By John Shinn
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.
OU turned the ball over three times against UCLA and have averaged three per game.
“To me, the major factors that really led to points, that add up yards, that increase time of possession, it all goes back to turnovers,” Stoops said. “When we have the ball on the ground the number of times we did and lose three of them, your opportunity to win, especially away from home, decreases big time.”
The turnovers have inflicted the most damage, but they’re not the only problem that needs to be fixed.
Twenty of OU’s 74 offensive plays against UCLA resulted in negative yardage, turnovers or penalties.
When meshed together, they’re a recipe for disaster.
“To me, the biggest factor is we can play smarter than we’re playing,” Stoops said. “We can play harder. Our guys wanted to play, they were prepared to play, but we have to learn to play at a higher tempo than we’re playing.”
There’s plenty of problems to go around. It would be tough for any team to get all of them rectified before the Sooners return to Owen Field Oct. 1 when Kansas State comes to Norman for both teams’ conference opener.
Nevertheless, the Sooners believe the mistakes that have plagued them can be resolved.
“We’re going to keep getting better as we go. I believe there’s great potential as we go,” he said. “Are we there yet? Obviously not. But we’re going to keep trying.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
