Sooner Football: News & Notes From Training Camp
By Chip Rouse
The 2015 version of Sooner football held its first controlled scrimmage of August training camp on Saturday, and coach Bob Stoops was pleased overall with what he saw.
“I thought the guys did really well,” Stoops said in an article on the OU athletic website by assistant athletic director Mike Houck recapping Saturday’s activities at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. “We’ve got a lot of work to continue to do, but guys have had a great attitude in how they’re working. And we don’t have any major injuries.”
Linebacker Dominique Alexander missed Saturday’s scrimmage while recovering from a minor ankle injury suffered last week, but he was back at practice on Monday morning. Alexander led the team with 107 total tackles last season. Two other OU linebackers, Frank Shannon and Jordan Evans, are still out with minor injuries, but are expected back very soon.
Quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Trevor Knight both three touchdown passes in Saturday’s scrimmage. Mayfield hooked up with running back Daniel Brooks on a catch and run that covered 75 yards. Knight hit redshirt-freshman tight end Mark Andrews with a back-of-the-end-zone toss.
A lot of eyes this fall are on the Sooner defense, which faced quite a few uncertainties after a highly disappointing 2014 season. Oklahoma was especially vulnerable in the secondary, where inexperience caused numerous breakdowns a year ago.
Ten days into preseason training camp, Mike Stoops said he believed the defense is moving in the right direction. “To me, it’s still about alignments and assignments and then playing hard,” the Sooners defensive coordinator told reporters after Saturday’s practice scrimmage. “These are elements of the defense that have to be consistent if you want to be good.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to continue to do, but the guys have had a great attitude in how they’re working.” —Bob Stoops, on his team’s progress after the first 10 days of August training camp
The logic of what Mike Stoops is saying is very sound. The problem in the view of the critics of Oklahoma football heading into the new season is that we’ve being hearing about alignment problems and missed assignments on defense for several seasons now, but the adjustments have not followed.
New offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley indicated that the offensive players are beginning to grasp the principles associated with the new high-octane, quick-strike passing attack.
“We’re improving,” Riley said. “It’s fun when they (the offensive players) start to take ownership of it themselves, and it starts to become Oklahoma’s offense” and not some outside offense that someone has brought in.