Bob Stoops: Red River Rivalry Will Look Much Different

Both the Sooners and Longhorns have undergone significant changes in the past year.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:58 am

By: News On 6

Bob Stoops: Red River Rivalry Will Look Much Different

Originally Published: Sep 28, 2010 3:37 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – While the Red River Rivalry is always one of the year’s most anticipated games, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops reflected Tuesday about how much has changed for both programs since they faced each other last season.

Going into the OU-Texas game last season, the Sooners had already endured a rash of injuries and were scrambling to fill holes on the offensive line. This year, OU has remained relatively injury-free and has been able to use a more consistent lineup.

“Last year, if you remember, we didn't have any tight ends or a fullback,” Stoops said. “If you have a fullback without tight ends it only counts for so much. We also had a bunch of linemen hurt. In the end, we're much different offensively then we were a year ago at this time.”

The injury woes and consistency problems OU suffered last season also led to two close losses to BYU and Miami, each by only one point. This year the Sooners have experienced almost the exact opposite, sitting at 4-0 with three of their wins coming by a combined total of 12 points.

“Though I'm not at all pleased in the manner in which we did win it, I still recognize as a team that there is a big difference between winning by two and losing by one or two,” Stoops said. “We're only a year removed from the start of our season last year. In the first four games we lost two games by one point. In the end, that part is good and positive.”

Perhaps the most marked improvement for the Sooners has been the play of quarterback Landry Jones. Jones was thrown into the fire last year after reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford suffered a sprained shoulder.

Jones was forced into action again early against Texas after Bradford reinjured his shoulder, and Jones struggled to get much going. He completed slightly more than 50 percent of his passes, threw two interceptions, and no wide receivers had more than 42 yards.

Now Jones is fully entrenched as the starting quarterback and has more than one year of experience under his belt. He also had time to build chemistry with his teammates during the summer and spring and has since been voted captain.

“Well obviously he's like night and day,” Stoops said. “He just went on the road and threw for 370 yards [against Cincinnati]; he didn't do that a year ago. But I think it's fair to say not just how different Landry is, but I think the guys around him are different which complements him and makes him look better. I think overall there's more experience there from what we went through a year ago to now.”

The Sooners will also face a vastly different Texas team. Last year, the Longhorns were undefeated heading to Dallas and held the No. 3 ranking in the nation. Their biggest headlines this year came after suffering a 34-12 upset to UCLA Saturday and plummeting to a No. 21 ranking.

“I was surprised [about Texas’ loss], definitely,” Stoops said. “We all recognize there’s a quality of Texas teams and how they’ve played. You haven’t had time at this point to really study them until you get into this week. Like everybody, it was surprising.”

The Sooners will be looking to break a recent trend against Texas, having lost four of the last five Red River Rivalry games. This year’s contest will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and will be aired on ABC.