College Football

Bob Stoops taking on SEC again, this time over defense

Oklahoma's head coach really seems to have issues with the conference that has won seven straight BCS titles.

By Chris Fuhrmeister@ccfuhr Oct 3, 2013, 9:39am EDT

Back in May, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops challenged the idea that the Southeastern Conference is America's top conference, saying the Big 12 is deeper top to bottom. Stoops is once again discussing the SEC, this time taking a jab at the league's defensive reputation.

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Talking with Oklahoma beat writers, Stoops pointed out that the SEC's recent acquisition of several top-tier quarterbacks has given an advantage to the offenses.

"Just a few years ago, we had all the quarterbacks," Stoops said. "And now, all of a sudden, we can play a little better defense and some other people can't play defense.

"Funny how people can't play defense when they have pro-style quarterbacks over there, which we've had. They're all playing in the NFL right now."

Who is Stoops talking about when he mentions "other people"? In case you had any doubts, he went ahead and made it pretty clear.

"I still don't know how (Texas) A&M was third in the country in total offense and scoring offense playing all those SEC defenses. I have no idea how that happened.

"Oh, they got a quarterback. That's right."

Stoops loves to take on the SEC, but his latest shot at the conference doesn't really help his previous Big 12-is-superior argument. If good quarterback play makes for better football, and the SEC has a bunch of good quarterbacks, and the Big 12 doesn't have them anymore, wouldn't that make the SEC better than the Big 12? We'll just have to defer to Stoops on this one. Surely he'll address the issue in the near future.