Oklahoma football: Bob Stoops doesn’t necessarily disagree with you

OU fans have a list of, oh, 10,000 grievances. Good thing Festivus is a mythical holiday or we’d never see the end of it.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops talks with Tom Wort (21) and Tony Jefferson (1) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kansas State University Wildcats (KSU) at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Saturday, September 22, 2012. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

But at the airing of grievances, Stoops’ weekly press conference, Stoops didn’t exactly dismiss all of the fans’ concerns. Here are three schematic issues that fans are curious/bewildered/angry about, and Stoops’ response:

* The lack of commitment to the run game. OU tailbacks got 23 runs, out of 70 plays. That’s not a great ratio, and Stoops didn’t really pretend it was.

“We ran it well, we had a lot of good runs in there,” Stoops said. Having just 23 plays, “That’s part of the flow of the game.” Stoops pointed out that OU was in the two-minute drill during its final possession, so that skewed the numbers. “We’re always going to try to work the run game,” he said.

That wasn’t an indictment of Josh Heupel’s game plan. But something in Stoops’ voice indicated he wasn’t crazy about the run/pass ratio.

* The limited use of uptempo offense. OU’s hurryup scheme was used only sparingly, and Stoops acknowledged that it worked really well when used. “For the most part, we’ve done pretty well with it,” Stoops said. “And we’re aware of it. One of those instances, changing personnel, how fast you can go? Feel the need to change a play, that’s what slows it down.”