Coach Speak: Oklahoma Managed Practice Reps to Stay Fresh Ahead of Iowa State

The Sooners get back to action against the Iowa State Cyclones this week after the bye week.

NORMAN — Oklahoma is back to action this week in Ames after an open week.

The Sooners (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big 12) notched their first Big 12 win of the year against Kansas, carrying momentum into the bye week.

And though the Iowa State Cyclones (3-4, 0-4) have yet to record a victory in conference play, Jon Heacock’s defense will pose a challenge for the OU offense.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and defensive coordinator Ted Roof previewed this week’s matchup on Monday ahead of returning to action.

Offense Playing Loose

October has been turbulent for the OU offense.

Starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel struggled against TCU in Fort Worth before getting knocked out of the game, completely disrupting the flow of the entire unit.

Backup Davis Beville was unable to move the offense, and Lebby turned to the wildcat package to try and surprise Texas.

But with Gabriel back, the offense hummed against Kansas.

The talented lefty threw for 403 yards and Oklahoma racked up 701 total yards of offense against the Jayhawks, looking calm and confident on Owen Field.

“I thought it was good. I thought we complemented each other really well,” Lebby said. “Had pretty good balance throughout the day, which was critical. Cannot have the issues with the ball being on the ground and the one interception. I thought that’s what created the game to be maybe a little closer than it needed to be. … We’ve got to take care of the ball better. But I thought our guys played their butt off and really tried to strain.

“… If you look at it when (Gabriel) caught the snap offensively we haven’t been near perfect, but we’ve been pretty good. So we’re gonna continue that trend Saturday.”

Handling Hutch

Oklahoma’s secondary will have another stout test on Saturday.

Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson has had another explosive year for the Cyclones, hauling in 67 passes for 758 yards and five scores. His catch total leads the nation.

OU has already faced two matchup problems on the perimeter in TCU’s Quentin Johnston and Texas’ Xavier Worthy.

Johnston only caught four passes for 41 yards, but drew a pair of pass interference calls from the OU secondary.

Worthy had a touchdown catch against the Sooners, but was held to 29 yards through the air.

Hutchinson brings his own skill set to the table.

“He's a guy that they get the ball to a lot on all kind of different routes,” Roof said. “His route tree, he runs the entire route tree. He's reliable. He's tough. He's good with the ball. He breaks tackles. He's a matchup problem.

“They do a really good job of finding him and targeting him with the football. Good things happen when they get him the ball.”

Fresh Faces Getting Reps

The bye week not only allowed Oklahoma to self scout, but it gave the coaching staff the opportunity to give more time at practice to younger players while the veterans help to refresh their legs.

For the offense, that allowed freshman tight ends Kaden Helms and Jason Llewellyn extra work, as well as wide receiver Jayden Gibson.

“Young guys did have a really good week,” Lebby said. “They got a bunch of work. Proud of how J-Gib has worked and tried to put himself in a position to help us on Saturdays. Hadn't had a ton of opportunities to do it.

“But again, he's done a good job of being mindful and understanding that his time will come as long as he continues to put in the work and being the same guy every single day.”

Defensively, Roof wanted to make sure to develop the depth behind the starters, handing more practice snaps to some freshman.

“I think we're closer,” Roof. “We've increased reps and opportunities. Their performances have gotten better. At the same time, we want to play a lot of guys.

“We want to rotate guys and play a bunch of people. It helps in a lot of ways. At the same time, we make decisions based on what gives us the best chance to win at that particular time.”

Oklahoma’s season continues on Saturday in Ames, and the game between the Sooners and the Cyclones will kick off at 11 a.m. 

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