OU football: Five things we learned from Monday's press conference

1. Senior quarterback Landry Jones earned back his good graces.

After losing another home game as the Sooners’ starting quarterback, Jones actually had to play a lot of defense during the bye weeks to fend off disappointed fans and answer questions about the ailing offense. But Jones responded with style as OU put up 41 points on the then-top defensive unit in the country. Although six points against Texas Tech came from senior safety Javon Harris’ pick-six, getting the win in Lubbock helped Jones get back on Sooner Nation’s good side — for the next five days at least.

“One week you’re the worst person in the world, and the next week everyone loves you,” Jones said.

2. Coach Bob Stoops has no beef with Texas coach Mack Brown.

It’s officially rivalry week where social media comments lose all former etiquette and avid fans express their distaste for the teams in Norman and Austin. Even with all the hype that surrounds this storied rivalry, you won’t find any animosity between the two coaches that have to prepare their teams for the upcoming rumble at the Cotton Bowl year after year.

“I could care less about that,” Stoops said about the rivalry between him and Brown. “This is about the players and teams, not Mack and I.”

3. Players have too many stories to tell about OU-Texas week.

The Red River Rivalry series has some pretty unique stories to tell after 106 meetings between two of the top college football programs in the nation. The always-animated senior defensive end R.J. Washington spent 30 minutes talking to the media about the upcoming week in Dallas and took time to share some stories about past trips where he saw fans get out of control. His favorite story came before Washington was a Sooner, but rather during his junior year in high school when he visited the game as a recruit.

“I saw a guy get punched in the face over a corn dog,” Washington said.

4. Stoops was not impressed with sportscaster Chris Spielman’s assessment of OU defense.

As one of the ABC crew members that worked the game Saturday in Lubbock, Spielman said he didn’t think there was much professional talent on this year’s Sooner defensive unit. Although Spielman, who played as a linebacker at Ohio State and spent 11 years in the NFL, did commend the Sooners for coming in and executing in all the right areas. When Stoops was asked about Spielman’s assessment, the coach didn’t hold back.

“What is Chris Spielman?” Stoops asked. “His opinion doesn’t matter to me and we’ll have guys in the NFL.”

5. There is still no update on suspended players, and Kasitati will get an MRI.

This is starting to become a reoccurring question, but with the Red River Rivalry game coming up, many thought Stoops would go ahead and lift some suspensions, most notably on senior defensive tackle Stacy McGee. Instead, Stoops went quickly through the questions, commenting that McGee and the rest of the suspended players would have to wait at least another week before joining the team on the field. Also, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Nila Kasitati will be getting an MRI to confirm an anterior cruciate ligament tear he sustained during the game against Texas Tech, which only means more thinning on the offensive line for the rest of the season.

Tobi Neidy

Tobi is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Photographer and Sports Reporter.