Stoops wary of Horns
OU coach cites UT’s diffifficult schedule, 2013 win in rivalry,
Bettors are racing to the bank to wager on Oklahoma against Texas. The Sooners opened as 13-point favorites and were quickly bet up to 17 points.
It takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the Las Vegas line move that much, but anybody who’s seen these teams understands why it shifted. The 10th-ranked Sooners are soaring; the 1-4 Longhorns are in a state of disrepair.
Bob Stoops has seen this movie before, and the OU coach isn’t buying into it.
“It’s easy to go back just a couple of years when we were a pretty heavy favorite,” Stoops said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference. “We had already beaten Notre Dame in South Bend. Texas had a couple of losses. We went down (to Dallas) and got beaten 36-20.
“That’s only two years ago. I’m not making excuses that we were overconfident — I don’t believe in that — but the bottom line is they played and coached a lot better than we did and beat us. It’s safe to say that will be brought up this week.”
Actually, the Sooners only have to go back to last year. They were 16½ - point favorites and barely held off the Longhorns 31-26.
Oklahoma is favored for the fififth straight time in the Red River Rivalry. The Sooners are 4-1 straight up and 3-2 against the spread in their previous fifive games against UT, including a 55-17 win in 2011 when they were a 12-point favorite.
Stoops suggested the Longhorns are better than their record.
“It’s been overlooked how tough their schedule has been,” he said. “Their four losses are to ranked teams who are 19-1. So they’ve played probably as tough a schedule as anyone in the country, with a couple of tight losses to Cal and Oklahoma State.
“When I look at fifilm, I still see a lot of really good-looking athletes, and a lot of those players are in good spots” in the UT lineup.
Oklahoma’s offffffffffffense is led by two Austin-area players, quarterback Baker Mayfifield of Lake Travis and running back Samaje Perine of Hendrickson. Mayfifield, a transfer from Texas Tech, was a walk-on in Norman. Perine was a four-star recruit.
“They are a major part of our program,” Stoops said. “Samaje was so huge last year, setting records and things, and he’s still a big part of what we do. Baker has been a huge addition with his throwing, scrambling and lead- ership.”
Stoops said Mayfifield was far from perfect in a 44- 24 victory over previously unbeaten West Virginia last Saturday. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 320 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception.
“It was not one of Baker’s better games,” the coach said. “Baker got hit a lot, but they were blitzing, and we didn’t have enough blockers on certain plays. He’s got to get rid of the ball. Some of it is on him. We know he can do better.”
Perine, who smashed the NCAA single-game record with 427 yards rushing against Kansas last year, ran for 65 yards on 16 carries against the Mountaineers, who geared up to stop the run.
“Everything has to improve for us,” Stoops said. “I’m still really angry with our team, disappointed, with our lack of discipline. We’ve got way too many foolish penalties. We continue to have two turnovers a game, which can’t happen.”