November 07, 2000
Head Coach R.C. Slocum
Everybody seems to talk about Oklahoma's offense, but they seem to have a pretty good defense as well.
"I think their defense is as good as their offense. When you look at them, they've not only scored a lot of points, the people they've played aren't scoring many points. They're getting a lot of turnovers for their offense. They're very sound on special teams too. They are a good, solid football team. When you look at teams sometimes, you look for areas where one team might be better on offense or whatever. This team is solid any way you look at them. I think that is pointed out by their record this year. They really haven't had a game. Nebraska jumped out on them for a little bit, but they took over and came right back and really never looked back after they passed them. That's pretty much the case every week."
In all of Oklahoma's games this season, they've gotten out to big halftime leads. Is the first half of the ballgame important for setting the tone for second half?
"There's no question it is. You'd like to get in there and get off to a good start. It's impressive for them and I'm sure it's alarming for the other side to start the ballgame that way. We did it last year. They had us over and done with before we got started."
Do you take more risks in a game in which you are the underdog?
"No, I don't think so. I've never really analyzed that. When you're the underdog, you're trying to win the game and do everything you can do. When you're a favorite, you're trying to do the same thing."
Talk about the excitement of this week with a top-ranked opponent and ESPN Gameday coming to town. How fun is this for you and how important is this for exposure to the program?
"These are the fun games. This is the fun part of coaching. I hate the games where nobody's excited and you're supposed to win. Those things are a coach's nightmare. It's fun to get to these types of games where you can say there's no question that the team we're playing is a great team and it's going to be a good ballgame. These weeks are the most fun parts of coaching."
What are the lessons learned from last year?
"If you look at the game last year, I think it points out dramatically how important special teams are. Special teams are very important in getting off to a good start. When you get behind, they are just an explosive football team. Defensively, I think you go back and look at every thing you did and analyze it. We did a poor job of tackling and part of that is their scheme being spread out over the field which makes you not quite as effective a tackler. We had plays to make and in some cases we just didn't make the plays. They had the hot hand early. They got on a roll, just like they've done to some teams this year. I think they were primed playing at home. We had beaten them pretty convincingly the last time there."
Does the second time around help in the fact that you've seen some teams who are similar in some ways?
"I think any time you play someone with a particular style of offense, the more you play it you generally get a little more comfortable in doing it. That's helped to a point. But beyond that, you still get down to the point that a lot of reasons why they did some of the things they did the first time are that they have a pretty good quarterback, a good offensive line and good receivers. They still have all this stuff."
Can you talk about the matchup of your defense against their offense?
"It remains to be seen how that matchup will go. We're looking forward to it. On one hand, we have a very young secondary. We're much younger than we were at this time a year ago and that's a concern of our's. We had a couple of guys last year who are playing on NFL teams now. That's a concern, but they're up to it. We'll matchup and see how it goes."
Is there a conventional wisdom developed on how to slow down Josh Heupel?
"I don't know. I've watched other people play him. Some people think you blitz him the whole time. Other people play zone against him all the time. Some people try to mix it up. Their results have been pretty much the same in every ballgame. I think it's some matchup of schemes and some matchup of players."
What makes Heupel special?
"I think he's smart, to start with. He's got a very accurate arm. He makes precise passes. He has a strong arm.He's a very talented and poised guy. I've not seen him in any game so far where it looks like he's out of control."
Do you think Oklahoma is better than they were last year?
"I just think they have more experience and confidence. They've been throught this now as a team for going on two seasons. They know more about their personnel than they did this time a year ago. They are very confident in what they are doing."
A lot of the talk has been about Oklahoma's offense. What about your offense and the importance of having a ball-control gameplan or just keeping it away from Heupel?
"Anytime you have a chance to win a game like this, it's a team effort. You can't play real good football teams and beat them with one side of your team. Our offense will have a burden in this game to score points, make first downs and stay on the field. I don't think we want to get in a pass-for-pass contest. The object is for our offense to maintain some balance, make some first downs, keep the ball and score some points."
Can you talk about Michael Jameson and his importance to your young secondary?
"Michael's been a big help, because he has played back there. The kids respect him. He's been limited all year. He's not really been 100 percent the whole season. He hasn't had the type of year he had hoped to have."
Is it a stretch to say Mark Farris might be the most complete quarterback you've ever had?
"It'd be hard to say. He's very good. Bucky Richardson was a good one. He was not as good a passer as Mark is, but he was a much better runner than Mark is. He had a lot of the same qualities in terms of when he got in the huddle the kids looked up to him and respected him. He was a guy that you knew every week you were going to get his best effort."
Talk about the challenge you are going to have on special teams with Oklahoma.
"They're good. I think that's been one big area of improvement on that Oklahoma team. They have had a dramatic turnaround on special teams from a couple of years ago. You watch them and you can tell they're well-coached on special teams. We'll have to play well to match them."
Obviously, there's going to be a lot of emotion with the No. 1 team coming in. Could there be too much emotion?
"I don't think so. We talk a lot about distractions, keeping focused on doing your day-to-day things and not getting into all the hoopla. I guess there's a chance of that, but that's what it's all about. This is what you work for. Someone out there somewhere thinks we have a chance to show up and play well or you guys wouldn't be here. It should be a fun weekend."
Talk about the role the crowd will play here the Saturday with the biggest crowd ever at Kyle Field expected to see the game.
"I can speak first-hand, it's an inspiration to our players. I suspect it's distracting for our opponents. Just looking out onto the field, I see teams have some errors that may not have anything to do with the crowd, but my suspicion is the crowd has a lot to do with it. I know it's positive for us. I just think it's the atmosphere. It's loud and I think it affects you somehow. I've been in a lot of stadiums, and our's is as loud on gameday as any. For these kinds of games, it gets pretty good. The thing that's unique is the noise is organized with the yells. "