Expect Stoops to be cautious with his QB
Expect Stoops to be cautious with his QB
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16
By Berry Tramel
Published: August 19, 2007
NORMAN — Let’s play what-if.
What if Rhett Bomar, and not dynamo DeMarco Murray, wore the No. 7 jersey for the Oklahoma offense?
Looking back wistfully at Young Master Rhett’s fall from grace does you no good. But lest you wear shoulder pads or blow a whistle on the Sooner practice fields, it does you no harm either.
So let’s do it. Can you imagine how loaded this Bob Stoops battalion would be if quarterbacked by Bomar?
The Sooners staged their second and final dress rehearsal Saturday night in the rain at Owen Field, and the three quarterbacks showed us about what they’ve been showing since spring, even if the coaches are mum.
1. Sam Bradford likely to start, with Kid Nichol likely to play and Joey Halzle a distant third.
2. None of the trio is close to what Bomar would have been in his third year as the Sooner starter. Heck, none of the trio likely will approach Bomar’s talents as a redshirt freshman starter in 2005.
Not his talents. But they will surpass his results. As Bob Stoops said a year ago when Paul Thompson took over for the defrocked Bomar, OU probably can replace a guy who threw 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But that was a green offense, with all kinds of freshmen playing, and a system built more for Jason White than a young gun with fresh legs. Bomar in 2006 would have been better than Thompson in 2006, and Tall Paul is proving that he was no slouch as a QB, currently making the Green Bay football Packers think about keeping him around.
Bomar by 2007 would have been a stud, and with this line and these receivers and Allen Patrick and Murray, it’s easy to see the Sooners ranked numero uno instead of the eighth they’ve been slotted by The Associated Press. But enough of milk spills.
That was then and this is wow, except at quarterback. “I think we’re pretty close to knowing what we’re going to get with everybody else,” Stoops said Saturday night. “But you still have to get it.”
And what will he get at quarterback, be it Bradford or even eventually Nichol? Not Bomar talent. But better productivity? Are these quarterbacks close to where Bomar was as a redshirt freshman or even where Jason White was as a third-year sophomore in ’01 who really hadn’t played?
“I like what they’re doing,” Stoops said. “It’s hard to look back, but I don’t feel they’re much different than those guys.”
The Bradford clues come in threes:
1. Bradford again started the scrimmage and this time he worked more with the No. 1 offense, although all three QBs had multiple turns at such luxury.
2. Bradford’s statistics shined: 12 of 17 passing for 130 yards and four touchdowns, although two of the TDs came in red-zone situations in which the offense was set up close. Bradford’s actual performance didn’t match those stats — his receivers made a couple of nice comeback routes — but Nichol and Halzle combined to complete 13 of 39. Any coach will take 12 of 17 in the rain.
3. OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said “Sam played rock-solid. He’s been steady.”
Later, Wilson used described Bradford as “cautious” and said he wanted a little more zest. Wilson also said Nichol “lives a little more on the edge.”
Let me promise you. With this defense, and with this offensive line able to generate running lanes for Murray and Patrick, Stoops will pick cautious at quarterback every single time.
Stoops went with an edgy quarterback in 2005 in large part because that offense needed spice. Not so much now.
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Personally, I would have liked to see the NCAA keep him from playing Division II.
Good ridence.
The young men that are vying for QB now are ones with character. That's what we need.
But to this year, it will be interesting. My former boss had a daughter that went to school with Bradford and he went to all there games. He told me Bradford would be a great QB and was not highly recruited because there was only one school he wanted to go to and that was OU. No recruiting games with Bradford. When he got an offer from Stoops, that was it. I also think Nichols can be special, it will be an interesting battle between these QB's in the next few years.
Let the real season games do the talking.