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SoonerScoop breakdown: What we learned as OU prepares for Tulsa

headshotby:George Stoia•09/12/23•

GeorgeStoia

Oklahoma HC Brent Venables
Kevin Jairaj | USA TODAY Sports

Every week OU head coach Brent Venables holds his weekly press conference. And every week SoonerScoop’s Eddie Radosevich and George Stoia will break it all down.

OU will face Tulsa this Saturday for its first road game of the season. And while the Sooners are coming off a nice 28-11 win over SMU, there is still plenty to improve upon this week.

The OU offense struggled against SMU, with inconsistencies and only a handful of big plays. Will that change this week? And the defense had one of its best performances behind linebacker Danny Stutsman. Will that continue? Eddie and George break it all down.

Venables says…

“Curtis Lofton was a guy that had very few missed tackles. Guys like Rocky Calmus always got guys down. He just hardly ever missed a tackle. And Roy Williams was amazing in how he could hit people flush all the time. No matter what angle or what position he was coming from. So some guys are naturally good and it looks like you’re a great tackling team but they’re just really good tacklers. And then you develop it too. So I think it’s a combination of a lot of things.”

“The test of a season will really tell where you’re at. But again, my job is to recognize the here and the now. You play your schedule, you correct, you teach, you develop. But you want to celebrate too. And guys need to be affirmed. I think that’s what continues the buy-in, the excitement. The recognition that some of the hard work’s paying off and we’re getting a bit better. We’ve got a long ways to go. I really mean that. But through a couple of games our positioning’s been pretty good.”

“Both of us are very passionate about our craft, and Kevin (Wilson) has done a great job, wherever he’s been. If he’s just coaching the tight ends or he’s coaching the quarterbacks, or whether he’s at Northwestern or Oklahoma or Indiana or Ohio State, now at Tulsa, he’s always done a fantastic job. He’s one of my favorite people that I’ve worked with. A good friend and great dad and great husband. A dang good football coach. Tulsa’s lucky to have him. I see his players playing aggressively and playing confidently. Even going up to Washington, traveling halfway across the country, they played in the first very third down of the game, they go first down, second down, third down, conversion. Real fearless. He’s kind of got a go-for-broke mindset. He’ll do a great job there. His players are representing well right now.”

That and more are covered by Eddie and George in this week’s Venables press conference recap.

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