lities will net membership in the Big 12 or another Power 5 conference and thus incr

Prolific offense is the reputation by which No. Los Angeles Angels Shirts . 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. Albert Pujols Angels Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Eddie Murray Angels Jersey . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. https://www.cheapangels.com/2373j-tommy-...sey-angels.html . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. When Houston strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight ventured down the long hallway that leads to the Cougars players and coaches locker rooms after a spring football practice last April, he noticed his boss, head coach Tom Herman, standing there with giant razorblade scrapers and a handful of brooms.It was around 7:30 that evening, close to the time McKnight planned to head home for the day. Upon surveying the scene, he went back to the Cougars weight room, summoned two of his assistants and said Hey, I think were going to stay a little later tonight. Were not going to leave if the head man is in the hallway ripping up the floor.Herman, who then was in his first spring as the Cougars head coach, had grown impatient with how long it took to replace the floor, which was peeling up like potato chips, and could leave visiting recruits with a bad impression. He asked the administration but at a program like Houstons, which has a $45 million athletics operating budget, upgrading facilities isnt as simple as asking and receiving. Tired of waiting, Herman and the strength coaches stayed until midnight ripping the entire floor out.When trying to build a Power 5-caliber program on a Group of 5 budget, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.I dont know how old the floors were but they were really old, Herman recalls. I didnt think it was safe ... but I shouldnt have done it ... Thats certainly not protocol around here and I understand that now.Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?That urgency and level of commitment from not just Herman, but the athletics and university administration has been the backbone of the schools efforts to dress up like one of college athletics big boys.With the Big 12 exploring expansion and Houston considered to be one of the top candidates to join the conference, now more than ever, the Cougars must prove that they deserve to be treated as a Power 5 program and that means outfitting their athletic department with all the trappings of schools that have double Houstons budget.I have always said from the very first day that we are here to build a nationally competitive program in academics and athletics and well do everything possible to showcase our university, Houston president and chancellor Renu Khator said. I have full faith and full confidence. [Herman] is our trump card. And I think we definitely have all the credentials to be looked at very seriously.The efforts to improve Houstons athletic facilities began well before Herman arrived, but the football-related projects have also sped up in the 19 months he has been on the job.From the moment TDECU Stadium -- Houstons football home since 2014 -- opened its doors, it kicked off a quarter billion dollars worth of athletic facilities projects, some of which are ongoing, others that have yet to begin and all of which are planned for completion by 2020. They include:The $128 million construction of TDECU Stadium.A $60 million renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion, home to the Cougars basketball programs (construction will begin in March 2017).A $25 million practice facility for the mens and womens basketball teams, which opened in late 2015.A $20 million indoor practice field for football, which is scheduled for groundbreaking later this year.A $5 million player development center and clubhouse for Houstons baseball team, which is should soon begin construction.A $2 million renovation to the track and field complex, which is already complete.A football operations building with a new weight room, team meeting space, locker room, coaches offices, etc. (Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek says the hope is to have this project done by 2020).Yurachek estimated a total of roughly $275 million in athletics construction projects in that span. Theyre necessary if Houston is serious about joining a Power 5 conference because prior to this new wave of spending, most of the athletic facilities were old and outdated. Things like indoor practice fields and football operations buildings are standard amenities at programs in Power 5 conferences; the Cougars currently have neither. If inclement weather hits, UH must rent buses to take the team to the Houston Texans indoor facility if its available.Spending has also increased in other areas, particularly coaches salaries. Before Herman arrived, the most Houston ever paid a head football coach was $1.2 million, which it paid Kevin Sumlin in 2011, his final year there before he moved to Texas A&M. Hermans first contract paid him $1.4 million and in December bumped his salary to $2.8 million, the highest among Group of 5 conference head coaches. The school is paying mens basketball coach Kelvin Sampson nearly $1.4 million annually, a significant jump from what it paid his predecessor, James Dickey.Its one of our strategic priorities, Yurachek said. We want to hire and retain our coaches. In the past, Houston has never been able to retain those great coaches that have come through here ... you have to pay them a comparable amount to what they can go elsewhere and get.For a program that previously never spent that type of money on athletics and doesnt have the resources to make a significant jump in its operating budget, funding must come from elsewhere.Private donations have increased significantly in rrecent years. Nick Tropeano Jersey. Donations accounted for roughly half of TDECU Stadiums cost, they obtained $15 million in naming rights and a student referendum voted in 2012 to approve a $45-per-semester increase in student service fees that would be used to help cover stadium costs.Yurachek, who succeeded Mack Rhoades as Houstons athletic director in 2015, proudly says that since then, athletics hasnt had to go back to the students for subsequent projects. Donations accounted for majority of the recent non-football projects (the basketball practice facility, upgrades to the Cougars baseball stadium and track). So far, $7.35 million of the $20 million for the indoor football practice facility has already been pledged. On Thursday, the school announced the largest donation ever to UH athletics. It is $20 million for the renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion, which will be renamed the Fertitta Center.Like most universities with a football program, the athletic department takes an annual subsidy from the university. Houston is on the higher end of that scale. The university transferred $25.9 million to athletics in the 2014-15 school year, the seventh-highest subsidy in Division I according to USA Todays NCAA finances database.While Houstons budget hovers at $45 million, thats still more than $20 million short of Kansas State, which was the lowest-spending public school athletic department in the Big 12 in 2014-15, according to USA Today. Iowa State ($75 million) and Texas Tech ($76 million) check in at $30 million more and every other such program in the conference spent more than $80 million.One of the big differences comes from conference revenue distribution. Houston received $3 million as its part of the American Athletic Conferences revenue pie last year. Big 12 schools received a whopping $30.4 million each.Since his arrival, Herman took a proactive role in improving fundraising for his program. Last summer, he announced he would match up to $25,000 in new donations by the 46ers, one of Houstons football fundraising arms. In the two weeks following that announcement, $35,300 in new donations were made.The decision was made to raise the minimum donation for The Huddle, the programs top-level fundraising arm, from $6,000 annually to $10,000 annually. According to Houston director of football operations Fernando Lovo, the only two of the 46 members of the group didnt renew their membership after the increase.The additional wave of money coming into the programs restricted fund has allowed Herman to make significant cosmetic improvements to areas the team uses, updating graphics and installing new video equipment in the team meeting room, and installing new graphics in the hallway leading to position meeting rooms. They purchased iPads for the players, something thats not common among Group of 5 programs.They also recently unveiled a new locker room for the players, which cost close to $1 million.Its part of Hermans effort to improve anything and everything that touches his current players or that would appeal to recruits. Anywhere a player or recruit will potentially walk, Herman wants to ensure that area feels first class.Every penny that has been spent has been spent for one of two things -- our current players and our recruits, Lovo said.Said Herman: We didnt touch the coaches locker room. ... Coaches make good money. They can change on an egg crate and a freaking chicken wire. If it had to do with recruiting or it had to do with treating the student-athlete first class, that was tops on my list.Asked what a conversation is like when Herman comes to him asking for something for his program that will cost money, Yurachek laughs.He has a phrase he loves to tell me, just Charge it to winning, Yurachek said. When he comes to me its something he genuinely identified that he needs to make his program successful.Winning has certainly helped. After the Cougars went 13-1 and beat Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl last season, season ticket sales for 2016 are at a record of more than 22,000. The previous high was around 15,000, the first year TDECU Stadium was open. Five years ago, the Cougars were celebrating 11,000 season ticket sales in their previous home, Robertson Stadium. Cougar Pride, the athletic departments primary fundraising arm, has increased from around 3,000 members to roughly 4,200.Still, Hermans to-do list of improvements is long. Lovo acknowledges theyve made a good dent in it, but work remains.Herman praises his administration, from Khator and Yurachek on down, for supporting his programs efforts and Starting with the premise of Yes, rather than No, rather than Weve never done that before, rather than We cant afford that.The university placed an expensive wager on the fact that all these facilities will net membership in the Big 12 or another Power 5 conference and thus increase revenue by virtue of that membership.I think weve positioned ourselves as well as possible, Yurachek said. The facilities piece, hiring and retaining great coaches and youve got to win.Three or four years ago, Houston may not be at the top of the list. It may be someone else. Timing is everything, theres no doubt about it. ' ' '