Bob Stoops Has Not Been Good Coming Off Bye Weeks Recently

Earlier this week Bob Stoops admitted he desperately wanted a bye week after a physical slugfest with West Virginia in Morgantown. Emotions were spent. Players were hurt. Stoops was pining for some turkey and dressing time off before Bedlam.

“Last year, I would’ve said I didn’t want it,” said Stoops. “This year, we badly need it. Just with healing up and getting some guys rested and so I felt a year ago, the way we were playing, you wanted to keep playing. This year with all of the different guys, it’s going to be great to get those guys rested and get a little extra work on them.”

But is that really what Stoops wants?

Consider this: Since 2003 (as far back as these stats go), Stoops is 21-13 in games after a bye week. He only wins 62 percent of the time. When you compare that to his overall winning percentage of 79 percent, it looks even worse.

It doesn’t get better, though. Since the Big 12 went to 10 teams in 2011, Stoops is 8-7 in such games. Eight and seven! That’s 53 percent! Compare that to being 59-17 (78 percent) overall, and it looks like OSU could be catching a break. Since 2011, Mike Gundy is 10-5 coming off bye weeks (67 percent) compared to 56-20 (74 percent) overall.

It’s a small sample size, yes, but there might be something here. When it comes to Bedlam, every minuscule advantage matters, and despite OU getting some R&R over Thanksgiving, we could see a flat Sooners squad on Saturday morning. Hopefully history holds.