The No. 8 OU football team escaped Saturday night’s game with a close win, but the most valuable thing that may have come out of the game was a wake-up call.

“It just reminds us that we can get beat by anybody at any time,” senior defensive tackle Adrian Taylor said.

The Sooners struggled to stop the Aggies offense, and part of that can be attributed to the secondary. Coach Bob Stoops emphasized the importance of the defensive backfield being sound on every single play.

“That’s just how a secondary guy’s life is,” Stoops said. “You can play 20 plays perfect and only have one bad one and the scoreboard lights up and it’s a bad day. That’s just the nature of playing that position.”

The consensus among the defense seemed to be that technique issues were the root of the Sooners’ inability to shut down the Aggies.

“We have to continue to focus on technique,” senior safety Jonathan Nelson said. “You can’t stray too far away from the fundamentals.”

Better technique can help the team avoid giving up big plays, which senior linebacker Travis Lewis said was the big problem.

“We broke it down as a defense, and we had 12 plays that counted for over 340 yards, then you have another 60 plays that counted for 100,” Lewis said. “Those 12 plays we slipped and made mistakes and we were off our edge, and that’s what happens.”

Not only did the close call against Utah State sharpen the team’s focus in practice, but it raised the players’ intensity as well, said redshirt freshman Tom Wort.

“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder this week,” Wort said. “You can sense it among the players at practice.”

Wort showed intensity during the game, at times too much for his own good. He picked up two personal foul penalties. Stoops said these crossed the line from being enthusiastic to immature.

“It was just very poor, selfish play,” Stoops said. “That’s high school play. And it leads to points.”

Wort acknowledged he let emotions get the best of him, and the mistakes put a damper on his performance.

“There were positive things about the game for me, but the negative stuff killed me,” Wort said. “I’m going to keep my enthusiasm but I have to learn how to control it.”

Junior defensive tackle Casey Walker said the pace in practice will be faster and more similar to a real game now.

“We’re going to play out here like it’s a real game every day,” Walker said. “We’re going full speed, the scouts aren’t going to run on us or catch any balls. Basically just going balls to the wall.”