Sooners' Offense No Cause for Worry

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma's 12-point effort against Oklahoma State last week represented the fewest points in Bob Stoops' two years as coach. It also continued a three-week run in which the

Tuesday, November 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma's 12-point effort against Oklahoma State last week represented the fewest points in Bob Stoops' two years as coach. It also continued a three-week run in which the top-ranked Sooner offense wasn't its normal, high-scoring self.

The late-season dip has been the source of some hand wringing among Oklahoma fans and grist for the writers and broadcasters who cover the team.

Stoops doesn't see what the fuss is about.

``To go through an entire season and to be expected to beat everybody by 20 and 30 points and to always score in the 40s, I'm not sure that's totally realistic of anyone's offense,'' he said Tuesday.

The questions come as the Sooners (11-0) prepare to play No. 8 Kansas State (10-2) in the Big 12 title game Saturday night in Kansas City.

Oklahoma State used some alignments that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mark Mangino said he had not seen in 21 years of coaching. At times, the Cowboys dropped nine players into pass coverage in an effort to contain Josh Heupel.

It worked. Heupel was intercepted twice and threw for just 154 yards, the lowest total in his two years at Oklahoma.

``Before we did any work on Kansas State, we did a thorough job of analyzing ourselves,'' Mangino said. ``And what we found out, quite truthfully, is we're OK. It's execution. We have to execute better.''

He mentioned two interceptions, both fairly deep in Oklahoma State territory; a holding penalty that stopped a drive; and a dropped pass that may have resulted in a touchdown.

``If those mistakes _ penalties, turnovers and a drop _ are removed from that game, you guys aren't asking me any questions,'' Mangino said.

The previous game, against Texas Tech, had represented Heupel's season low for passing yardage. He had 248 and Oklahoma went on a fourth-quarter scoring drive to secure a 28-13 victory.

The Sooners needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat Texas A&M, 35-31, the week before that.

``I loved our production in the A&M and Texas Tech games,'' Stoops said. ``I've been a defensive coach for a long time, and if you ever hear me bragging about shutting someone down when we've given up 35 or 28 points and 350-some yards, you guys will probably fire me or be calling for me to be fired.

``To me, there hasn't been a problem in those games.''

The Oklahoma State game, he said, was simply a situation where the Cowboys devised a good plan and then executed it well, and his team didn't play as well as it had hoped.

Stoops and Mangino said they expect Kansas State to incorporate some zone coverages into the game plan this week, but not make any significant changes in their approach. The Wildcats stuck to their usual man-to-man defense when the teams met earlier this year, and Heupel threw for a season-high 374 yards in a 41-31 victory.

``It's awfully difficult to get away from doing the things you're accustomed to,'' Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. ``Just because certain schemes look good on videotape doesn't mean you can do them.''

Stoops said each team is likely to do some tweaking, but not on a broad scale.

``I think both teams will end up still going with what's got them there and what's been best to 'em,'' he said. ``We considered scrapping our offense Sunday. Then we figured, well, we better keep it.''