Gators and Sooners First Bowl Practice.

[adoniijahsooner]

Quotes and Information from the teams first Miami practice.

Oklahoma's is in pdf form

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/okla/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/200901013_quotes.pdf

Florida


On the defensive preparation so far:

COACH STRONG: Preparation has been going very well. Our major concern right now with Oklahoma is just the tempo, and we know this; we're going to have to tackle well. They're on outstanding football team. They do a great job of spreading the ball around on offense and have an outstanding quarterback in Bradford. But our players understand what the task at hand is. It's going to be a great challenge for us, and we're more than welcome for the challenge.

Our major concern when you look at us, each game we average anywhere from 60 to 65 plays a game, and when you look at their offense they're averaging anywhere from 85 to 90 plays a game, so it's more tempo, and what we've been trying to do, it's hard to really practice, just to simulate just getting those plays in. But we've been trying to just practice at a fast tempo, and we're getting guys up on the football, and they are, they're averaging ‑‑ you look at them the last five games, 60‑plus points. But the thing about it is we know this, we play good defense, and we just have to get lined up. We have to get lined up on defense and we have to tackle well.

On Florida’s defense:

BRANDON SPIKES: Well, I think we had a lot of younger guys just step up to the plate. They made a personal decision, and they wanted to come out and play Florida tradition defense. I think we've done that. Our off‑season that was a really big part of it, younger guys kind of attack there, and we took that in and knew if we worked on it in the off‑season it would pay off, and I think that's what happened this season. We've been playing good every Saturday, and stepping stones ‑‑ you know, after we got beat by Ole Miss that was the reality check for us that we were beatable and guys started doing all the smaller things, and it kind of worked out for us.

On Ryan Stamper and his impact on the Florida defense:

COACH STRONG: Ryan Stamper is the most reliable football player on our team. If you were to take a football player, and you can ask these two guys right here, if you were to take a guy on our football team and say who's a guy that you know you can always count on... Ryan Stamper.

JOE HADEN: I always mess with Stamper all the time, he's he looks a lot older than he is (laughter), so we call Stamper the grown man of the defense (laughter). He just always does his job, just always kind of like Coach will tell you, left, right, right, left, be in this spot, be in position, and when you look at film, he'll say hold the B gap, Stamp is going to be in the B gap. Just little stuff Coach tells him to do; he's always going to be there.

MAJOR WRIGHT: Following up on what Joe said, Urban told him one day, "Hold your water in practice." Stamp ended up holding his water the whole practice. Coach told him, "Hey, you got to go," but Stamp is still holding his water (laughter). It was kind of funny because Coach told him to hold his water and he ended up holding his water the whole practice. He's one of those guys that's accountable, he's a funny guy. We talk a lot, and he's one of those guys that you can look up to.

AHMAD BLACK: Me and Stamper are always joking around. But I joke around him and tell him he's an accountable guy. We joke around, but honestly he is an accountable guy. Everybody on the team can count on Stamp to do his job and be in the right places at the right time. Nobody has doubts about his abilities at all.

On the 2008 Florida defense compared to other units in Florida history:

COACH STRONG: You know, like you said, in '06 we had a really good defensive football team, but we had a group of guys on that team with Moss, with Reggie Nelson, you had some first-rounders, and you're going to have some guys that are going to develop on this defense into first-rounders, but right now those guys haven't developed. We have a defense now that is a good, solid team, a defensive team where guys understand that they don't want to let anyone else down, and that's the way they play each week. They play like that. I cannot let my teammate down. We always talk about win every play, and these guys understand that. You have to win every play, and that's what they're trying to do, win every play.

On Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford:

BRANDON SPIKES: I think Bradford does a great job of managing the offense. He gets the guys lined up, they get the checks in and they're on the ball before you know it and they're running another play. But as far as his running ability, he scans the defense and he knows what coverages are going on. I think he does a really good job of that, and I think he does a good job of throwing the ball on a tight line. If we're playing, man, we're going to have to stick him because he'll get the ball ‑‑ we can't let him really sit back and sling the ball. That will kind of mess up our defensive scheme. We want to pressure that guy. Other players on the team, I think the offensive line, they're really big and athletic, and so we've got to do a great job. The linebackers got to come down here and try to get our blocks and make plays.

JERMAINE CUNNINGHAM: With Sam being a Heisman winner, we've got to try to contain him, try to get pressure on him, try to keep him off rhythm because once he gets on rhythm; he's one of the best at throwing the ball. He just reads the defense and controls the offense real good, so we've just got to make sure he don't get on rhythm.

On the advantage of experiencing a National Championship in 2006:

BRANDON SPIKES: Well, it's critical with the experience aspect. We had guys like me and Jermaine in '06, we was able to experience that opportunity. We were around guys that they knew what it took to get here, and they took what it took to win a championship. With that on our hands, I think that will help us out. We know what to expect as far as this phase of practicing. When we get ready to practice, we can't really let outside distractions bother the team. We've got to keep all the wash and stuff like that and most importantly keep the younger guys focused because it's very easy ‑‑ this place here in south Florida is very easy to get off the task what we're here for.

COACH STRONG: Like Brandon said, what's really critical is coming here two years ago, actually in Phoenix, just the whole experience. And then just the preparation and getting guys ready to play, and then you look at the game, it's January the 8th, a lot of guys are already going to be finished by then. But just our whole focus and the preparation of guys going out each day and competing.

On the turn-around of the UF secondary unit:

MAJOR WRIGHT: I would say the dedication caused it. The off‑season we really dedicated ourselves to this football season, saying that we're not going to let one another down. We will not have another season like that, putting it all on the secondary. That will never happen again. A lot of guys, we kind of dedicated ourselves to watching more film, kind of doing things with one another, communicating out there on the field, and kind of just being around each other and kind of like just feeling everything around.

AHMAD BLACK: I felt like coming in, same age as Major and Joe, but I felt like the young guy. They started last year, so I came of kind of looking up to them, and I'm back there with Major helping me out along the way. D‑Mo got here, so D‑Mo was still around helping me out and showing me the ropes. I kind of felt like I couldn't let the guys back there with me down, as well as the guys in the front seven. So doing my part and hanging out with these guys, them helping me out, and helping the secondary out, too.

JOE HADEN: When we played against Michigan last year, we felt like it was a whole lot our fault. But the thing that changed is last year we were all freshmen, really young, didn't really know what the college football was like. That was my first year playing corner, Major was a freshman, too, just like me, so we felt like in the off‑season we knew we had to step it up if we was going to try to go farther than 9‑4. So we felt like the big thing was we had to work on our stuff, get in the film room, and one thing that helped the corners out was Janoris came in and stepped up a whole lot. And Coach Bedford came in and taught us different techniques. He was in the NFL, so he taught us different stuff to watch when you watch film like routes and snaps and stuff like that. So he helped us out a whole lot.

[Frozen Sooner]

An Interview With:
COACH KEVIN WILSON,
SAM BRADFORD,
JUAQUIN IGLESIAS,
PHIL LOADHOLT,
CHRIS BROWN,
JON COOPER &
JERMAINE GRESHAM
JOHN HUMENIK: Coach, just a general
recap of your preparations to this point.
COACH WILSON: Good morning, happy
new year. We have had some practices back in
Norman prior to coming, kind of game preparation
as always. With Bowl practice you get a little
young guy work. Prior to Christmas we've had
some Bowl prep, give the guys New Year's off,
traveled yesterday, had a light go and we start our
routine. In our world today is Monday, with the
game coming Thursday.
So we're on a Monday routine with our
meeting schedule, practice schedule. We have a
fair amount of stuff in place. We have already
practiced and guys have traveled, everybody is
here. Everybody is ready to go. Hotel is fine.
Ready to roll.
Q. What makes Sam Bradford so
dynamic as a quarterback?
COACH WILSON: You know, I think a
combination. I think he's a better athlete than
given credit for. He's got tremendous -- a lot of
sports, athletic family - mom is a PE teacher, dad
former college athlete, et cetera. Played a lot of
sports, a lot of competitive environments that he's
been a part of. As a football player outside the
physical skill, he can mentally process, play within
himself, he can handle a lot mentally and not
stress out, and he's surrounded by a nice
complementary group of players.
I don't know individually if we have a
bunch of players individually that stand out on their
own as individually great players, but collectively
when you put our line with our tight ends and
receivers and backs, he's complemented by a
quality group across the board, and those guys
collectively we play together very good, and he's
the guy managing the whole deal.
Q. Phil, what has he meant to this team
thus far in the past couple years that he has
been quarterback?
PHIL LOADHOLT: He's meant a lot to us.
He's been a great leader on and off the field. He's
a guy you look up to, just the way he takes over in
practice, and everything he does he's a leader and
means a lot to us.
Q. And Chris, you're in the backfield
with him all the time. Talk about the pep talks
he gives you guys when you guys haven't been
down much this season, but what does he do
different than any other quarterback you've
worked with in the past?
CHRIS BROWN: Everybody knows him
as being quiet but he's a vocal leader, also. He
complements the team, he keeps us up.
Three-and-out drive, he keeps us coming back,
motivation to get something going on the next
drive.
I think that plays a big part in everybody's
confidence, having faith in him.
Q. Coach, I would like you to talk about
your scheme and the pressure you put on
defenses and how you go about maintaining
that tempo as you attack opposing defenses.
COACH WILSON: Well, the first thing I
think our guys do, we need to learn how to practice
and we need to learn how to coach. That way we
can practice that way. You don't play fast or you
don't play fast-break basketball if you never
practice is, but the real key is not the tempo as
much as it is the execution because if you don't
execute and you go three plays and out, there's no
stress on you and there's no drive. The key is your
3rd down conversions, your key is your ability to
January 3, 2009
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
2
eliminate negative plays, and to us I think that's
more pleasing than anything else, is that as well as
we might have played or points have been scored,
we're more proud of the negatives. Like our goals
are not to score -- we don't have a goal total or a
yard total or rushing or passing. Our goals are,
and they can tell you, how many missed
assignments did we have in this game, how many
negative plays did we have in this game, how
many turnovers, and we try to chart the negatives
and try to minimize the negatives. When you don't
shoot yourself in the foot offensively, you have a
chance to get rolling.
Then being a no huddle team as we
execute, then the tempo has an effect. But if you
don't execute and you go three-and-out and you're
sitting on the bench, it's null and void. To me that's
the real key is the way our kids have executed, the
way our coaches have been able to coach and
teach these guys in practice that they can transfer
that onto the field.
Q. I'd like to ask each of the players to
comment on that, the tempo, and what it's like
when you can tell opposing defenses are really
winded and you're just getting going.
PHIL LOADHOLT: I mean, the tempo is
great, I think, as long as you're in shape. You
should be able to handle the tempo that we do. It
feels good to look over there and see the defense
breathing hard.
CHRIS BROWN: I think this is a great
system that we run here. You have to be in shape
like Phil said, and you have to be focused every
snap. You know, it works to our advantage I feel.
Q. Has anything changed with Sam
since he won the Heisman? And also, how
much pride do you guys take in him winning
that?
COACH WILSON: You know, personally,
again, it's a group deal for us, and I fortunately
have been a part of that with other players where
we've won it with Jason White before and been
there close with he and Adrian, and have been a
part of that.
It's a process. I think the only thing that's
probably changed with Sam is he's probably
getting tired of all the media requests and
autograph hound guys, but that comes with the
territory.
That wasn't our goal this year, and it
wasn't our goal down the stretch, and it wasn't our
goal down the stretch to have style points. Our
goal was to play as good as we could, practice as
hard as we could, go out and play. Our players
embrace that. Because of that we've had some
individual accolades, and that's a great honor for
him. He's deserving, I'm proud of him, but our
whole focus this year has been on our group and
our team, and I think the guys will tell you we're
proud of him, but it's been a group effort.
PHIL LOADHOLT: Yeah, we're definitely
proud for him and he definitely deserved it, worked
hard. It was exciting to see our quarterback win it,
and we take a lot of pride in that definitely.
CHRIS BROWN: Well, I'm another guy
that's proud for Sam. He's the first guy to give
everybody around him credit for being able to win
the Heisman Trophy, and he's a humble guy.
There's nothing changed about him. He's the
same guy since week one.
Q. To Phil and Chris, this is the second
game ever two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks
have gone against each other. Do you take any
extra motivation in proving that Sam is the real
Heisman winner and you guys kind of have to
back him up in this game?
PHIL LOADHOLT: No, I don't think that's
extra motivation. They're both the real Heisman
and they both got the Heisman. We're proud of
him, like I said, he was deserving, but I don't think
we need any kind of extra motivation from the
Heisman for this game.
CHRIS BROWN: I feel the same way.
Q. Will you talk about the Florida
defense, what stands out about it to you as you
prepare for them?
COACH WILSON: You know, in general
just their team, it's coming out of a region with a lot
of great players, great speed, great tradition,
playing in a great league. They play against
everyone every week. They can pressure from the
field, from the boundary, a lot of challenges, they
make you compete. They pick up their pressures.
They play a lot of man or match coverage where
there's a lot of one-on-one competitive plays and of
course they've got great athletes that can cover.
And of course their players up front, their
linebacker Spikes is a big player in the middle but
their edge players that rush and their front four kind
of set the tone. With the athletes they can get to
all kinds of nickel and five or six DBs and match
you up if they need to.
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
3
I guess statistically they play great every
week, they've played grade against every team,
and it's a very complete -- they're well coached. I
know Coach Strong personally. I know him well.
And their coaching staff, coach McCarney used to
be in our league and all those guys. So we've got
great respect for their staff and we know they've
got great players, and it's a challenging scheme.
It's proven week after week. It's a young crowd,
but it's a crowd that's gotten better, and I think
that's probably what's exciting to them, is that
they've seen these guys embrace and get better,
and I bet you they're probably excited about the
opportunity to challenge and know their best
football is ahead. And I'm sure they're looking
forward to playing this coming week.
So it's a great challenge. But it's also a
fabulous opportunity, and we're looking forward to
competing against them.
Q. There is so much talk about their
speed, especially on offense. Do you guys
obviously see that on defense? Can you just
elaborate on that a little bit more? And does it
really pop on film?
COACH WILSON: When you play any of
the upper-level teams in this game -- I mean, I love
to play in this game and play a dud team, but it
doesn't come with the territory of the National
Championship game. You're going to see a bunch
of guys that are fast, that can cover. Again, you
see a guy in the back end that can make
competitive plays and challenge you on every
throw. You see guys on the edge that can create
pressure on your quarterback and stress out your
offensive line. They attack you with blitzes where
you've got to be able to pick them up and all that.
So again, no different than the majority of top five,
eight, 15 teams you watch. I mean, it's a
tremendous challenge, and again, they do have
great speed on offense.
When you come out of this state and
you're going to play for one of three schools in the
state, you're going to be a fast player. It comes
with the territory.
Q. I know you guys are going to talk a
ton of football this week, but you're college
students. What do you guys do to get away
from football off the field?
CHRIS BROWN: Well, I mean, it's
football. You know, this is the last game of the
season, so going out to the big bash on
Wednesday is not important right now. We'll focus
on football, that's what we're down here for, and
this is the National Championship. So that said
alone is enough for us to just focus on that and
totally focus on that.
PHIL LOADHOLT: I agree. I mean, like I
said, we don't need no extra motivation for this
game. It's playing on the biggest stage we can
play on. We definitely came out here focusing and
got a task at hand.
Q. Could you talk about Gresham, and
the way you guys use him and the impact he
has on defenses?
COACH WILSON: Jermaine is a talented
player, a young guy in his third year still getting
better. He's got unique size where he's 260-ish,
261, 262, so he physically is big enough to be a
blocker, but he's also athletic enough that he can
play out in space and be a nice receiver. He's still
learning how to block. He was a big high school
receiver and played in the slot, so he's really great
in filling coverages and how to run routes and
leverages, but in the blocking game he's really got
two-plus years, finishing his third year now, and not
that he's a bad blocker. To me he's very unique,
and to me I think he's the most complete tight end
in the country. There's some guys that can block
and there's some guys that can catch, but he can
do both. We can put two tight ends on the field
and they can block, and we can also get out there
in space where he's got 22, 23, 24 touchdowns the
last two years.
So he's an unusual match-up. He's a very
competitive kid, he's a very prideful kid. He's a
young man that is a joy to practice, and he loves to
play. In his own way, he's not much different than
some of our great players like Adrian Peterson and
those guys. He loves to practice, he loves to work
hard. He gets after it.
So he's got some unique skills, but he's
probably a better kid and a better person than guys
know. We've got a bunch of really nice players
and good kids, and that's why we've got a heck of
a team right now.
Q. Last year in the Fiesta Bowl West
Virginia had kind of speedy guys on the edges,
gave you guys some problems and it was one
of your worst offensive performances of the
year. Florida seems somewhat similar on tape.
How do you look at this match-up and are you
doing anything different against the speedy
front line of this team?
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
4
PHIL LOADHOLT: We've been dealing
with a lot of speed all year since that Bowl game
last year. I mean, we did some things, work in the
summertime and things like that. I mean, we're not
doing anything different, though.
CHRIS BROWN: I'm not going to compare
last season's Fiesta Bowl to this season. You
know, like Coach said, a lot of teams have speed,
we're just preparing ourselves as best as we can to
be ready for Thursday night.
Q. Chris, could you talk a little about
DeMarco missing this game, how hard it is.
And do you feel at all like maybe you're playing
for him a bit with more responsibility come
Thursday night?
CHRIS BROWN: Well, it's very
disappointing for a fellow teammate and friend,
and I feel bad for him. I'm sorry for the situation
that happened. You know, he's been nothing but
positive towards me going into the game,
confidence boost and stuff like that.
I think everybody is playing for everybody.
I think the whole team is playing for everybody,
and he's included in the team, so he's included in
the team effort for playing for everybody, for the
ultimate goal.
Q. Coach, if you'd touch on Chris as a
player and how much of a load he can take with
DeMarco's absence?
COACH WILSON: Well, this year we've
had -- well, for years if anyone has covered us
we've had some situations where players have
went down, and fortunately we've had a lot of guys
pick it up and play well for us this year. Brody
Eldridge got hurt and our tight ends had to pick it
up, and we still did our tight end groups and our
big guys, and Brody Eldridge, he's one of my
favorite players. He's a heck of a player for us.
Manuel Johnson was our hot receiver and went
down and Quentin Chaney came in and played
great. You saw how Moses is came in and
complemented us in the Championship game
when DeMarco went out on the first...
Like Chris said, our story is not our team.
Our team is a great group that will cover up for
itself. You don't get this game every Saturday.
This game doesn't sit out there every week in our
world. This game is once a year for two teams,
and you've got a heck of a player and a great kid
missing this one. That's our story.
As Chris was saying, we kind of feel for
him. Chris is a quality player. Our deal is to try to
attack the defense. We have the ability to adjust, if
it's running a lot or passing a lot. But it comes
down to execution. We'll be able to complement
Chris with Moses, we'll play -- we've have to attack
each defense differently because of their schemes
and what they do, so every game plan is not the
same. But we have phenomenal confidence.
Chris is our, quote, in the media world he's the
second team tailback, but yet he's the leading
rusher scoring. And I think he's about sixth or
seventh in the nation in scoring touchdowns, so
he's not a bad deuce. So that's not too bad.

[Frozen Sooner]

Q. To both of the players, five straight
games with 60-plus points, can you just talk
about the feeling of every time you step on the
field each series you expect to score, and then
also kind of expectation you have for yourself
going into this game?
PHIL LOADHOLT: I think like Coach said
earlier, we never have a goal when we try to score
and get in a game. I think every offense's goal
when they step on the field is to score. Just
coming into this game we're just going to do the
things we've been doing all year because it's
seemed to work so far.
CHRIS BROWN: Yeah, I think our
execution and preparation during the week allows
us to do big things on the field. You know, like Phil
said and Coach said, we never just say, well, let's
go out and score 70 points or 65 points or 55
points. We just want to do whatever it takes to win,
and if it's scoring 1,000 points, then we're going to
try to do it.
Q. Do you feel unstoppable, though?
CHRIS BROWN: No, I don't feel like we're
unstoppable. I feel like when we're clicking and
got things going we're a great unit. We've still got
things that we can work on and we've still got
things that we can build on. That's why we're here,
to prepare right and put ourselves in position.
Q. This is for both the players: Guys, I
don't know how much time you've spent, if at
all, following what's going on with other Bowl
games, but some of the other Big 12 teams
have produced a little bit below their level that
they've been producing at normally during the
season like Texas Tech and Missouri and
whatnot. Do you feel that? Do you pay
attention to that? Does that really mean
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
5
anything to you guys?
PHIL LOADHOLT: I've watched the
games, and you always want to see your
conference do good in the Bowl games. As far as
why that happened, that's with them. You always
want to see your conference do good in the Bowl
games, though.
CHRIS BROWN: Yeah, that's a whole
totally different team. We're in the same
conference, but that's Texas Tech and that's
Oklahoma State, and this is Oklahoma. We focus
on what we have to do in our game and the
situation that we're in.
JOHN HUMENIK: Thank you very much.
We're ready to go ahead and start with
questions. Please address your question
individually to the given player if you only want that
player to respond. If you want all four, please say
so.
Q. This is for Sam: Sam, before this
your offensive coordinator was in here and he
was asked about what it's been like for you
since the Heisman. He said as much as
anything you're probably sick of talking to us.
How has it been? What's been the impact on
you and now with it being game week? Do you
kind of relax and get down to football?
SAM BRADFORD: Obviously the
Heisman experience was something really special
and it was fun to be in New York. But I think as
soon as I got back to Norman, I got back to trying
to be as normal as possible. I got back to finishing
school and got back to practice.
Q. What makes Sam Bradford so
great?
JUAQUIN IGLESIAS: I think just him
reading the defense and his poise in the pocket
and him being a great leader for this offense.
Everything about Sam makes Sam a great player
for us.
Q. Jermaine, same question.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: His passion for
the game, just the way he approaches it and his
hard work towards it.
Q. Sam, what makes you so dynamic
and different from other quarterbacks around
the nation?
SAM BRADFORD: You know, that's hard
to say, but I put a lot of work into it in the
off-season, in the film room, just trying to be as
prepared as I can when the game comes and have
an opportunity to be out here and playing with
these guys.
Q. Sam, when you guys got off the
plane yesterday I saw you were taking pictures
with flight attendants, pilots. Does this ever
get old to you? Do you want of just hide away?
SAM BRADFORD: Yeah, there's times
where you want to go where no one knows your
name. It's really cool, having the opportunity to
take pictures with people, give them something
that they'll have forever and they'll enjoy.
Q. Sam, the history of Heisman
winners in this game has not been real good.
After going through this experience can you
point to any reason why that may be? And can
you point to a reason why it's not going to
happen to you on Thursday?
SAM BRADFORD: It's really hard for me
to talk about previous winners and the difficulties
they've had in their Bowl games because I wasn't
there when they were on their trip, so I don't know
what they got caught up doing and how they
prepared for the game. I know as soon as I got
back from New York I forgot about that experience,
got back to business, getting ready to prepare for
this game and help my team win.
Q. Sam, I know during the Heisman
thing you and Tim got a chance to meet. Talk
about him outside of the game of football.
Everybody is talking about what a nice guy he
is as well as yourself.
SAM BRADFORD: Yeah, he's a good
guy. I think when we were in Orlando and we saw
the piece on him and his family and what they do
for people in the Philippines and what they do
across the world, I think to meet someone and talk
to him about that was really cool.
Q. Jermaine, could you just talk about
the way you've evolved and become such a
powerful part of this offense and how you see
yourself matching up against Florida?
JERMAINE GRESHAM: I mean, I'm just
another read in the offense. We just go through
processes and stuff like that, so it happens as it
happens. Hopefully I'll be a big impact in this
game. Hopefully I'll block well.
Q. Talk about Florida and the match-up
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
6
with them, just what you see as you look as
them.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: A great defense,
very quick, very passive defense. They fly around
to the ball. So hopefully I can find some holes in
their defense and hopefully we can pick them
apart.
Q. What's it like to sit up there next to a
guy who gets asked so many questions, his
name is called so much and you sit there and
hunch over? Do you ever get bothered by it, or
do you poke him under the table? What do you
do?
JON COOPER: I'm just excited you asked
me a question. It's great. It's fun to watch Sam.
He earns everything he's got, and he does a great
job with it. Like he said, as soon as he's been
back from New York he was business as usual,
he's just regular Sam to us.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: I don't like doing
this anyway, so I'm happy you ask him the
questions (laughter).
Q. This is really for all four of you: I
know if you win the game, you're going to be
the champions and you'll be plenty proud of
that, but what do you say to somebody from
Utah? They won their game, they're
undefeated. Obviously they're going to feel
like they got left out no matter who wins this
game. What would you say to any team that
says, we had as much right to be there as
much as the two teams that were there. In the
end can this system be completely fair?
JON COOPER: I don't think there is a
perfect system. And if they get left out, I don't
know, I'd tell them sorry. They did everything they
could. They won all their games. They did
everything that was asked of them. There's not a
perfect system.
SAM BRADFORD: Obviously it's a system
we have and it's the system we have to deal with.
Whether it's fair or not it's not for us to say. For the
Utah players, I really don't know what you would
say to them. To go 13-0 and not have a shot to be
in this game, it's obviously tough for them. It's the
system we have and it's the system we have to
deal with.
JUAQUIN IGLESIAS: I mean, what to say
to them, it's hard to say. But the most you can do
is just keep winning. I mean, they did a great job,
and for them to be left out, it's unfortunate. But it is
what it is.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: I would tell them,
"great job", you did everything you was asked to do
to be there.
Q. This isn't really to anyone in
particular but if a couple could answer: You
guys have scored 60-plus in five straight
games, 700 for the year. No one has ever done
that before. Do you ever feel unstoppable
when you walk on the field?
JUAQUIN IGLESIAS: For me, no. We lost
a game already, and we haven't scored 60 all year.
I mean, that's not something we set out to do. It's
easy to get caught up in that you can't be stopped,
but anybody can get beat on any day.
SAM BRADFORD: I don't know if we ever
feel unstoppable, but I feel like as an offense we
are very confident in our abilities and what we do
and how we play. So I think when we take the field
we're confident that we do have the ability to score
every time we touch the football. But as far as
going out there and setting a goal of scoring every
time we touch it, it's something we can't get caught
up in if we do get stopped.
JON COOPER: Like Sam said, we are
very confident in our abilities, but we do go out
there expecting to score every time, but we don't
feel like we are unstoppable because we have
been beat this season, and it's obvious that it could
happen again. If we just walk on the field and it's
just not going to happen, it won't.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: We got beat this
year, so we've been stopped before. So we can't
be unstoppable.
Q. Sam, could you just talk about what
you see from the Florida offense, what kind of
things -- Florida defense rather, what kind of
things they do? And is there anybody they
compare to what you've played so far with what
they do scheme-wise?
SAM BRADFORD: Yeah, the Florida
defense is a really good defense. I think it's
probably one of the best defenses we've seen all
year. They're very aggressive especially in the
secondary. They're not afraid to come up and play
man coverage and jump routes. Their front four is
extremely talented.
I don't know if you can really compare
them to anyone that we've played this year. I
would say if anyone, it would probably be similar to
Texas.
visit our archives at asapsports.com
Oklahoma_Sooners_-
_01.03.09.doc
7
Q. Sam, obviously I'm sure you've seen
Tim Tebow, whether on TV, film, whatever.
Talk about both you guys as field generals and
just break down you guys a little bit.
SAM BRADFORD: I think Tim is a great
player. I haven't had a chance to see him play a
whole lot, but from what I've seen he is a great
leader on his team, not only a great player, and I
think he gets everyone else on his team motivated
to go out there and play as hard as they can.
Q. Sam, I know you had said there
hasn't been much change since you got back
from Norman, but the reality is it's a little
different with you winning the Heisman. Can
you talk about the layoff, though? You guys
are probably used to this by now, been through
it a little bit. What do you guys do, is it total
focus even when you're off at home during
your holidays a little bit? Switch it on and off?
How do you maintain that focus and study for
this game in particular?
SAM BRADFORD: You know, I think
there's kind of a balance that you have to come to
as far as when you're fully focused and when you
allow yourself to take time off. I think if you spend
a month trying to focus as hard as you can on this
game, you'd burn yourself out before you got here.
I think you have to find time to get away from it and
just relax and get away from it. But at the same
time, I think it's something you need to think about,
not as much as possible, but as much as you can
without getting burned out to make sure that you're
ready for the opportunity.
Q. This is for both Jon and Jermaine:
Could you talk about matching up with the
Florida defensive line, what kind of things you
see from them and how you think things will go
in the blocking.
JON COOPER: Their defensive line,
they're really good up front. All four of them make
plays. They're very active and fast and move
around. Another thing they do really well is free up
their linebackers to make a lot of plays. I think it's
going to be a great match-up. It's going to be fun
to play and they're really good, and we look
forward to the challenge.
JERMAINE GRESHAM: Yeah, what he
just said. They treat their backers like they're real
good, and they're big and fast, so it's going to be a
challenge. So it's going to be go out there and
have fun.
Q. Sort of building off that a little bit,
the last two games you guys lost, the Fiesta
Bowl and Texas, it could be argued that the
offensive line didn't play very well. Jon, do you
guys do anything differently in this game? And
Sam, what do you believe how far this
offensive line has grown, why this will be
different than those two games?
JON COOPER: I don't think we do
anything differently. If we do, it's not really up to
us, it's Coach Wilson and his scheme and his plan,
and I think so far he has a great plan, and we're
going to buy in and do what he asks us to do.
SAM BRADFORD: I think our offensive
line, obviously they're very experienced. They've
played in big games. They know what this going to
be like. But I think really since the Texas game,
since we've got beat, they've taken on a whole
different attitude, especially towards the run game,
and I think that's something that's really helped our
offense.
Q. Sam, how is the hand? Any issues
in terms of --
SAM BRADFORD: No, it feels great. It's
going to be fine.
Q. Sam, you always hear about in the
NFL if a quarterback or a running back has a
huge game, they take the offensive line out for
dinner or anything. Have you had to do that
yet? And if so, are you broke yet?
SAM BRADFORD: (Smiling) Well, as
Coop will tell you, I took them out to eat last year,
but unfortunately we lost the next week, so we kind
of stopped that (laughter).
But when they come back to down in
Norman, I do have something planned for them.
JON COOPER: He takes care of us. He's
all right.
Q. Guys, for any or all of you: There've
been reports about Bob Stoops and the Denver
job. I know that doesn't affect what happens in
the game this week, but has he brought that up
to you guys to say, "don't worry about it"? Has
it even come up at all?
JON COOPER: No, he hasn't brought
anything up.

[GottaHavePride]

Holy bad formatting, Batman!

[Frozen Sooner]

Bite me. I just c&p'd the article and they had it laid out in dual column.

[GottaHavePride]

Heh.

[sooner2b09]

That was long but here is my recap without reading any of it

Florida - We are awesome! SEC is 5-2 SEC SEC SEC, we fast!

Oklahoma- This is a business trip and we are treating it as such

[oupride]

Thanks for the post. I have a question. What is the "big bash" on Wednesday? CHRIS BROWN: Well, I mean, it's
football. You know, this is the last game of the
season, so going out to the big bash on
Wednesday is not important right now.

[swardboy]

Crab bash?

[Circle City Gator]

That was long but here is my recap without reading any of it

Florida - We are awesome! SEC is 5-2 SEC SEC SEC, we fast!

Oklahoma- This is a business trip and we are treating it as such

You should have read it.

[fadada1]

You should have read it.

his hero is mike loopica.

[tommieharris91]

Florida - We are awesome! SEC is 5-2 SEC SEC SEC, we fast!


In the South Fast is spelled "fas". Putting the "t" on the end is too slow.

[cheezyq]

My favorite question/answer:
Q. To Phil and Chris, this is the second
game ever two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks
have gone against each other. Do you take any
extra motivation in proving that Sam is the real
Heisman winner and you guys kind of have to
back him up in this game?
PHIL LOADHOLT: No, I don't think that's
extra motivation. They're both the real Heisman
and they both got the Heisman. We're proud of
him, like I said, he was deserving, but I don't think
we need any kind of extra motivation from the
Heisman for this game.
CHRIS BROWN: I feel the same way.

[GottaHavePride]

Thanks for the post. I have a question. What is the "big bash" on Wednesday? CHRIS BROWN: Well, I mean, it's
football. You know, this is the last game of the
season, so going out to the big bash on
Wednesday is not important right now.

Before the 2001 Orange Bowl there was some big dinner / pep rally event a day or two before the game. Very swanky. People in expensive suits all over the place. They sent about 50 of us from the Pride over there. Centerpieces on the table were football helmets done up half OU, half FSU.

[MojoRisen]

There be a big party we gators ain't allowed to go to... But we be fast

[sooneredaco]

Just how many times does a player have to be asked "since winning the heisman has anything changed?" or asking his teamates if he's changed. Let's just get this friggin game on!

Boomer freakin Sooner!!!!

[Dan Thompson]

Well, after than I am going to have gator for dinner.