By John Shinn
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — You can dissect Oklahoma’s problems any way you want. Offense and defense, positions and individuals have been called into question.
The Sooners are tired of hearing about their problems. They know about their inexperience and the injuries that hurried them out on the field, green and without any seasoning.
It’s still a matter of getting 11 guys to do their job on every play.
“We just put ourselves in some situations where, if we can just play a little smarter and execute what we practice doing, we have a chance to make more plays,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “You’ve got to do it. So, yeah, we have to press ourselves mentally and players have to step up and say we have six games left and take them one at a time.”
Senior linebacker Clint Ingram believes OU has reached a point where it’s time to produce or get out of the way. When the Sooners (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) face Kansas (3-2, 0-2) at 6 tonight at Arrowhead Stadium, the excuses must end.
“Guys being immature or guys not being experienced or guys not being in these situations before, we can’t just keep giving guys a crutch or an excuse,” Ingram said.
He wasn’t calling any players out or going on tirade. To Ingram, it’s a matter of responsibility; doing what is necessary to excel on the field shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“Being around for a while, I know how it is,” he said. “For myself, it took me awhile to get a hold of things. It’s just me knowing how to put the time in and how to prepare for certain things.
“I can understand where a guy says, ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘I’m not comfortable with that.’ After so long, you can’t use that anymore. If you’re a player that the coach has out there, they should do whatever it takes to overcome those things.”
That’s not happening right now. Blown assignments are as much to blame for the Sooners’ 2-3 record as anything.
Senior defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek said there’s a lot more to it than putting great athletes on the field.
“People are different and football’s definitely not for everybody,” Dvoracek said. “Even guys that were good in high school don’t have what it takes to play at this level, mentally.
“They do physically, but to play at this level you have to be 100 percent committed. You have to watch film, there’s a lot of stuff you have to do. It’s not just being a good athlete and lifting weights. It’s being smart, it’s watching film, it’s doing a lot of things … It takes a special person to be a good college football player.”
Does it mean OU is running low on players that fit the bill?
Yes, at least for the moment. How long that continues is the question.
Lowering expectations won’t solve the problem.
“More than anything, you have to be forthright and demanding as ever,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “At the same time, I think they’ll see we can correct a number of these mistakes that can make a difference. We’re capable of doing it. We have the physical capability as well as the mental capability.”
But it still has to happen on the field. That’s the only place the practice and the extra work can pay off.
Only results matter.
“No excuses,” Ingram said. “That’s what it’s gotten down to.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
