Stoops says experiment with no-huddle is 'still a work in progress'

By Scott Wright

Published: April 13, 2008

He got to see his team execute it — for better or worse.

The Sooner coaches weren't hoping for flawless play in the no-huddle scheme they instituted this spring. But they wanted to see how the players managed it in a game setting, with fans, referees and the coaching staff relegated to the sideline rather than hovering behind them.

"It's still a work in progress,” Stoops said after Saturday's two-hour Red-White game at Owen Field. "It'll keep coming along.”

The offensive results were mixed Saturday, but that wasn't solely contributed to the no-huddle. Some struggles were from poor execution of plays or simple misfortune of tipped passes that turned into defensive touchdowns. And a gusty wind made throwing the ball a trick all day.

But offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was glad to see his players finding out the pace of play the no-huddle will actually necessitate.

"To me, we haven't done it enough yet that we understand the sense of urgency getting lined up,” Wilson said. "And you still have to execute. You still have to block and take care of the ball. We had a bunch of blunders with some errant throws and tipping balls.”

Starting quarterback Sam Bradford completed 12 of 25 passes with a touchdown and three interceptions. Coming off a strong freshman season, Bradford doesn't see a team that's ready to rely on the no-huddle.

"It's a lot different from what we've done and I think this proved that we still have a long way to go if that's what we want to do with our offense,” Bradford said. "I think it's something that will give our offense an advantage if we can play at the tempo that the coaches want us to play at.”

Part of the learning process came in Saturday's scrimmage. Now, with just one spring practice remaining, Wilson is teaching his team how to keep practicing the philosophies throughout the offseason. And if they get to the fall and it's not working, they're not afraid to scrap it.

"We're gonna work real hard to put our guys in good situations,” Wilson said. "If the no-huddle execution doesn't feel good for (Bradford), maybe we won't do it. (Saturday) was the most we've done it. We should do it more like this.

"If we're gonna do it in games and be good at it, we need to do it a lot. So we've got to keep working on it, and this was a great opportunity to work on it.”

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