Norman, Okla. ? Having survived a scare from Alabama, No. 2 Oklahoma now begins a three-week stretch that should allow the Sooners a chance to work on problem areas.

Oklahoma on Saturday plays host to Texas El-Paso, which is coming off a 77-17 loss to Kentucky. That game is followed by an open date, then a home game against South Florida before the Sooners begin the Big 12 schedule at Missouri on Oct. 5.

Oklahoma quarterback Nate Hybl, sitting at left, talks to reporters during the team's weekly news conference. Hybl and the Sooners met the press Tuesday in Norman, Okla.

This stretch should give Oklahoma (2-0) a chance to tweak the offense to best fit Nate Hybl, who is back at quarterback as a result of Jason White’s season-ending knee injury suffered Saturday.

The Sooners also need to shore up their special teams, which broke down against Alabama, and keep working on the running game, which was a nonfactor most of the day against the Crimson Tide.

The defense has work to do as well. After playing solidly in the first half, the unit gave up 224 yards and Alabama scored three touchdowns, one on a fake field goal.

“We went at it real hard yesterday at practice. We will all week, to make those corrections,” coach Bob Stoops said at his weekly news conference Tuesday.

“And I think the players, after going through that last week, have more of a sense of urgency to get some things corrected that we need to.”

The Sooners had a 23-3 halftime lead before the Crimson Tide rallied. Alabama led 27-23 when Oklahoma drove 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In the final minute, the Sooners returned a fumble for the clinching TD.

“I like the fact that in our second game, we’ve had a huge challenge against a very good team,” Stoops said.

Hybl started all but two games last season, when Oklahoma went 11-2 and won the Cotton Bowl. He doesn’t have White’s mobility, so the Sooners will likely leave the running to the tailbacks.

Special teams have been a strength for Oklahoma under Stoops. He said the mistakes made Saturday two blocked punts, a blocked field goal, the Alabama TD off a fake field goal will be fixed. The lackluster running game, he said, was due in part to Alabama’s strong defensive front and the Crimson Tide’s decision to stack the line of scrimmage.

“I think I’m right in saying our offense put up 30 points on Alabama,” he said. “I’ll take that in any big game we play this year.”

Co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables said he would like to be able to say Alabama’s offense simply outmuscled the Sooners in the second half. “But that just wasn’t the case.”

Instead, he said, players didn’t line up correctly at least half the time and Alabama simply took advantage of those mistakes.

“We have to give ourselves a chance,” he said. “And a lot of times in the second half, we had no chance to have success stopping them in the run game or in the pass.”

The Sooners have several new players on defense, although Venables said that’s no excuse. He noted that Oklahoma had spent a bunch of time during two-a-days preparing for Alabama.

“It’s a matter of a guy just not being in the right spot,” Venables said.