Oklahoma Sooners Football Blog: (10/12) No Changes in Coaching Staff, Stoops on team, Peterson and more.

Oklahoma Football Notes and Articles

Ingram says no excuses now: Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has repeatedly said that his team has to play smarter, despite the mix of young and old and first-time starters. Senior linebacker and co-captain Clint Ingram has picked up the refrain, saying no excuses accepted anymore. "We're five games deep into the season," Ingram said. "So guys being immature or guys not having the experience of not being in those positions before -- I mean we can't keep giving guys a crutch by saying he hasn't seen that before or he's young. "If coaches feel good enough about you or have enough respect for you or faith in you to put you out there on the field, then you need to take it upon yourself to get better. If it's something you're not as good at as you think you should be, then you should go out of your way to overcome that. "It's time to get it." (Star Telegram)

No changes in Coaching staff: Coach Bob Stoops has never fired an assistant coach since he's been in Norman. Most have left for better jobs. But Stoops said he would have no problem firing a coach after this season if he felt it was in the best interest of the program. "Why would I?" Stoops said when asked if there were any staff changes imminent. "You can pick every one of them and find some success if you choose to." (Dallas Morning News)

Stoops Weekly Press Conference, Quotes: OU HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS

On Oklahoma's performance against Texas:
"Texas is always a very good football team. As far as big plays go, I think our inability to execute in some areas really hurt us. I thought we made some critical errors that helped contribute to some of their big plays. All we can do is watch the film, do our best to learn from it, correct our mistakes and try to execute better."

On what the team needs to improve on against Kansas:
"With Kansas, we need to execute better. Going up to Arrowhead Stadium to play KU, we need to do our best to be as sharp as we can. That's the frustrating part for us. "It's one thing to give up plays and get beat when you're in position or when you execute properly. But it's another when you put yourself out of position and allow someone to convert on you and make a big play. That's what we're doing our best to correct. We need to do that this week, just to play smarter in some areas. "I still think we can play more physically, and we can be more disciplined in what we're asking players to do."

On whether he anticipated the struggles that the team is facing:
"I don't think that way, which you guys know. And I don't sit here and blow smoke either. I feel that we're better than where we're at right now or should have been by now. I didn't anticipate all that's happened and who we've missed. Again, I'm not making excuses, but I'm saying that I didn't anticipate all of that. But you play the hands you're dealt. "I felt like overall, coming into the year that we would've been stronger and better than we have been. You can name a bunch of reasons we haven't been. You can blame it on me. That's fine. But I'm not going to sit here and act like coming into the year, I didn't feel we'd be better than this. I did. But all we can do is try to improve from here."

On what it will take for the team to play harder:
"I think success and being sure of yourself and what you're doing contribute to that. I think we can. And that's what we're pushing for. But again, it goes with playing a little bit smarter and more physically. If guys are unsure of themselves, it's hard. But we've got to really be able to find that."

On running back Adrian Peterson's status:
"He's better than he was a week ago. He didn't practice yesterday. It will probably be a day-to-day thing this week on how much he gets and how much he practices. But he is further along than he was going into the game last week, so that's encouraging. All of the X-rays and MRI's have all ruled out anything major. All that our doctors can decipher from it is a mild high ankle sprain."

On whether losing so many players from the 2003 class has hurt the team:
"There's no question. I would say even further than that. It's any time players don't pan out, or they're not as productive as you hoped they would be or they don't work with the program. Some of those guys, with their production and what they've done, I'm sure it does hurt to a certain degree. "Other times, it's hard to argue with the guy. We had a couple of guys who were wonderful young men in great academic standing, but Adrian got to play, and they wanted to go somewhere where they could get on the field. It's hard to argue with that. "In the end, some are hurting us more than others. But it's not just the 2003 class. There's probably a certain number of guys from each class that adds up."

On quarterback Rhett Bomar's performance against Texas:
"He needs to improve. He definitely took a step backward in our last game with Texas. I think it was pretty obvious compared to how he played in the UCLA game and the K-State game. But we are still encouraged that he is very capable. For whatever reason, he wasn't as productive or consistent and didn't play like he's capable of in that game." (Find full quotes and more visit SoonerSports.com)