Sooners offered no surprises
Miami's Shannon: OU converted too many big plays
Sooners offered no surprises

By John Rohde

Published: September 9, 2007

NORMAN — Miami coach Randy Shannon said he got what he expected from Oklahoma on Saturday, except it came in the shape of a 51-13 blowout.

"Today wasn't a very good day for the University of Miami,” Shannon said afterward.

Asked if there were any surprises from the Sooners, the Hurricane's rookie coach said, "No. That's the thing that's upsetting. The things that we practiced (were) the exact same things that OU ran. Our guys have got to trust what we're doing in practice, and trust what we're doing on the field. It's a learning point.

"I have too much pride and these players have too much pride. They didn't quit. They kept fighting, but there were too many big plays. When you give up too many big plays, you can't be successful that way.”

Shannon said he wrote down the keys to the game beforehand.

Those key points were: "If we play a good field-position game, we'll have a great shot. If we don't give up big plays in the first quarter, we'll have a great shot. If we can keep the crowd out of it, we'll have a great shot.”

The Hurricanes were victimized offensively and defensively. Cornerback Randy Phillips got burned for two touchdowns.

"It was a bad day for him. It was a bad day not just for Randy but for all of us,” Shannon said. "Because when we put guys in situations like that, we've got to get to the quarterback. You can't just say, ‘Hey, I'm blocked.' ”

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