A day full of questions for Bradford, OU

By Jenni Carlson

Published: September 1, 2007

NORMAN — Kevin Wilson has been privy to off-limits practices and closed-door meetings.

Still, the Oklahoma offensive coordinator is just like everyone in the Sooner Nation. He's curious how Sam Bradford will do today in his first start at quarterback.

"I'm like you,” Wilson admitted. "It'll be interesting to see how he responds.”

Today will begin to answer the question of what kind of quarterback Bradford is.

That, in turn, will begin to tell what kind of team OU is.

Such is the importance of a signal-caller. The past two seasons, the Sooners have had solid but not spectacular quarterbacks, first young Rhett Bomar, then quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-quarterback Paul Thompson.

The result: solid but not spectacular seasons.

The 2005 Holiday Bowl was nice, and the 2006 Big 12 Championship was keen. Honestly, though, neither team had the look of a national-title contender from the start.

Could they win a bunch of games? Go to a bowl? Contend for a conference crown?

Sure.

But competing for a national title seemed impossible.

Gut instinct says the same will be true of this Sooner squad. No matter how good Bradford is, he's still young and inexperienced. He's going to turn it over and make mistakes and look like a redshirt freshman.

Then again, Colt McCoy was a redshirt freshman last season. The Texas signal-caller had the Longhorns in the national-title hunt until he was injured.

Can Bradford be that good?

He's performed well in the Sooners' public scrimmages, and coaches say he's been impressively consistent in private practices.

"But it's practice,” Wilson said. "That's why it will be interesting Saturday. It's for real. It'll be interesting to get into a game and see how those guys handle it.”

Interesting? It'll be down-right fascinating. Granted, North Texas is no great shakes, but it will still provide a first gauge of kind of quarterback and what kind of team OU might have.

"If you're going to win a championship,” quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel said, "you need your quarterback to make plays.”

Today, when it counts, we'll begin to see if Bradford can.

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