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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: OKLAHOMA v BOISE STATE

December 31, 2006

Bob Stoops

GLENDALE, ARIZONA

THE MODERATOR: At this time I'd like to introduce the head coach, Big 12 Conference champion, Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Sooners.
COACH STOOPS: I guess I'd reiterate what I said a few times. We're proud to be here, excited to be here. The team has really worked in a great way all week. Fiesta Bowl, I tell you, the people involved, the accommodations, the city, everything that goes into this game is just first class.
I've always heard what a great game it is. It definitely has been that, a great experience for us.
But the best part of it is always the game. Our players are looking forward to it. We are as coaches, the challenge of playing a very good Boise State team. Looking forward to that tomorrow night.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Could you describe how Adrian Peterson has practiced this week, your plans on playing him, given his time off?
COACH STOOPS: He looks great. He's practiced in a great way. He looks fast. He always looks fast. But I think particularly in that he's fresh. You know, he hasn't run the ball in a long time. But he's practiced. He's been hitting practice. He looks good. He's anxious to play I think as much as anything.
For us, it doesn't change anything in that we're going to play like we always do, like we have. We're not sitting here like there's a certain number of carries he has to have or not have. We're going to see how the flow of the game goes, how it's working, go from there.
Of course, with the way we've played with Allen Patrick and Chris Brown, we've got more confidence, of course, having seen what they've done the last eight games or so to play those guys. We'll probably -- if Adrian does need a breather at all, we'll be quick to put those guys in.
But there's no set number to it. Again, I think everyone has seen our offense really doesn't change whether he's in there or Allen or Chris. We're going to run our offense the way we have.

Q. Can you talk about anybody that has stood out in practice, since this is kind of a combo Bowl practice, spring practice, that's really taken advantage of this extra practice time?
COACH STOOPS: Really all the young guys. You watch guys like Chase Beeler in the offensive line. Secondary, guys like Keenan Clayton got a lot of great work. Our quarterbacks, probably more than anybody, leading up -- until we got into the last couple weeks where we really zeroed in on our game plan, they got a ton of work, they look good. Made improvements.
Probably the quarterbacks more than anybody really benefited from it.

Q. Could you talk about the spirit of your linebackers. We had a good time talking with Zach Latimer, seems to have a good time with life, Rufus, how they get along, drive each other, jab at each other all the time.
COACH STOOPS: Well, they're really good players. They've got great experience. Those two guys really control the defense. All their adjustments, alignments, shifting, they do a really good job with it. They're funny guys. I say that about our whole team. You watch 'em every day as we go to practice, you know, they like to practice. It's like they're out there, they're having a good time, they make it fun. It's always fun to be around guys with that kind of spirit to 'em.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about what you've overcome this season in terms of the quarterback session, Peterson's injury, the debacle up at Oregon, how you managed to stick together and get here.
COACH STOOPS: All of those things that you just mentioned were certainly factors. But probably more bothersome to me than all of that were then we lose Allen Patrick, then we lose our starting right tackle, playing our best, Branndon Braxton. You start to feel, What more can happen?
Truthfully, as a team, it's really pretty simple. I know, for instance, the whole quarterback situation to start the year, as a team we were over that. Within a day, this is what we have to do now, here we go.
I know the storm is out there, but we're not involved in it. I know we're part of it and everyone's talking about us. In the end, we're doing our business every day like we need to do. Same thing when a guy gets injured. All right, Chris Brown is ready to play. Allen is out, Chris and Jacob, here we go. Branndon Braxton goes down, Trent Williams, he's our next best guy, he's a true freshman, you're in, let's get after it.
The best part of it would be as a team, the players never used it as an excuse to change their expectations on how they should play and what they expect -- how they expect to win.

Q. It's secondary to winning the game, but if Adrian is close to the rushing record, will it be a conscious attempt to help him try and get it?
COACH STOOPS: It all depends on the game, how it's going, the flow of it. It isn't something that we're going in set to do. Usually those kind of things, we're oblivious to it while you're playing the game.

Q. Would you talk about what Coach Petersen has been able to do in his first year to go undefeated as a first-year head coach, maybe look back on your first year.
COACH STOOPS: I don't know that you're able to compare. Chris has been there for a number of years, part of developing that success, even when he was an assistant. I walked into something totally different.
He's done an amazing job of continuing the success that he was part of establishing, even when for the last, what, five, six, seven years, however long it's been. He was there with Dan. They've done a great job of building that program, establishing a level of success that their players are used to.
He in particular on the offensive side, what he's done, you look at them in the last I believe since 2000, they're the best-scoring offense in the country. That's a good period of time.

Q. I realize routine is part of what you do. Can you describe halftime, the limited amount of time, is there a normal procedure, your approach with your team? I realize it depends if you're behind or ahead. Is there a system there?
COACH STOOPS: Sure. We break up offensively and defensively. Coaches conference on, All right, this has been good, this is what's hurting us, these are -- defensively we'll get on the board and put up the three, four plays that we didn't play very well or we gave up something. Let's make sure this is ironed out, doesn't happen again. Offensively, coaches will confer on, All right, these plays have been good or these haven't. Let's go to this. Let's establish the run more or let's throw it more on first down here in the second half, take advantage of the way they're playing us.
We just constantly are talking to each other and then relating it to the players.

Q. With so much time off between the Big 12 championship game and this game, how much of a concern is rust, you're players coming out rusty?
COACH STOOPS: That would be a concern if Boise State has been playing. They haven't been having any games you guys know of, do you? Did I miss something (laughter)?
We're all in the same boat. Why would that be a concern?

Q. Boise State is sort of America's underdog in this game, everybody outside of Oklahoma probably cheering for Boise State. Do you find yourself, when you're not involved in the game, cheering for the little guy like this? I mean, if Boise State's playing Michigan or Auburn or USC or somebody, would you be pulling for Boise State?
COACH STOOPS: I don't know. They're not. I have a hard time with those hypotheticals. Give me a call tonight if there's a game on. Who's playing tonight (laughter)?
You know, sometimes you could, sometimes you don't. If I know the coach on the other side, I'd be cheering for him.

Q. You're probably not as concerned with it, but do you think this game will have some long-term ramifications concerning BCS conferences versus non-BCS conferences, depending on the outcome?
COACH STOOPS: I don't think so.

Q. As long as you've been involved in collegiate athletics, Paul Thompson's progression this year, is it a refreshing thing for you? The expected thing? Is that what you expect from college athletes? How would you describe him from August till now?
COACH STOOPS: I would say it's expected. I think, you know, not just at Oklahoma, across the country, we work with amazing young people that are really strong character, wonderful kids to work with every day. Again, across the country, I see that. We visit other places.
You know, I know what's written about, what's on ESPN, the networks, whoever has a problem, there it is, that's what's wrong with college athletics. In the end, you know, there's so much good with so many of these kids that I know you just can't write about it all or put it out there.
Paul is an example of that, of a great student, great character, handles his-self in front of the media and everybody else in a great way. He's a team guy. He's made the most of a great opportunity, helped us win a Big 12 championship.
But, you know, I'd say it's more expected than refreshing.

Q. Can you talk a little about your guys' first BCS game in 2000, what kind of impact emotions had on the players that day?
COACH STOOPS: We were on such a run and all, we were going into that game, as I look back on it, we were very confident. It was more just stick to what we've been doing. We don't need any Herculean effort, just play the way we're capable of. That's what we tried to do.
Again, we had played in such a way, we just felt there's no way we could lose. Fortunately, it worked out that way.

Q. What do you do personally to have fun with your players?
COACH STOOPS: Nothing in particular, other than just to be -- we are -- relate to them not just as their coach, but as kind of a friend. It's hard to say. At different times, I make mistakes. Let 'em laugh at me. There's plenty of times I'll do the wrong thing, say something that crickets maybe what I did. They get to laughing at me. I realize what happened. I get to laughing, as well.
I don't try and put myself in such a position that I'm not approachable. I think, more than anything, I come across to them as approachable, at their level, that we're all in this together. I'm going to laugh with them when the right times are there. I'm going to disappoint them when I have to. They're going to laugh at me whenever the opportunity comes.

Q. Back to Paul for a moment. Was there one moment during the season on the field that you'll look back on so far and say, Okay, this sums up what Paul is all about?
COACH STOOPS: I can't say that one moment could do that. I'll just say, going into the year, when we made that move, we as a staff felt comfortable and confident that Paul would do well. The team around him was going to be better than the year we had before.
I said that to the team. I said, If you guys are looking for an excuse for us not to compete and win the Big 12 championship, Paul Thompson will not be that reason. He's proven that. You know, any one moment would be hard to say. He's just a strong leader, has worked hard, progressed through the year in a great way.

Q. Considering all the obstacles it's had to overcome, where does this team rank in your heart?
COACH STOOPS: Of course, I don't rank 'em. But it is one of the more special ones, without question, that I've been around either as an assistant or as the head coach in my eight years there at Oklahoma. Definitely one of the more special ones just because of the way they come to practice every day. The off-field incidents that you guys don't see, what you guys don't know about, working in the weight room through the year, nobody missing class, classroom attendance, just a lot of things that maybe aren't publicized that I have to deal with every day. With this team, we've had very little of any of it. Guys have been good at coming to work every day ready to practice.
It got to be, really during the season, you knew how they were going to play. I knew what the attitude, when we were getting ready to play, no matter where it was, five of our last six games have been on the road, we got to a confidence point that I knew how they were going to show up. I knew they were going to be competitive. As a coach, when you're not trying to figure out ways to coax them, you don't have to see that, it's easy and pleasing as a coach.

Q. I believe you have felt that the Big 12 Conference has been slighted by a lot of people. The Bowl season may be proving that because Missouri gave one away there at the end. If you and Nebraska do pretty well, Big 12 will turn out okay, whereas a couple of the other power conferences haven't just totally dominated. Do you think it's proven anything?
COACH STOOPS: I don't know that it does. I think what gets lost sometimes and everybody wants to look at what the record of each conference is, sometimes what gets lost is who they're playing, what are their rankings. Sometimes people get put in a tougher position maybe than others.
In the end, too, I think it's fair to say that all of our conferences, everybody loves, Well, this one is the best. You know, in the end, you always have those top teams that are pretty darn good, I don't care who they're playing. You have those middle teams. You have those teams that are struggling.
Each conference isn't the same way. To say one's better than the other, I think that's pretty hard to do.
And rankings early on, of course, what do they mean? In the end, it's just speculation.

Q. At this point with the development of your offensive line, what Coach Patton has done with them, they seem to be such a confidence for your team. You talk to the skill guys, they always come back to the offensive line. How good has this line become? What kind of confidence does their development really bringing to the offense?
COACH STOOPS: They've had a really great year. When you look, we have the fewest sacks in the Big 12 Conference. The way we've been able to rush the football. They've given us the opportunity to play the way we have.
I would say, though, there's such an upside to those guys. We still can be a lot better. There's plenty of games I felt in our last game or two we didn't play as good as we have maybe for a stretch of the season that we were really playing in a better way.
There's a big upside to those guys that should only keep improving.

Q. You talked about that first BCS run in 2000, being confident, sticking to what worked. Has that changed at all in four BCS games in five years? Is there a different attitude or approach or anything at this point?
COACH STOOPS: Well, naturally at that time we were coming from obscurity, no one knew of Oklahoma, or forgot about us. The expectations weren't there at that time. At that time it was more, for that stretch -- you know, it's more I was convincing our players that they did deserve to be there, boosting them up that they should expect this, convincing them they were a top team, the best team in the country.
Now or in past years, you get some guys who come in that weren't part of that who think just because they're here, they deserve to be in the national championship. So now a lot of times they're getting praised when they haven't done anything. Now I'm telling them, Wait a minute, you're not that good, let's earn that kind of talk.
Of course, things are different now than they were then.

Q. I think before the Missouri game, you talked about how the team was stronger than what we gave it credit for. I wonder, how do you go through the process of determining how strong the team can be, determining what they can and can't handle?
COACH STOOPS: Looking at their potential. When you see 'em every day in practice, you know, the way they're capable of playing. The trick is to get it all going at the same time, in the right direction, get that momentum during the season that you need to, as you said, go to Missouri at the time and to put it all together and to win a good football game.
When you're working with them every day, you see the way you're capable of playing. You could see it coming. I think early on some of the games that maybe the media didn't give us credit for the way we played was better than maybe people wanted to really write about it. As soon as we ironed out, got a little more consistent in a few areas, it started to happen.

Q. Malcolm Kelly yesterday said how tragic it would be after all you guys have overcome to lose this game, how much it would impact the players. How important is it for you guys to win this last game to finish up this season?
COACH STOOPS: That's the truth. You know, there's a part of the season that's incredibly special. Being Big 12 champions is where we begin in our program. That part of it is finished and accomplished. In the end, this season, for these seniors, for this group of players, for this team, has one more game. They've been on a good run. They like their run. They want it to continue. So it's a good mindset. They know it's important. It's important for all of us.

Q. Talking about that Missouri game. After that game, Cale bounced some of us, saying, you need to do your homework better. What can we do between now and kickoff to do our homework and figure out who is going to win this game?
COACH STOOPS: You'd have to have Cale answer that. I think in the end what sometimes gets overlooked, I'm not saying that game or other games, everybody talks about -- of playing a schedule. Everybody wants to at the sixth, seventh game of the year, Look at these statistics. You're here, they're there. No one looks at who anybody has played, how they play, what their style is. So-and-so is No. 1 in the country in rush defense, and they've played Tech and Baylor back to back who aren't interested in running the football.
Anyway, sometimes I think that was the case, and through the year that -- the same thing in rankings. Everybody talks about, You should play a tough schedule, but you're given no credit for it. All anybody looks for are wins and losses. If you play a weak schedule, your statistics are better and you're ranked higher. Then when it comes time for you guys analyzing teams, sometimes I don't know that it's paid attention to a lot.

Q. What other impact did that first BCS win have on your program?
COACH STOOPS: Of course it impacts you greatly. Now these are the expectations, this is how we are to play. If we did it then, we can continue to do it.
It just changes your expectations in the program, and in a good way. I know, too, now that's what the media and the fans all expect. That's okay.
For us, I think the greater the expectations, the more opportunity you have to reach those expectations. Sometimes you fall short of 'em, but you still have had a great year.

Q. We are now more than two-thirds into this 30-minute press conference. Not one question about Boise State. I wonder if maybe we in this room are kind of thinking and directing America into that kind of thought process, that the game itself is of no concern because Oklahoma is going to win this thing. Can you tell us why we need to be concerned about Boise State.
COACH STOOPS: Well, the first part of your question, I could see. Chris is going to be here in a half hour. I'm sure all the questions will be about them. They'll more than get their questions. They're one of only two undefeated teams in the country, lost one game in the last two years. You watch a team that plays -- when you've won that match, they play in a very fast and confident way, on the field very disciplined. I was talking to Barry Alvarez earlier in the month. Talked about talking to one of their pro scouts. I concur. They're out there working 10 of their players. They're a good football team with a lot of good players.

Q. I know you talked about the linebackers earlier. Can you talk a little more Rufus Alexander, how he was instrumental in turning the defense.
COACH STOOPS: He's a great player that's always had a knack for making big plays, whether it be sacks or interceptions or fumbles. Again, as I said, he really is the quarterback that gets everybody straightened up, lined up correctly, adjusted.
Rufus at a certain point in the year started making those big plays again and started having a strong impact on the game, like he has so many other times.

Q. You talked about the importance of evaluating schedules, looking at statistics. How would you evaluate Boise's schedule?
COACH STOOPS: Well, again, it's not for me to do. I watch all those teams play in the WAC. There's a lot of good football teams. I've watched many of them play here, several of them through Bowl season. They've all played well. Most of 'em have anyway.
Anyway, it's hard when you're not playing those teams every day to say. Their schedule, according to their conference, I'm sure, is strong. They've done a great job managing it.

Q. Jared Zabransky said yesterday he and his club have a huge chip on their shoulder, they're not getting the respect, really thinks that your defense is going to be surprised at the speed, the potency of their pass game. They have a great running game as well. Will there be any surprise factor?
COACH STOOPS: No, not from us. I agree with him. He's done a great job. He's been the MVP of his last two Bowl games. They've got receivers. They've got the ability to run the football. He does a great job even when something's not there. He's got good feet to buy his-self extra time and throw the football. Again, their production has been great all year.
We're very aware of that. Our guys know they need to be ready to play.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

End of FastScripts

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