Chickashanews.com

Top News

Related Photos

  • Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones (12) passes during practice for the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game at Cowboys Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Arlington, Texas. Oklahoma is scheduled to play Texas A&M on Jan. 4, 2013. Associated Press

    Landry.jpg

Discussion

Add a comment on this story
January 4, 2013

Sooners have had plenty of time to prepare for Heisman winner Manziel

By John Shinn The Norman Transcript

— Teams don’t wait until after the bowl game to look back on a season. Most of it is done when the regular season ends. The results of that analysis are important.

Oklahoma’s defense went through that internal autopsy before it ever left Norman for Friday’s AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic against Texas A&M.

Specifically, it has to come up with a better formula for stopping the run against spread offenses. The 911 yards it gave up in a three-game span against Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Baylor made the need for some alterations obvious.

“I think we’ve lived and learned from the past games,” OU middle linebacker Tom Wort said. “Some of the running quarterbacks we’ve faced — the quarterback draw especially — have created a huge problem for us. We’ve gone back and made the adjustments that give us the best chance to succeed.”

The Sooners better. As prolific as most of the offenses are in the Big 12 Conference, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel ran wild throughout the SEC en route to the Heisman Trophy. In terms of having to contain a running quarterback, Friday’s challenge will be the toughest the Big 12 has faced this season.

OU has remained vague on changes they’ve made. Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops likened it to solving riddles that have no answers.

“You take away the pass, you get hurt in the run. You take away the run and you get hurt in the pass. You want it both ways and it’s easy to say, but try to do it,” he said. “Everyone has all the answers, but they don’t understand all the problems. You can always take one thing away. If you try to take both away, that’s where the balance and understanding of weakness and strengths comes in. There’s a lot of stress put on defenses.”

There’s no doubt about that. Spread offenses were designed to easily identify defensive weaknesses and quickly exploit them. The Sooners have been dealing with them for several seasons.

The change Stoops made this season was tilting the defense toward stopping the pass in certain games. It matched any receiver with defensive backs and it did every thing it could to keep from getting beat deep.

In many respects, the decision produced positive results.

The Sooners led the Big 12 Conference in pass defense and were ranked second in scoring defense. There was, however, a cost: giving up 187.8 rushing yards per game in conference play. Many see the over reliance on defensive backs as the reason.

Wort and weakside linebacker Corey Nelson spent long stretches on the sideline with extra defensive backs taking their place.

Linebackers, who have been at the heart of stopping the run since the game was invented became situational players.

“That's a fair comment, I really do think that,” linebackers coach Tim Kish said. “Our thought process... We go in every week knowing that we want to stop the run, but you see these diverse pass offenses, these four-wides and five-wides. We tried to come up with some wrinkles this year. Again, it was what we thought was best at the time. Sometimes it was favorable to us. Others, it wasn't. We learned from it, and we've kind of come into a happy mix where we're at today. I think it will evolve a little more toward the linebackers this year.”

Perhaps that was the diagnosis as the Sooners looked back on the regular season. How they try to defend the Aggies will carry over to the 2013 season.

Text Only
Top News
  • Dorman pushes for storm shelter bond

    Local State Representative Joe Dorman (D) called on legislatures yesterday to pass a bond issue to combat what he called " a lack of adequate storm shelters" in Oklahoma.

    May 21, 2013

  • VIDEO: Storms move into Grady County

    Large storms will move through Grady County this afternoon.

    May 21, 2013

  • tornado.jpg Chickasha's finest lend a hand to Moore tornado victims

    The Chickasha Police Department traveled to West Moore yesterday afternoon following the devastation from an EF-4 tornado that ripped through the community.

    May 20, 2013 3 Photos

  • DSC_2844.JPG Kittens coming along after dumpster dispair

    After being plucked from a dumpster on the north side of town, seven kittens now sit in a green carrier in the Chickasha Animal Shelter with a new found sense of hope.

    May 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • GCEM prepares for active shooter with excercise

    Preparation is the key to any emergency, according to Grady County Emergency Management Director Dale Thompson. Other emergency responders share the same sentiment, and are planning an active shooter tabletop exercise to kick the county’s potential crisis plans into high gear.

    May 17, 2013

  • riane tuthill.jpg Lincoln student champion archer

    Riane Tuthill, a fifth grade student at Lincoln Elementary in Chickasha, was on target at the National Archery in the Schools Program competition this spring. 

    May 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • Community flea market offers help to needy

    On May 3, Mae Rhodes opened the Beholding the Child Non-Profit Community Flea Market, whose goal is to help those in need. 

    May 17, 2013

  • Knife-point standoff ends in arrest

    A Chickasha man has been arrested on assault and abuse charges after holding his wife and son at knife point.

    May 17, 2013

  • 5-17 AubreyMcCoy-Pentagon.jpg Capitol gets real McCoy at 4-H Conference

    Tuttle's Aubrey McCoy rubbed shoulders with some of the nation's movers and shakers while also shedding light on an important subject when she was selected to attend the National 4-H Conference last month.

    May 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • Water tops CIP list as tax deadline looms in near future

    The possible extension of the CIP three-quarter sales tax, which expires early next year and will require a vote, was the main topic of discussion for the CIP Tax Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
    The main focus of the meeting centered on city plans, mainly improvements, which will be implemented if the tax is approved for continuation.

    May 17, 2013