Cale Gundy: Quick-strike offense can be double-edged sword
Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator Cale Gundy sits in a booth not far from defensive coordinator Mike Stoops during games.
Gundy said the Sooners’ quick-strike offense can sometimes make things a bit awkward upstairs.
“There’s some times that we score fast and, being in the press box, he just kind of gives us that eye,” Gundy said Monday as OU prepares to face Texas on Saturday (11 a.m., Fox).
“It is challenging, obviously, for a defense to go back out there after you have some long drives, when the offense is out there quick, whether you score or whether you go three-andout, you’ve got to get ready to go again.”
Over the last two games, the Sooners have had 23 drives, with only one during that span lasting longer than three minutes. Kyler Murray grew up cheering for Florida
Unlike Oklahoma’s previous quarterback — Baker Mayfield — Kyler Murray didn’t grow up rooting for the Sooners or engrossed in the OU-Texas rivalry.
Though Murray’s father,
Kevin, played football for Texas A&M and his uncle,
Calvin, played baseball at Texas, Kyler Murray grew up rooting for neither of those schools.
“I was a Florida fan growing up,” Murray said. “I didn’t really look too much into beating Texas or anything like that.”
Murray said the Gators’ colors were a contributing factor and he grew up admiring players such as Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.
While Murray didn’t grow up with animosity toward Texas, the same can’t be said for his father.
During Kevin Murray’s time in College Station, the Aggies were 3-1 against the Longhorns, with Texas A&M winning in 1985 and 1986 behind big performances from him.
“I don’t think he’s too fond of Texas,” Kyler Murray said, with a smile, of his father. “I’ll say that.”
Did Kyler Murray’s fondness for Florida mean he was rooting against the Sooners in the 2008 national title game?
“I was, yeah,” he said.
Kyler Murray earns another Big 12 honor
For the third time in the season's first five weeks, Murray is the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
This time around, Murray did it by tying a school record by accounting for seven touchdowns in Saturday's 66-33 win over Baylor.
After not starting the game due to missing the start of Friday's walkthrough, Murray came on for OU's second possession and completed 17 of his 21 passes for 432 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed for 45 yards and a touchdowns on 10 carries.
The 66 points posted by Oklahoma was its secondmost against a Big 12 opponent, and the 11.2 yards per play tied for third-highest in program history.
Murray's 348.0 passing efficiency rating beat the previous school record of 303.3 set by Jason White in 2003 against Texas A&M, and was the highest by an FBS player since at least 1996.
Murray is the first player to earn the honor three times in the first five weeks of the season since Texas' Ricky Williams in 1998.