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OU Preps For Kansas

Bob Stoops and the Sooners met with the media in Norman on Monday, in advance of Saturday's matchup at Kansas.

Below are select quotes from the press conference, courtesy of SoonerSports.com:

Head Coach Bob Stoops

Opening comments:
"Going back through and reviewing last week's game against Texas, I was very proud of the players for their effort and toughness. The attitude they took during week to prepare themselves really allowed for them to play an excellent game.

"Defensively when you keep them to 133 yards for three quarters you are doing a lot that is pretty special defensively. The run defense and the tackling were great. The pressure we got on the quarterback was exceptional with eight sacks and forcing some turnovers with fumbles and interceptions. Some guys that really played great were Frank Alexander. He had a career day with three sacks, four tackles for a loss, a forced fumble that was recovered for a touchdown, a recovered fumble and a batted pass, now that's a heck of a day. Ronnell Lewis also played well with a couple of sacks and forced fumbles, he just played great. Demontre Hurst and Jamell Fleming both played well with touchdowns and tackling on the outside that was just great. Those four were our defensive players of the game and virtual everybody else played well.

"Offensively Landry Jones with 367 yards and 310 or 315 yards in the first half with no interceptions was exceptional. Just handling the offense with precision and timing and he was able even get the ball out when they were blitzing. Kenny Stills and Ryan Broyles also had great games. Those guys were our offensive players of the game. I thought our line did a great job. We only had one sack for the day. We ran the ball well at times with that one really long run and we had a few short runs. We missed a few assignments. There is some of our technique that we can work on and we will.

"Michael Hunnicutt was really special. He was kicking the football when we got down in the red zone a couple of times and were not able to put the ball in the end zone. If you leave there without any points, you are really at a loss. When you come out and get those first two field goals at least you are starting to put points on the board and build the lead. All of those extra points were helpful as well.

"It was a solid day. We still feel there is a lot we can improve on. We are still early in the season and still building. As I look at it on our front four there is only one senior in that bunch, Frank Alexander, the whole linebacker crew there is only one senior, Travis Lewis, and the whole secondary there is only one senior, Jamell Fleming, so we still have a lot of young guys that are going to continue to get better. Same thing offensively, I still feel that we have a chance to get a lot better. We will continue to build on all of this.

"Which brings us to Kansas this week, we are going up to Lawrence and they are a team that did not have a very good week last week at Oklahoma State. When you look at them at home, they are much better. They just had a knockdown quarter with Texas Tech in the week before, but we know they are a team that is very capable. Offensively they are averaging 460 yards a game, which is significant. Jordan Webb, their quarterback is completing almost 70 percent of his passes, so they've really done well offensively. I know they've had some struggles defensively, but our whole focus will be on what we can do to polish ourselves up and to get better."

On Brent Venables:
"He has been a very consistent great leader. He is a very bright guy. He is a great worker, dedicated and committed. He is all the positive things you want to say about an assistant coach. As much as anything I feel a great connection because we are very much the same kind of personality. We take it very personal as to how our team plays and our part in how they are playing. Brent is very much that way. He is very passionate about it and our players pick up on that. We have such a long connection makes it pretty special too."

On TCU entering the Big 12:
"I think it's great. The whole proximity, success and the strong program that they have is a real positive for this whole region. It will be easy for fans to travel here and there as well as parents and families. I think we really made some excellent strides here. I appreciate the work of President (David) Boren and all the presidents as far as what they are doing to improve our conference. The issue of revenue sharing has been worked out with the networks or future networks have been handled well. I think that this all shows that we are in good faith and we are able to build a strong conference that is able to trust one another and work well together. The strength is still here in our conference with the quality of teams. Just a year ago TCU won the Rose Bowl. Hopefully we can continue to make these strides because I think what we have been doing in the last couple of weeks is significant and positive."

On the defense:
"Everyone has talked about Ronnell Lewis for a while now, which they should because he is just an amazing athlete. Frank Alexander is as well. He has great hands. I can't tell you how many times I will see him pick off a screen in practice. I love how he has really turned his competitiveness up and his technique is really on another level. David King has really come along well too. The one guy that has really impressed and surprised me is R.J. Washington. I guess not that it should be a surprise, but he has come on and really made a lot of nice plays and tips. Casey Walker also had a really great game. So, they are all playing well."

OL Stephen Good

On the adjustment without Ben Habern:
"You know, Ben was a good player and he's been playing for a long time. Losing him, it hurt a little bit, but we've practiced for situations like this and I feel that we haven't been missing anything due to that preparation. Gabe (Ikard) came in, we were still making the calls, guards were helping out, we didn't have any snap issues. So far as an adjustment, I feel like we didn't skip a beat."
  
On playing his last game against Texas:
"It's crazy to think about. I was actually talking to my parents and it really didn't hit me until about an hour after the game that this was my last time playing Texas. It's great to go out with a win like that."
  
On protecting Landry Jones during the Texas game:
"It was really good. Pass protection was real sharp and I was happy that we kept Landry's jersey clean."
  
On his improvement as a pass blocker:
"There's always room for improvement. I'm not going to say that I'm happy with my performance, but as far as pass protection goes, I have come a long way in that area."
  
On his versatility on the offensive line:
"I've moved around a little bit. Basically, I look at it as anyway I can benefit the team, that's what I'm going to do. Playing both guards in the game, I feel helps give a good rotation, especially earlier in the season when I was doing that."
 

K Michael Hunnicutt


On feeling comfortable as OU's kicker:
"I'm enjoying the experience so far. I've gained quite a bit of confidence over the last few games, pretty short kicks though, but still a fun and great experience. I'm glad to be here."
  
On experience of his first OU/Texas game:
"It was really fun. I grew up in Dallas, so I always grew up around the game as well as always being a huge OU fan. It was me living out a dream almost. It's definitely what I imagined, even more probably."
  
On distance he feels confident kicking from:
"About 52 or 53 yards out, the 44-yard one hit the upright, but I'm glad it went through. It helped my confidence level a lot, I'd definitely say that. It came off my foot really good."

DE R.J. Washington

On how the team will continue to keep things rolling: 
"We just have to make sure that we don't do the same thing that we did after the Florida State game. We really need to have a strong game at Kansas. They have a great offense and we really just need to stay mentally composed more than anything, and keep practicing hard, and keep doing everything that we are doing."

On being patient before he got his chance to play: 
"It was hard at first, then it got progressively easier, because I realized when Coach Wright (Bobby Jack Wright) became coach, that it wasn't just about going out there and playing off that athleticism that I did in high school. It was about technique. There was a certain technique that you had to use in everything you did, and if I wasn't doing it then I didn't deserve to be on the field; and I started seeing that more and more when people got better and better."

On if that patience is paying off now: 
"I think it is paying off pretty well. I am playing more, and I know what I am doing when I am on the field. I played a little bit when I wasn't as technically sound, but I was kind of nervous because I didn't completely know what to do. If you have technique, you know exactly what to do in every situation and you feel comfortable no matter what happens."

On the team's solid performance against Texas: 
"We had a good feeling that if we did everything that we needed to do that the pieces would fall in place, but I think it was more about us then it was about them. We just started making plays then they got a little behind the eight ball. I think we had energy and focus and just played hard."

On playing a running team like Kansas: 
"It is a great opportunity to get some tackles for losses and to be physical. Oklahoma is all about being physical. Our workouts are physical, our practices are physical and who doesn't love to go out there and do just that."

On turnovers playing a key role in wins: 
"I feel like they are contagious. Once you get one, we just want to go out and get another one. Then, you can see the other team start to get a little bit more defeated. The coaches tell us every week that whoever wins a turnover battle is going to win the game. Anytime that we've had more turnovers than the other team, we have won that game; so we knew that was going to be big coming into it. We knew as long as we put ourselves in position to make plays that we would win the game."