Got home from post practice a little while ago ... Though Oklahoma is off on Saturday we'll still have normal availability this week. Post Practice Monday and Tuesday.
Spoke with members of the offensive unit this evening. It appeared to be a rather light day of practice, which is probably no surprise with the bye coming up. Bob Stoops said Monday afternoon they would practice Monday thru Thursday, players with the weekend off.
* Rather than talking about the positives from Saturday's peformance Lincoln Riley spent a good time of his media session talking on the negatives. You would think it'd be hard to nitpick a 773-yard effort, including 39 first downs, 286-rushing yards (season high) and a record breaking quarterback performance.
"There's going to be a similar sense of urgency like we had after Tennessee. We've been telling our guys that this is not an off week. It's just a week we don't have a game. ," said Riley. "We have got to grind this week and have the sense of urgency like we had last week. But did we make some improvements from game two to game three? Yes we did."
* Riley says he likes where they are offensively and the strides that have been made. Noted how well the makeshift offensive line played, did seem disappointed in blocking on the edge from the wide receiver position. Remember we're nitpicking, here. Though Riley did note there were some plays on the edge that wouldn't have been possible without good blocking on the edge
Example: Dahu Green 4th quarter for Samaje Perine TD
* Riley said with the proper fits they could have had more yards via the ground
* Riley says he's encouraged by Mayfield's play ... focusing on the small things for a better performance. Noted Mayfield's decision making as a positive.
"I was happy with the progress we made from game two to game three but we've got to make another jump this week"
* We were also able to speak with Cale Gundy & Bill Bedenbaugh ... working on getting that up right now. Spoke with Jonathan Alvarez and Derek Farniok as well.
* Farniok is just a large human. Bedenbaugh telling media members about how the position change for Farniok came about was pretty funny. It was rather one sided with Bedenbaugh doing most of the talking -- or telling Farniok that was what was going to happen.
* Farniok said the first time he played guard was in the Monday practice session after the Tennessee game.
* Alvarez confirmed the biggest fear going into Saturday's start at center was simply executing the snap. That was more in a joking matter, of course. Said he felt comfortable playing center, making the calls. He said playing next to Ty Darlington at guard has helped him understand and read the defense.
* Bedenbaugh seemed pleased with Alvarez as well. Bob Stoops noted him as a player of the game during his Monday media luncheon.
* Bedenbaugh said Nila Kasitati is one of the toughest players he's ever coached. Adding there were a number of scouts that were impressed with Kasitati's play vs. Tennessee; like Darlington, Kasitati is expected to return to practice at some point this week. Don't believe I saw either of them out there today. But as a I said at the top it appeared they gave quite a few guys time to heal in a light workout session.
* Before interviews started I noticed Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon were spending some quality time with footballs in their arms. The extra work after practice that ... you know ... comes after laying the pigskin on the ground.
* Lastly, Carey & I both noticed Arthur McGinnis getting in some extra work as well. You could tell he's been putting in the work as he looked to have lost that bad weight he started the season with. Looked really, really good.
Spoke with members of the offensive unit this evening. It appeared to be a rather light day of practice, which is probably no surprise with the bye coming up. Bob Stoops said Monday afternoon they would practice Monday thru Thursday, players with the weekend off.
* Rather than talking about the positives from Saturday's peformance Lincoln Riley spent a good time of his media session talking on the negatives. You would think it'd be hard to nitpick a 773-yard effort, including 39 first downs, 286-rushing yards (season high) and a record breaking quarterback performance.
"There's going to be a similar sense of urgency like we had after Tennessee. We've been telling our guys that this is not an off week. It's just a week we don't have a game. ," said Riley. "We have got to grind this week and have the sense of urgency like we had last week. But did we make some improvements from game two to game three? Yes we did."
* Riley says he likes where they are offensively and the strides that have been made. Noted how well the makeshift offensive line played, did seem disappointed in blocking on the edge from the wide receiver position. Remember we're nitpicking, here. Though Riley did note there were some plays on the edge that wouldn't have been possible without good blocking on the edge
Example: Dahu Green 4th quarter for Samaje Perine TD
* Riley said with the proper fits they could have had more yards via the ground
* Riley says he's encouraged by Mayfield's play ... focusing on the small things for a better performance. Noted Mayfield's decision making as a positive.
"I was happy with the progress we made from game two to game three but we've got to make another jump this week"
* We were also able to speak with Cale Gundy & Bill Bedenbaugh ... working on getting that up right now. Spoke with Jonathan Alvarez and Derek Farniok as well.
* Farniok is just a large human. Bedenbaugh telling media members about how the position change for Farniok came about was pretty funny. It was rather one sided with Bedenbaugh doing most of the talking -- or telling Farniok that was what was going to happen.
* Farniok said the first time he played guard was in the Monday practice session after the Tennessee game.
* Alvarez confirmed the biggest fear going into Saturday's start at center was simply executing the snap. That was more in a joking matter, of course. Said he felt comfortable playing center, making the calls. He said playing next to Ty Darlington at guard has helped him understand and read the defense.
* Bedenbaugh seemed pleased with Alvarez as well. Bob Stoops noted him as a player of the game during his Monday media luncheon.
* Bedenbaugh said Nila Kasitati is one of the toughest players he's ever coached. Adding there were a number of scouts that were impressed with Kasitati's play vs. Tennessee; like Darlington, Kasitati is expected to return to practice at some point this week. Don't believe I saw either of them out there today. But as a I said at the top it appeared they gave quite a few guys time to heal in a light workout session.
* Before interviews started I noticed Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon were spending some quality time with footballs in their arms. The extra work after practice that ... you know ... comes after laying the pigskin on the ground.
* Lastly, Carey & I both noticed Arthur McGinnis getting in some extra work as well. You could tell he's been putting in the work as he looked to have lost that bad weight he started the season with. Looked really, really good.
