Keyword
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Scoreboard
Schedules
Rankings
Standings
Statistics
Transactions
Injuries
Message Board
Teams
Recruiting
CONFERENCES


SHOP@ESPN.COM
TeamStore
ESPN Auctions
SPORT SECTIONS
Thursday, September 16
Updated: September 27, 11:08 AM ET
 
First-year coach gets first win

(Editor's note: Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops will file a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more on Sooners sports, visit the official Oklahoma site.)

Sept. 16, 1999

It's good to be 1-0 and undefeated as a head coach. We're anxious to put the last game behind us and play a Baylor football team to open our Big 12 season. Baylor could easily be 2-0 rather than 0-2 because the Bears have lost their last two games on the last play of each game. (Last week, UNLV beat Baylor by returning a fumble 99 yards as Baylor, already ahead, tried to add a late touchdown.)

Bob Stoops
Bob Stoops has revived Oklahoma football in his first year.

(Baylor coach) Kevin Steele is a good coach, and from his (post-game) comments I think that he was trying to instill an attitude. You can see that. It's just an unfortunate break.

Baylor's strength up front and its ability to pound the football worries me the most. (Jermaine) Alfred, Baylor's quarterback, has the ability to make plays when something's not there. He has a good way of still creating a big play when you pressure him or have his receivers covered, and really does a nice job throwing the football. He's the biggest threat, I think. Defensively, Baylor's biggest strength is up front.

I'd like to see us do a lot of the things we did the other night (against Indiana State). We need to take care of the football, create a few more big plays. When we get the ball in the open field, you'd like to see a back break one of those runs, take it all the way. With one guy on him, you'd like to see a receiver do the same thing.

I'd like to see the defense continue to create turnovers and create some big plays, which it did the other night.

THE FULL DOSE OF DIARIES
Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton:
Head won't hang long
UCLA's Danny Farmer:
No more excuses
Southern Cal's Travis Claridge:
Bring on the Aztecs
ASU's JR Redmond:
Reading the opponent
Ole Miss' Todd Wade:
The first step in the process

I felt good about the Indiana State game. It was a good, strong game. I felt great about the discipline of the players and their execution through the day. I think we had one penalty the entire day.

Obviously, you're not going to be able to win in the Big 12 with four turnovers, so that's one spot we have to be able to improve on. Now we've got to be able to take care of the football and that's a concern. Hopefully that's a case of being out there in live action for the first time, but we need to be able to correct that to have a chance to win in this league.

Quarterback Josh Heupel (who had 5 touchdowns) did an excellent job directing the day. We never had a delay-of-game penalty. We got in and out of plays well. The interception wasn't his fault. The receivers did a poor job in the routes. They bumped each other off of the route and really weren't where they were supposed to be.

We've got a quarterback that has never played at this level and this is his first game, so we left him in for most of the game. Obviously, everyone started two weeks ahead of us, so we're playing catch up. Everyone else got a couple games under their belts, so we're behind as far as time on the field. So we thought it was necessary that we stay out there and work and execute what we do on offense and defense.

Our offense is designed to distribute the ball to a lot of people. That's why we threw to 12 different players. They are all contributors and get the ball distributed to them. We try and make the defense have to defend everybody. That spreads the defense out and gives everyone a chance at the ball.

I'm certainly aware of what's being called on both sides, now that I'm a head coach instead of only a defensive coordinator. You make suggestions here and there. When I feel necessary in a fourth-down situation or third-and-1, I tell them, "Hey, we've got two shots at it, because I intend to go for it again if we don't make it on the first try."





 ESPN Tools
Email story
 
Most sent
 
Print story