Off weeks can be a time for rest or a chance for an in-season return to training camp.
Oklahoma went through the latter during its last off week. The Sooners will try a little bit of the former this week.
“It is a good time for a break,” OU coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday at his weekly media luncheon.
The Sooners (5-3 overall, 4-1 Big 12) have won three straight games, and moved one victory away from guaranteeing themselves a bowl berth.
It’s a far cry from where OU found itself in late September. Back then, the Sooners had stumbled out of the gate to a 1-2 start. Instead of giving the players some time off, it was six straight back-to-the-grindstone practices.
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long said that week was like starting all over.
And this one?
“We’re banged up a little bit. They need some rest at this point,” Long said. “It’s just a feel we have for our team. At the first bye week, it was still early in the year, we were going through some growing pains, we weren’t as beat up, so we worked them more.
“We’re going to have plenty of good work this week, but we just felt like, at this time of year, let’s cut back a little bit more, let them have some time off and they’ll come back a lot more refreshed to finish. November’s a hard part of the season.”
Getting Adrian Peterson completely healthy for the first time in more than a month and mending some of the nagging injuries on the offensive line are the priorities.
Stoops believes center Chris Chester will be able to play Nov. 12 against Texas A&M; and will begin to practice this week. The Sooners need him.
Chris Bush, who moved to center when Chester went down, broke his right hand against Nebraska and will have to move back to guard while he wears a cast.
There are also numerous players dealing with the aches and pains of the season.
“To some degree, we will work hard,” Stoops said. “I don’t know that we can be as physical as we were (during the first off week) because of all the guys that we have out or are close to being out.
“We have to get a lot of work done and still improve our health overall. So, it can’t be as physical as it was back then.”
This time around, there isn’t the same type of pressure to get as much work in as possible. The Sooners have improved.
OU leads the nation in rushing defense and has progressed offensively over its last three games.
All that’s left is trying to get ready for the final stretch of the regular season. The Sooners host the Aggies Nov. 12 and travel to Texas Tech Nov. 19 before closing the regular season against Oklahoma State at home Nov. 26.
OU was supposed to play the Cowboys this week, but it was moved in June to Thanksgiving weekend.
At the time, OU was irritated with the move. It wanted two weeks to prepare for a possible Big 12 Championship Game appearance. The Sooners aren’t complaining now.
“This one works out, in our situation, really good,” Stoops said.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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