Tag: lincoln riley

What Lincoln Riley and Spencer Rattler said after Oklahoma’s 27-14 win over Baylor

What Lincoln Riley and Spencer Rattler had to say after Oklahoma’s 27-14 win over Baylor Saturday night in Norman.

No. 11 Oklahoma defeated Baylor 27-14 Saturday night to pick up their sixth straight win and move to 7-2 on the season.

The win also clinched the Sooners a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game where they will get a rematch with Iowa State.

The offense didn’t provide the usual numbers we have become accustomed to seeing, largely struggling through most of the game. The first touchdown didn’t even come until nearly halftime.

Despite that, they were able to add some points in the second half to help salt the game away. Spencer Rattler’s touchdown pass to Brayden Willis in the fourth quarter to give Oklahoma a 27-7 lead was the final dagger.

After the game, Lincoln Riley and Rattler met with the media to discuss the game. Here is what they had to say.’

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Oklahoma will not be holding senior day festivities in final home game against Baylor

Oklahoma’s final home game will go without a tradition among sports. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, OU will not have a senior day.

Oklahoma’s final home game will go without a tradition among sports.

The Sooners will be hosting Baylor, but the pregame festivities will not last as long as they normally do for a last home game. The senior day at Oklahoma will not be happening, thanks to COVID-19.

Lincoln Riley made the announcement on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. He stated multiple reasons why as to senior day not taking place Saturday night.

“It’s something we’ve honestly been thinking about for the last three or four weeks,” he said. “Start thinking about it maybe two bye weeks ago we really started taking a dive in that and poll around and just kick around options. After talking to them and some of the kids and families and all that, we’ve decided we’re going to cancel the Senior Day festivities. I think for a few reasons. Obviously, there are a million reasons this year. Not being able to have families on the field. Not all families even being able to travel and be there for it. Not being able to do it in front of a full stadium, which that’s not the most important for me, but I think that is a factor. And I think that with all that’s going on right now, I just don’t know that we could do it the way we want to do it.

“We’ll still have our, here in the spring, hopefully at some point, if this thing has cleared up a little bit, we’ll be able to have a kind of senior night that we had with our guys and the staff that we did last year for the first time and everybody loved. We are definitely in plans, whether it’s a spring game or another home game, at some point in the future, going to come back and honor these guys and their families who have played their last game. We’re definitely not sweeping it under the rug. We want it to happen. But we want it to happen where we can do it the right way. We’ve communicated that to our guys who that could potentially affect and to their families as well.”

That means players like Erik Swenson, LaRon Stokes, Jon-Michael Terry, Caleb Kelly, Tre Brown and Chanse Sylvie won’t go through a senior day. This also allows Oklahoma to protect who may or not be taking advantage of the free year of eligibility in 2020.

The Sooners are also expected to lose at least Creed Humphrey to the NFL draft. Those at the game against Baylor will not know of any early NFL departures, either.

Oklahoma and Baylor is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. CT.

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Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops will not be coaching on sidelines against Baylor

It was too good to be true in 2020. Oklahoma had been down more than a dozen coaches and players due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was too good to be true in 2020.

Oklahoma had been down more than a dozen coaches and players due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut things down. The Sooners were looking at potentially coaching without defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and other defensive coaches.

So Lincoln Riley looked no further than an old friend.

Bob Stoops came out of retirement for a week to help out. The former Oklahoma head coach coached from 1999-2016 before retiring in the summer right before the 2017 season.

“It was great,” Riley said on Tuesday. “It’s nice. It’s kind of been in our hip pocket this whole time. If we had any staff member who fell off, we have a Hall of Famer sitting on the bench. It’s a pretty good bench when you can call that guy up. More than that, just how much he cares about this program. I don’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t do. It was great to have him out there today. It was awesome. Our kids were excited to see him. All of us were excited to see him. I think he had some fun as well.”

However, it turned out Oklahoma received good news on the COVID-19 front with some coaches this week. The Sooners announced late Friday that Stoops would not be coaching on the sidelines.

“Our staff and players are extremely appreciative of Coach Stoops for his time and for the input he provided the last several days as we’ve prepared for tomorrow’s game,” Riley said in a press release. “He means so much to our program and we’re very thankful for his willingness to assist during a period of need.”

No nostalgia for Oklahoma fans.

Here is what athletic director Joe Castiglione said on Thursday in regards to Stoops helping out coach.

“As you know, we’ve kept coach Stoops involved in our program since the first day,” he said. “We’ve never let him really get too far away. He certainly has freedom to do a number of things that he wants. We went through a period of time when as you all know that another football league developed and they contacted him and wanted him to be one of the first if not the first head coach they hired in the XFL. We were able to work through how we could keep him involved in other times around that season.

“He’s been great. He’s been involved in a lot of fundraising activities for us. We’ve really put a premium during these times to build relational capital with our donors and ticket holders and these times when even some of them who want to be at the games can’t, and so we’ve had programs that connect them back to the university some way shape or form using this technology of Zoom. So we didn’t neccessarily plan it out exactly like this. But as you all know, when I said he’d be the special assistant to the AD, I said he’d be doing very special things. So here’s one of them.”

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6 college coaches the Jets could consider if Adam Gase is fired

Jets Wire takes a look at five college coaches worth vetting if Adam Gase is fired this offseason.

With the Jets sitting at 0-11 and 7-20 in their last 27 games, Adam Gase’s days as head coach are undoubtedly numbered.

Could a fresh face from the college ranks be what New York needs to reverse its fortunes? There are plenty of college head coaches (and coordinators) that have what it takes to succeed in the NFL. Joe Douglas will have no shortage of options to replace Gase if he is fired this offseason, but some of his best candidates might currently reside in the NCAA.

Let’s take a look at six college coaches the Jets could consider if Gase is shown the door at the end of 2020.

Oklahoma football notebook: Lincoln Riley, Brayden Willis, Delarrin Turner-Yell talk Tuesday

Ahead of Oklahoma’s game against Baylor Saturday night, Lincoln Riley, Brayden Willis, and Delarrin Turner-Yell met with the media Tuesday.

Oklahoma (6-2, 5-2) is gearing up for a return to action this weekend when they host Baylor (2-5. 2-5) Saturday night in Norman.

The Sooners will be hoping to further the momentum built up after their blowout win in Bedlam despite having a COVID-19 outbreak that forced a postponement of their game against West Virginia last week and kept them away from team facilities for several days.

On Monday, Lincoln Riley didn’t provide a load of confidence about the state of his team leading up to the game this weekend, stating simply that they had “a shot” at playing this week.

Tuesday, in his weekly press conference, Riley seemed to have a bit more optimism in a return to action this week as long as some more tests came back negative in the coming days.

Along with him, Brayden Willis and Delarrin Turner-Yell spoke to the media Tuesday as well. Here is what they all had to say.

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Oklahoma still No. 11 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

No change. Oklahoma was shut down last week thanks to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the Sooners football program

No change.

Oklahoma was shut down last week thanks to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the Sooners football program. Lincoln Riley and his 2020 team had a bout with West Virginia that would have helped build its College Football Playoff resume.

Without a game, Oklahoma didn’t move at all in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Sooners held steady at No. 11.

Iowa State jumped all the way up to No. 9 after a big win over Texas last Friday. Oklahoma State is up to No. 15 after a close win against Texas Tech.

The Sooners are planning to play this week against Baylor, but have to get through a round of testing on Wednesday before the game can really be on. Oklahoma’s game against West Virginia was rescheduled for Dec. 12.

The Cyclones and Sooners are on a collision course to play each other in the Big 12 Championship game. Iowa State beat Oklahoma 37-30 in early Oct.

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Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops back helping Sooners coach during COVID-19 pandemic

Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops was back on the practice field helping coach the Sooners this week ahead of their game against Baylor.

Oklahoma is still trying to get things back on track after having their game with West Virginia get postponed last week due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the players and coaching staff.

On his weekly Tuesday press conference, Lincoln Riley said that one part of their support staff was “completely wiped out” by positive tests so they had to enlist some outside help.

That outside help included none other than former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops who came out of retirement, albeit in a small fashion, to help coach the team on Tuesday.

Coach Stoops retired in the summer prior to the 2017 season, but has remained intimately involved with the program ever since. He has been a frequent visitor of Sooner practices and has been in attendance at nearly every game home and away.

Riley said that he and Stoops talk very often, and that he is very lucky to have someone like him to turn to in a time like this.

Oklahoma is able to have Stoops in this role since he has stayed on at the university as an “institutional staff member” even after he retired as the head football coach. Theoretically, he could help coach a game if he was needed.

Riley did not indicate that was the plan at this time, but they would have to see how the week unfolded.

The Sooners will return to action to face Baylor on Saturday night in Norman at 7:00 p.m. CT.

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Lincoln Riley says that Oklahoma has ‘got a shot’ at playing this week

Lincoln Riley spoke to the media for the first time since OU’s game was postponed last week, and said they have a shot at playing this week

Oklahoma had its first game postponement of the season last week when their game against West Virginia was pushed back two weeks due to COVID-19 issues among the team.

The natural next question is if the Sooners will be able to take the field in their next game set for Saturday night in Norman against Baylor. The answer to that question won’t be able to be fully determined until later in the week, but for now Oklahoma is pressing forward as if they are going to play.

When asked about the likelihood of the Sooners playing this week, head coach Lincoln Riley said that Oklahoma has, “got a shot,” at returning to action.

Riley didn’t exactly exude a load of confidence in his statements today, but it is hard to blame him given that he said he hadn’t even seen the team in six days prior to this morning. It will be interesting to see what he says Tuesday in his weekly press conference as more information comes to him.

Sooners Wire will provide updates on the status of Saturday’s game as they become available throughout the week.

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Oklahoma officially controls destiny in Big 12, wins out and makes Big 12 Championship game

Oklahoma is back in control. The Sooners are somehow two wins away from making their return to the Big 12 Championship game

Oklahoma is back in control.

The Sooners are somehow two wins away from making their return to the Big 12 Championship game thanks to Kansas State falling off and Texas beating Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma lost its first two Big 12 games to Kansas State and Iowa State—the first time the Sooners had lost back-to-back regular season games since 1999. Lincoln Riley and his 2020 team has since rattled off five-straight wins, including a quadruple overtime win over Texas and a thumping of Oklahoma State in Bedlam last Saturday.

With the Iowa State win over Texas and Baylor win over Kansas State, there is not a way Oklahoma wins out and doesn’t make the Big 12 Championship. The Sooners are scheduled to play Baylor on Dec. 5 and on the road at West Virginia on Dec. 12 after this Saturday’s game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues at OU.

Here are the current Big 12 Standings:

Standing Team Record
1 Iowa State 7-1
2 Oklahoma 5-2
3 Oklahoma State 5-2
4 Kansas State 5-3
5 Texas 4-3
6 West Virginia 4-3
7 TCU 4-4
8 Texas Tech 2-6
9 Baylor 1-6
10 Kansas 0-8

Here is the remaining Big 12 schedule:

Team Dec. 5 Dec. 12
Iowa State (7-1) West Virginia
Oklahoma (5-2) Baylor at West Virginia
Oklahoma State (5-2) at TCU at Baylor
Kansas State (5-3) Texas
Texas (4-3) at Kansas State at Kansas
West Virginia (4-3) at Iowa State Oklahoma
TCU (4-4) Oklahoma State
Texas Tech (2-6) Kansas
Baylor (1-6) at Oklahoma Oklahoma State
Kansas (0-8) at Texas Tech Texas

If Iowa State beats West Virginia on Saturday, Oklahoma would have the head-to-head over Oklahoma State if both teams win out. If Oklahoma State loses to either Baylor or TCU on the road, Oklahoma would be the No. 2 team outright. Both situations would include the Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game.

If Iowa State loses to West Virginia, the Cyclones, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would finish in a three-way tie atop of the Big 12 if both win out. If Texas beats Kansas State, the Longhorns would be fourth in the Big 12 and per the Big 12 tiebreaker that goes to record against the fourth team for a three-way tie, Oklahoma and Iowa State would get the nod.

The weird tiebreaker happens if Iowa State loses to West Virginia and Kansas State were to beat Texas. The tiebreaker would fall all the way down to point differential in the games played between Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Iowa State since West Virginia would make a three-way tie for fourth-place. From there, Oklahoma and Iowa State would still be the Big 12 Championship teams.

The Big 12 Championship is scheduled for Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. CT.

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ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit thinks 2020 Oklahoma is better right now than 2017, 2018 and 2019 OU

Since Bob Stoops took over in 1999, Oklahoma has been one of the programs who consistently gets better throughout a season.

Since Bob Stoops took over in 1999, Oklahoma has been one of the programs who consistently gets better throughout a season.

Yes, 2014 happened, but in 2005 and 2009, the Sooners, despite eight-win seasons, got better in each game. It looks to be the same in 2020.

Oklahoma is streaking. The Sooners have won five-straight games and are on the verge of defending their five-straight Big 12 Championships after suffering early season upsets to Kansas State and Iowa State.

They are getting better, too. Since the quadruple overtime win over Texas, Oklahoma was won each game by at least 28 points, including a thrashing of Oklahoma State last Saturday. This is aided by the return of star defensive end Ronnie Perkins and starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

One prominent national college football talking head has taken notice: Kirk Herbstreit.

“I’m telling ya, this is a different Oklahoma team at this point in the season,” he said during Bedlam last Saturday. “A younger team without some key players like Stevenson and Perkins that had leads on Kansas State in the fourth-quarter and Iowa State. Unable to hold onto those leads, but you don’t want to play the Sooners right now.

“I think this is a more complete team than the teams that have won the Big 12 and gone to the playoffs. More complete team because of the way they’re playing defense this year with Alex Grinch and late in the year. I think those teams that have gone in the past and many times gotten exposed in the Playoff, they were a great offense, but it didn’t have a defense. I think this team has a better defensive front. They have got some experience in the secondary and I think now that your young quarterback is growing up and he has so many different weapons … I don’t know, it just feels like a complete team.”

He would go onto highlight a guy like Perrion Winfrey, a defensive tackle like Oklahoma hasn’t had since Jordan Phillips in 2014.

Herbstreit didn’t hide from this take either: he doubled down on it three days later when talking about teams who are playing the best right now.

“I would use Oklahoma as an example of that right now,” he said Tuesday night on SportsCenter prior to the College Football Playoff rankings show. “They’re in the Big 12. They lost a couple games. Everybody was like, ‘Ah, they’re done. Forget about them.’ And all the sudden, man, since the Texas game they’re building momentum like crazy. And right now you look at an OU and you’re like, ‘Man, OU could be on the field with about anybody right now and be OK and compete.

“I think OU is better right now at this point in the season than they have been when they had Baker (Mayfield) or Kyler Murray or last year with Jalen Hurts because they’re a more complete team. But that’s just watching games. You couldn’t have predicted that four weeks ago. But if you watch and you allow these teams to show you what you can do, you can make that evaluation. And that’s just using Oklahoma as an example.”

Oklahoma was postponed this week due to a COVID-19 issue within the football program. The Sooners’ game against West Virginia is now scheduled for Dec. 12. Oklahoma will play next Saturday against Baylor at home.

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