Mike Stoops Time Quotations

I thought we had balance in the offense, and any time you do that you give yourself a chance.

(Willie) is probably stronger and in better condition than he during any time that he played those last five games. I think he'll be a better player mentally and physically than he was a year ago. I'll know after today if he has more zip on the ball. He's healthy and five or eight pounds heavier than he was a year ago.

We are closer every time we step on the field than we were two years ago, I don't think there is any question about that. I don't think we played particularly well last year. I think we could have played a whole lot better. We missed out on a whole lot of opportunities. But we are close and I think people realize that.

We will go ones against ones all spring. I believe the competition is good for both sides. This is one time we really push our kids and make them compete against each other and make each other better.

We keep expanding each time we step on the field. We try to implement new plays, new defenses and new adjustments to each formation every day. We're just trying to get in more stuff each day.

As opposed to the last two springs I feel like being here two years we are much further ahead than any time. The first year you are getting guys lined up. I feel like we can go out there and run about 80-90 percent of our stuff we ended up with last year. We are further ahead of the game than during any of our time here.

We give up too many big plays defensively. We are inconsistent. That has been our nemesis for the last year and three games. We have a hard time with consistency.

This is the one time where we want to push our kids and make them compete against each other. I believe competition is good for both sides. We just believe this is the best way to improve.