OU Football: Week 10 Notebook

The Oklahoma Sooners are entering a bye week after a 38-30 win over Texas Tech on Saturday. The Sooners should be thankful for the extra time to prepare for Baylor, as the Bears are averaging 63.9 points per game and 718.4 yards per game. Bob Stoops and players met with the media on Monday to discuss the Bears and bye week preparations. Here are some news and notes from the press conference.

• The biggest question the Sooners will have to answer this week is how to replace fullback Trey Millard, who tore his ACL on Saturday and is out for the season. Center Gabe Ikard said fullback Aaron Ripkowski will be counted on more, with tight end Brannon Green stepping up to fill a spot in the rotation. Ikard said there was no way the Sooners could replace Millard completely, but said, "we're going to try."

• Millard was injured while on kickoff coverage and Stoops said it will take several guys to replace him on special teams. Stoops added Millard has been the team's best special teams player the past three seasons.

• Stoops didn't say if there would be any schematic changes to the offense with Millard out. He said the offensive staff would get together this week to decide what changes, if any, needed to be made.

• The Oklahoma defense made a lot of changes in the offseason to be able to defend offenses like Texas Tech's. Safety Gabe Lynn said he thought the Sooners held up well, although there was room for improvement all around.

• Stoops had high praise for freshman linebackers Dominique Alexander and Jordan Evans. Alexander has been starting for the injured Corey Nelson, while Evans played most of Saturday when Frank Shannon went out in the first quarter. Stoops said both players have a very bright future in front of them.

• Stoops said team doctors initially thought Shannon had done something to his spleen, but after tests, concluded it was most likely a deep tissue bruise.

• Ikard said he and the rest of the team was very happy the crowd stuck around after the weather delay on Saturday, saying they made a huge difference in the game, particularly when the Red Raiders were on offense late in the game.

• Even though every game is the same in the eyes of coaches and players (or so they say), Ikard said the team approached the Tech game with a sense of urgency, knowing Baylor was next up on the schedule. Ikard said the Sooners had a great week of practice and said the win over Texas Tech was "huge."

• Stoops and the players all said that even though Baylor is putting up points and yards at an astonishing rate, they welcome the challenge of playing the Bears. "We want to play against great teams like Baylor," Lynn said.

• Trey Franks lined up at wide receiver on Saturday, a position he played before switching to defense this past offseason. Stoops said Franks was back at receiver permanently, saying the coaching staff felt he would be able to have the biggest impact there going forward. The play of the secondary this season helped make that decision easier for the staff.

• On Lacoltan Bester's 35-yard touchdown run, Stoops said Bester told him after the game he would have made the throw, but he was worried about Blake Bell being able to catch the pass.

• Stoops had high praise for Bester as well, saying the light really came on late in the spring. He said he showed up for two-a-days in much better shape than he had been at any point during his time in Norman.

• The Sooners will have Thursday and Friday off of practice this week. Stoops said they would treat Saturday thru Thursday as any regular game week.