OU football notebook

Published: August 18, 2007

Oklahoma coaches still haven't made any cuts in their quarterback competition, but in tonight's scrimmage, fans will get another look at how the coaching staff rotates is three candidates, Joey Halzle, Sam Bradford and Keith Nichol.

Will they use the same rotation they did in last week's scrimmage?

"Yeah,” said head coach Bob Stoops. "To some degree.”

Stoops did not go into detail describing to what degree the rotation will be different. Last Saturday, the quarterbacks appeared in the order of Bradford, Nichol, then Halzle, and all three played an equal number of series.

•Who's out: Allen Patrick, Gerald McCoy and Brody Eldridge are the big names that will be absent from tonight's scrimmage.

Patrick, the team's senior leader at running back has been out more than a week with a sprained ankle. He is still wearing a protective boot and, according to running backs coach Cale Gundy, will be back "in the next week or two.”

Neither Gundy nor Stoops expressed any concern about Patrick missing the Sept. 1 opener against North Texas, which is two weeks from today.

Eldridge has been cleared for contact, but the coaches have kept him out of live scrimmage action as he tries to get back from knee and ankle injuries suffered last spring.

McCoy, a redshirt freshman defensive tackle, suffered a mild sprain of the AC joint in his right shoulder Monday and has been held out all week. He said he is scheduled to return to practice next Monday.

•More McCoy: McCoy says he heard lots of talk about whether he should have played or redshirted last year, almost all of which favored him playing.

"I wasn't ready,” he said. "I wanted to play. When I first came in, I was pressured, thinking I had to play and if I didn't, everybody would be disappointed.

"I'm real confident now that I'm really ready to play.”

By Scott Wright

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