Dein erstes Forum » with the selection of the ODI team.His

Prolific offense is the reputation by which No. 8 Oklahoma lives, but Bob Stoops doesnt mind hearing about how far his defense has come in a few short weeks as the Sooners pack their bags for a Big 12 showdown at 10th-ranked West Virginia on Saturday night.In a 66-59 win at Texas Tech on Oct. 22, the Sooners gave up 854 yards of total offense.Since, Oklahoma has given up an average of 321.4 yards per game in three wins.We havent changed defenses, Stoops said. Guys are playing better.That improvement needs to keep up for the Sooners to have success this week when they travel to West Virginia in a game that will go a long way toward determining the Big 12 champion.The most glaring improvement has been in the secondary, where cornerbacks Jordan Thomas and Jordan Parker have settled in after a rough first part of the season.Thomas, who was strong a year ago as a sophomore, struggled to maintain his success early, being repeatedly beaten deep by opposing receivers.Parker, a freshman, has been the latest to step into the other cornerback role after three other players started there early in the season.Stoops said the improvement goes deeper.It isnt just the secondary, Stoops said. Its the linebackers, everybody. Its been -- it was really solid the other day. I say the linebackers are a big part of it.Stoops specifically mentioned Oklahomas two inside linebackers -- Jordan Evans and Emmanuel Beal -- for their improvement.Evans had two interceptions and two sacks last week.It has been a complete U-turn from that game, Evans said, pointing back to that game against Tech. Our intensity, our effort. Guys are making more plays. The No. 1 thing is guys are having more fun doing it. Guys are wanting to get back out there each and every Saturday and wanting to get to practice on Monday to get better and to keep it going.Evans said while the Tech game wasnt necessarily a must for improvement, its helped focus the defense in the weeks since.It should never have to happen, Evans said. We should have been doing that since Day One. The only reason I think it was good is we were still able to come out with a win in that game. Weve kind of flipped out defense around. It was a good wakeup call for us.One way the Sooners can effectively quiet West Virginias offense is to eat the clock with a deadly running game.Samaje Perine ran for 242 yards and four touchdowns in Oklahomas last game in Morgantown, his first career game with 100 or more yards on the ground. And tailback Joe Mixon is averaging 6.87 yards per carry during his career, the most in the Bob Stoops era among players with 100 or more carries.Mixon is spending several snaps per game split wide of the formation, ala DeMarco Murray, to help get both players on the field and dictate matchups.Its probably not quite as striking now because more people do it, Stoops said. I still think its effective and it still gives defenses some pause when youve got a linebacker thats way out on the numbers in a space where hes not used to operating. Just Demarco (Murray) along with Joe (Mixon) have such exceptional hands and an ability to get open. It works for us.Mixon enters the week second in the Big 12 in rushing with 937 yards.West Virginia has a very balanced rushing attack of its own with Justin Crawford, Rushel Shell III and Kennedy McKoy all averaging between 67-51 yards per game. This weeks effort might depend on injuries. Shell was sidelined last week at Texas and McKoy carried 25 times for 73 yards to be recognized by WVU coach as the Mountaineers offensive champion.The Mountaineers average about 211 yards on the ground while Oklahoma surrenders an average of 132.4. Last week, the Sooners struggled to slow down Baylors rushing attack early, surrendering 212 yards to the Bears.Perhaps more pressing for WVU is what the Mountaineers will get out of their quarterback.OU allows upwards of 300 passing yards per game, but in part those numbers are a byproduct of grabbing big leads and playing a softer coverage in the second half.WVUs Skyler Howard got away with one at Texas, leading the team to victory despite throwing three interceptions. Howard was 21 of 35 for 269 yards, guiding the offense to just one touchdown after they scored a quick 17 points in the first 15:11 of the game.Oklahoma leads 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Morgantown. The Mountaineers have not beaten the Sooners since they joined the Big 12. Magic Johnson Jersey . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. 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Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. West Indies coach Phil Simmons has been sacked due to differences in culture and strategic approach the WICB has confirmed.Simmons, who move into the role after last years World Cup following a spell with Ireland, was informed about the termination of his contract on Tuesday by WICB CEO Michael Muirhead shortly before the T20 squad was due to fly to the UAE and just six months after West Indies won the World T20.Despite the sudden nature of the announcement, in a statement confirming the news shortly after it was revealed by ESPNcricinfo the WICB said the decision to drop Simmons was taken at the board of directors meeting last weekend. Effectively immediately, the WICB today announced it has separated from the Head Coach Phil Simmons. In a meeting of the Board of Directors, on Saturday, September 10, this decision was taken.As for the reason behind the sacking the WICB statement did not go into specifics. In recent times, based on the public pronouncements of the coach and the approach internally, we have identified differences in culture and strategic approach. The WICB would therefore like to thank the coach for his contribution and wishes him the best in his future endeavours.However, the lack of common ground between the parties had been clear for some time. Simmons journey as West Indies coach was never smooth once he made his thoughts public soon after not being allowed to pick what he felt was the best squad for the ODI series in Sri Lanka last year. Consequently the WICB suspended him briefly before allowing him back to his role once both parties resolved to sort out matters amicably.In September last year when the issue of selection reared its headd again Simmons said: The disappointing fact is that you can lose 3-2 in a vote-off but there is too much interference from outside in the selection of the ODI squad and its disappointing for me to know that in any aspect of life .dddddddddddd. [people would use] their position to get people into a squad; or in this case, get people left out of a squad. It is wrong and I dont like it and that is my beef with the selection of the ODI team.His reinstatement, the WICB said in a statement, was conditioned upon two criteria: issuance to him of a letter of reprimand for his inappropriate public comments, and his making a public apology to the WICB and persons whom he may have offended.The recent Test series against India finished in a 2-0 defeat and under Simmons, West Indies played 14 Tests which brought only one victory although that was enough to secure a shared series against England last year. They showed glimpses of promise against India but ultimately fell to two heavy defeats - three of the nine losses while Summons has been coach were by an innings, two more by nine wickets and two by more than 150 runs.It has been suggested that former West Indies captain and current Kent coach Jimmy Adams is the replacement the WICB wants, but sources close to Adams told ESPNcricinfo he is not interested.For the Pakistan series, the WICB said the team would be under the supervision of former West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner, who is the team manager. He will work alongside the pair of assistant coaches Henderson Springer and Roddy Estwick. ' ' '