Thank you, Mike Stoops.

[Jack T.]

7 Sacks, 3 turnovers, tons of pressure on the QB. . .and I don't have to hold my breath every single time our D is on the field.

[badger]

There are so many people to thank and Mike Stoops is definitely one of em, as are all of Bob's assistants old and new, as well as our dominant and reliable (most of the time) defense, Trevor Knight stepping up on a big stage, players like Belldozer that got us wins that propelled us to Nawlins... the list goes on.

Thank you Sooners. Thank you thank you thank you

[Jacie]

All career highs for AJ.

The best was that last fumble for a touchdown. There was a close-up shot of his girlfriend with her hands to her face.

[fadada1]

Defense is definitely on the rise. Not to be a wet blanket, but tackling completely unacceptable. I'm sure the coaching staff is not happy with that aspect. Enjoy the great play, but now spend the next 8 months learning to wrap up.

[soonergirlNeugene]

I support this thread. Clearly a great effort by the entire team/coaching staff. But I am chuffed that we somehow managed to get Mike back and that our defense now also happens to be back.

Boomer!

[badger]

I support this thread. Clearly a great effort by the entire team/coaching staff. But I am chuffed that we somehow managed to get Mike back and that our defense now also happens to be back.

Boomer!

I am noticing a difference in the type of players we recruit at certain positions. I don't want to knock our previous guys under Jackie and Brent, but the players we have now are better up front (even if we struggled against Bammer's star runners last night) at pressuring the QB to throw or scramble faster.

I sometimes cringe when I see Mike go nuts on national TV on the Sooner sideline, but some players feed and thrive off that. We certainly can't argue with last night's results

[Soonerjeepman]

I wonder how many sacks were with only our front 4 pressure...at least 3. THAT is amazing.

[Aries]

Defense is definitely on the rise. Not to be a wet blanket, but tackling completely unacceptable. I'm sure the coaching staff is not happy with that aspect. Enjoy the great play, but now spend the next 8 months learning to wrap up.

I agree with this. It wasn't just Henry we had trouble tackling, I'm not sure the defender EVER tackled a receiver right after the catch. Seemed like they would shake that guy off, and someone else would have to tackle him 10 or 12, and sometimes 40 or 50 yards down field.

And Bob mentioned in the post game interview that he was disappointed with the tackling at times.

[PrideMom]

Coaches will always have something to point out that needs improvement. That keeps the players wanting to strive for being better.

[rock on sooner]

Yeah, some missed tackles but, just a minute here...Henry is a FAST
man beast that will play on Sundays sooner rather than later and Yeldon
will, too. Some of our big guys just bounced off those two, slowed long
enough for help to arrive some of the time.

M. Stoops called a heckuva defensive game. Striker is the real deal! Hope
he can put on about 25 pounds of muscle, maintain his speed....he is the
next great LB for the Sooners. TK was definitely the MOP but Striker was
right there!

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I am noticing a difference in the type of players we recruit at certain positions. I don't want to knock our previous guys under Jackie and Brent, but the players we have now are better up front (even if we struggled against Bammer's star runners last night) at pressuring the QB to throw or scramble faster.

I sometimes cringe when I see Mike go nuts on national TV on the Sooner sideline, but some players feed and thrive off that. We certainly can't argue with last night's results

We have 2 guys that were recruited by Mike and Co -> Alexander and Sanchez. Everyone else is from the previous tenure (albeit being used in a different way than they probably would have).

I personally thought our weak spot last night was LB play, specifically Shannon. He has a bad habit of breaking down 4 yards in front of guys in space. Best case scenario is they get 6 yards, worst case they juke him and go for 40. The guy can cover receivers but he is a huge ???? against the run. It looked like the entire Alabama plan was to put a hat on everyone but Shannon and then beat him at the point of attack. Alexander is a little wild out there (reminds me of Lehman) but he at least attacks ball carriers.