Saturday’s shocking loss to TCU appears to have put Oklahoma back at square one. And that means a reevaluation of almost everything.
The seventh-ranked Sooners were beat in nearly every phase by an unheralded TCU team. The day after the game, OU coach Bob Stoops was still fuming. Still, he admitted he could see something like this on the horizon.
“I’m not going to get in details about it, but a little bit, yes,” Stoops said Sunday.
The Sooners had nine players making their first career start Saturday. That alone can bring some apprehension, but nothing like OU experienced Saturday.
“I’m always concerned that guys feel that just because we’ve done it before, that we always do it,” Stoops said. “It’s just that way. Especially guys that haven’t done it before think it’s just their right just because they’re here that it just happens. It doesn’t, obviously. Maybe they haven’t earned it like other guys have.”
There was plenty of blame to go around. Most seemed to be directed at the quarterbacks and the offensive line.
Paul Thompson made his first start and had a difficult time connecting with open receivers. He was only 11-for-26 through the air for 109 yards. He also threw an interception and lost two fumbles. Rhett Bomar played 11 plays, and outside of a 28-yard run on his first play, had a lackluster afternoon, too.
“Pretty average,” Stoops said when asked about the play of the quarterbacks. “We had many opportunities for big plays in the passing game and couldn’t convert on any of them … A few times we were pressured more than we should, and there were times we weren’t and just weren’t able to convert them.”
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long wanted to get Bomar more opportunities. They might come next Saturday when OU hosts Tulsa at 11:30 a.m.
“We’re going to discuss all that as a staff (Sunday) and then we’re going to make some decisions (today) and go with it,” Long said.
He would not rule out starting Bomar against Tulsa, but no matter who it is, there’s some maturing that needs to occur before the offense can get anywhere near the level it’s been at the last two seasons.
“There’s no question we have to win games,” Long said. “At the same time, these guys have to grow and we have to give them room to grow. That’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to do that. I’ll do my best to do that.
“We’re in the business of winning games as well. That is the challenge before us. I will get in there and I will get them to a winning point. It will happen.”
While Long was diplomatic, offensive line coach Kevin Wilson wasn’t.
He was disappointed with the way his unit — particularly senior guards Kelvin Chaisson and Chris Chester and center Chris Bush — played.
The Sooners rushed for 97 yards on 36 attempts and TCU logged three sacks.
“I’m very displeased and I don’t want to say surprised because I know anything is possible and can happen,” Wilson said. “It’s something that needs to be rectified and fixed or we are going to have a difficult time rushing the ball and playing with the attitude we need to get us the balance we need to have the chance to be a really good offense.”
He hinted personnel changes could be coming and this week’s practices will go a long toward deciding who plays.
“We need to see who wants to compete and who wants to play with some toughness,” Wilson said.
The attitude of the head coach is already in place. He had some anxiety about the way this team would handle things from the start.
“That’s why you’re always anxious to see in that first game … how they’re going to compete and how they’re going to play,” Stoops said. “And we didn’t play very well. Actually, we (played) in a lousy way. We’ll see if we’re able to do something about it.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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