Sooners shaky
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
9/4/2006
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OU sees win as learning experience; will work on missed tackles and keeping offense simple
Boiling down Oklahoma's 24-17 victory over Alabama-Birmingham in Saturday's season opener:
The defense missed tackles that led to an additional 115 yards total offense for the Blazers, but gave up just three points after four OU turnovers, and in the fourth quarter, with the Sooners nursing a touchdown lead, allowed zero points.
The offense, despite four turnovers, was simplified enough that OU ran the ball 17 of 20 times in the I-formation and passed 13 of 15 times in the shotgun formation -- and still averaged 7.3 yards per play.
"The way I look at it is, yeah, we'll learn a lot from it," head coach Bob Stoops said. "There's a lot our players can see that we can be better at, and we still won."
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said Sunday afternoon that the Sooners' litany of missed tackles was "discouraging" and "disappointing," but said that the defensive effort "jumped off the screen" during film study. He said corrections would be made as OU prepares to meet Washington.
The Blazers and backup quarterback Sam Hunt routinely found Sooner defenders out of position (Stoops called out the
ends) to defend a series of quarterback draws and option plays.
OU's next opponent is UW and quarterback Isaiah Stanback, who executed a spread-option offense on Saturday for 102 yards rushing and 168 passing in a 35-29 win over San Jose State.
Venables said the quarterback run game presents a challenge simply because "they have you outnumbered. . . . That's why a guy that can run it and throw it is very difficult to defend. Obviously, (UAB) was a nice precursor for preparation and getting our guys' attention."
Venables said he liked that the Blazers couldn't pass when they had to and couldn't run with power when they wanted to.
"When they got in their two-back stuff and ran their leads and power," he said, "we smoked them good. That wasn't an issue."
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said his scheme wasn't dumbed down for QB Paul Thompson, who returned to the position after eight months at receiver. Wilson said he limited the formations to pinpoint the attack.
OU used just three backfield formations (I, one-back and shotgun), and two primary receiver sets (two tight ends and three wide receivers) with only minor variations.
"Sometimes when you try to do too much, you can be scattered and all over the place and it's hard to set things up," Wilson said. "Sometimes when you're staying in the same formation sets, you're getting a bead on their alignments."
For example, Wilson said, he scripts the first few plays of every game, but when he saw how the Blazers were lining up against OU's two-tight end, one-back formation on the Sooners' first drive, he scrapped the script and called a pair of pass plays to tight end Joe Jon Finley on the second drive. Finley caught one for 25 yards, then hauled in a 21-yard touchdown.
Another reason for the "vanilla," Wilson said, was uncertainty about UAB's new defensive coordinator. But, he added, "we were not trying to hold anything back, I promise you that."
Although Wilson called 27 runs and 25 passes, there were distinct trends:
In the I-formation, OU ran 17 times and passed three. In the shotgun, OU ran twice and passed 13. In the one-back, there were eight runs and 10 passes.
In the two-tight end set, OU ran 16 times and passed seven. In the three-receiver set, there were six runs and 17 passes.
"Sometimes we can be so creative . . . (that) before you know it, you're just calling a bunch of plays and you're not setting up things."
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Online: Read other stories about OU football and the OU blog by writers John Hoover and Guerin Emig at www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra..