scoring offense or being No. 3 in total offense. Being ranked No. 5 in total defense is a secret the players haven’t been let in on.
All that matters is correcting those mistakes and moving forward.
But the third-ranked Sooners (4-0) don’t mind harping on the negatives.
“It helps a lot,” running back DeMarco Murray said. “Seeing those negative things shows us what we could have done better and maybe scored more points and been more focused and a more disciplined team.”
There were a couple negatives last Friday at Tulsa.
Right guard Duke Robinson was hit with a a personal foul on OU’s first drive that thwarted an early touchdown. Sam Bradford tossed an interception two plays later. The defense was out of sync on Tulsa’s first possession, resulting in the game’s first touchdown and the first time this season the Sooners have trailed.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was harping about a muffed snap late in the first half that bounced off motioning tight end Joe Jon Finley’s leg, but was recovered by wide receiver Manuel Johnson.
“That could have been a catastrophic mistake,” Wilson said.
Those mistakes — the season tally: 29 penalties, five fumbles and two interceptions — weigh heavily on the Sooners’ minds as they prepare to open Big 12 Conference play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Colorado (2-2).
Because just winning is not enough when the big picture comes into focus. Winning every game is the goal. An uncorrected mistake in Game 4 could lead to a loss in Game 6.
The score is just a byproduct.
“I don’t care about any of that. I just care about winning each series,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “Our guys don’t pay attention to the score. I’ve liked that we’ve been fairly robotic about how we play and that’s good.”
“Machine-like” has been a good way to describe how OU’s played through the first month of the season. The attention to detail has produced a well-oiled machine .
Most would take being called robotic an insult. The word seems to implicate there’s no emotion involved.
But that’s not the case. The attention to detail, the focus on the negatives has produced record-setting numbers.
“We don’t pay attention too much,” Murray said. “We don’t pay attention to what the other team is doing or how they’re acting. The goal is to put points on the board, have fun doing it and continue to work hard.”
So far, it’s working pretty well.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com