Sam earned big night with his mind-set before kickoff
Sam earned big night with his mind-set before kickoff
By Berry Tramel
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6
Published: September 5, 2007
NORMAN — Sam Bradford had a heck of a week. The kind of week that makes you think he might have a long and glorious reign as the Oklahoma quarterback. The kind of week that made Bob Stoops and staff believe they chose the right guy to lead their star-studded cast.
And it has nothing to do with North Texas. Bradford played sensationally Saturday against the Lean Green, the closest thing to a high school foe that has graced OU's campus since the 19th century. UNT wasn't very talented, which is no high crime. But their simplistic alignment was a football felony. Todd Dodge and his staff, who 8 months ago were game-planning for Austin Westlake, offered no evidence that they're ready for the college game. OU coaches tried to be kind but admitted the lack of sophistication stunned them. "It made it easy for Sam, because there wasn't a lot of disguise at all to the coverages,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "It was kind of one simple concept all night. "I said after the first drive that if they're gonna play this way, every passing record in school history can get broken tonight if you want to do it.” The Sooners chose not to, but Sammy B. darn near did it anyway, completing 21 of 23 passes for 363 yards. Great numbers but not meaningful. Not at all. "We have a perspective on it,” Stoops said. "We have a full understanding of all that.” It reminded me of an old story from the early 1980s, when Gerry Faust was hired by Notre Dame out of Cincinnati Moeller High School. Frank Broyles called a Notre Dame game for ABC and off-air said something like, "My gawd, they're running a high school offense.” Same with North Texas' defense. But here's why the Bradford Era started with a bang last week anyway. He embraced the position. The status. The expectations. "I don't know if we learned it Saturday,” Wilson said. "But you could tell Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You'd thought he'd been doing it two years, three years. "He was very comfortable, very calm. He carried himself and was very vocal and very direct. His body language, the look in his eyes, was very assertive. Very confident. "To me, I kind of learned something during the week. He was really looking forward and up to the challenge. As a competitor, as a coach, you like to see your players have that competitive side.” As has been well-stated, the Sooners don't need Bradford to be Slingin' Sam. They need him to make some good throws and some good decisions and lead this team, despite rookie status, because that's what quarterbacks have to do. Taking command of an offense with graybeard linemen and senior running backs and veteran pass-catchers is a lot more difficult than playing catch against Denton High School. Bradford's game exam comes this Saturday, not last Saturday. Bradford's baptism comes with a dunking against Miami's big, bad defense, not with a sprinkling from the brain trust of Southlake Carroll. "It's a completely different animal this week,” Wilson said. "The caliber of the players, the speed of the game is going to be faster. "The windows, the opportunities of passing, the timing, the ability of guys to break on balls, where if you're just a little bit late, it's going to be a pass breakup or a negative play. "Lot more disguising. Here comes more blitzing, more pressure, the ability to feel that. They're going to have better players and bring more pressure. But they're also going to give him more looks.” Bradford seems up to the test. Not because of what he did after kickoff Saturday night, but what he did before.
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From what I recalled in the past games against them, team OU looked pretty nervous and confused esp. in QB position.
Hope this does not repeat.
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