Bob Stoops, Kevin Wilson Address Play Calling Issues

The Sooners drove inside the 5-yard line and failed to get any points three different times Saturday.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:01 pm

By: News On 6

Bob Stoops, Kevin Wilson Address Play Calling Issues

Originally Published: Nov 9, 2010 3:37 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – In Oklahoma’s mistake-filled loss to Texas A&M Saturday, one of the Sooners’ most glaring issues was its lack of efficiency in the red zone.

On three different occasions, OU made it inside the 5-yard line and scored zero points. All three times, the Sooners attempted running plays on both third and fourth down. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson admitted Tuesday that he would do things differently if given the chance.

“Hindsight is 20/20, but bottom line we’ll look to change things,” Wilson said. “You’re not going to be a good team if you can’t get a tough yard. That’s just football.”

Wilson said he considered calling different plays, but that he was confident his offensive line could get enough push to get into the end zone. That did not happen.

“The first thought was play-action pass,” Wilson said. “But the thought is, ‘Hey, its six inches. Why go sideways? Why put it up when you need that far?’ But again, we got beat at the point of attack.”

After failing to score with runs twice earlier in the game, the Sooners still went back to the run deep in the red zone on their final drive. Trailing by two possessions and with no timeouts left, OU ran the ball on three straight plays and turned the ball over on downs to seal the loss.

“You feel you're going to get it in there on that one play and you're not going to have to do it again,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “That's what it is.”

Because of the Sooners’ problems Saturday, the coaches have already instilled a renewed focus on short-yardage plays in practice.

“We can't go into someone else's house and not score on the one-foot line,” offensive lineman Eric Mensik said. “We were down there three times and didn't get it in. So Coach Wilson and [offensive line] Coach Patton looked at it pretty heavily yesterday on film and we've got to fix that, so that's what we've been working on ? You have to have the mindset to get it done. I guess we didn’t have that mindset.”

Wilson said his play calling near the goal line was varied, but most of the plays tended to be straight-ahead runs. But he said he is considering installing more misdirection plays to keep defenses on their toes.

“Maybe a misdirection counter or a reverse or a gimmick or something gets us into the score zone,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of things that we’re doing well, but it’s our ability to finish and get the point production to match the yards.”

The Sooners’ offense was at its most effective Saturday in the third quarter, when they scored 17 unanswered points to make the game interesting. In that quarter, Wilson said he simplified his play calling and rarely changed formations or substituted players.

“We needed to get the running game going,” Wilson said. “Sometimes with all the personnel groupings we have, you have to be careful not to have too much ? We limited some things just to try to get us into some rhythm and not be all over the place.”

As part of that simplification and lack of personnel change, freshman running back Roy Finch stayed off the field for much of the game. He finished the night with only four touches, while DeMarco Murray had 35.

Stoops said after the game Saturday that Murray was exhausted, but did not say he regretted the decision to give him the bulk of the carries. On Tuesday, Wilson said the decision about playing time was left to running backs coach Cale Gundy.

Wilson said he generally likes to use a rotation of players to keep everyone fresh. He is in charge of tight ends, and consistently rotates Trent Ratterree, James Hanna and Austin Haywood. He also has advised other assistant coaches to do the same.

“In my opinion, I do think we should play more guys,” Wilson said. “But again, that’s each coach managing it. I’ve made several suggestions through the weeks of some lineman rotations, receiver rotations and running backs.”

While Stoops said he was disappointed in some facets of OU’s play, he also pointed out that the Sooners are 7-2 and still have a strong chance of qualifying for the Big 12 Championship and possibly a BCS bowl. But in order to do that, the team will have to work on the problems that showed themselves against Texas A&M.

“I'm not going to sit here publicly and express what my frustration is or isn't,” Stoops said. “In the end, we need to play better. Simple as that.”