NORMAN — Sam Bradford followed up his impressive performance against North Texas with an even more impressive one against Miami.
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The next question from the Sooner Nation — what about Keith Nichol?
Never said it was a logical question.
Now that Bradford has shown himself to be a bonafide star in the making, what happens with Oklahoma's true freshman quarterback is sure to be a concern of many.
Will Nichol be part of the plan, or will he become an afterthought? If it's more of the latter, will he gut it out and stay or look at the situation and leave?
Four weeks ago, Nichol was vying to be the starting quarterback.
Two weeks ago, he was waiting in the wings lest Bradford stumble.
Now, Bradford looks like he might be not only a four-year starter but also a four-year star.
And so, the wringing of hands and the gnashing of teeth begins about Nichol.
By the way, you would have seen his comments here had any of the Sooner quarterbacks been made available to the media this week.
Even if Nichol had been, though, he isn't about to stray from the company line. It does him no good. It does his team no good.
But at the same time, the future is something Nichol will have to think about eventually. Brent Rawls and Tommy Grady did.
Haven't thought about them in awhile, huh?
Rawls was the first big-time, blue-chip, everybody's-recruiting-him quarterback to sign with the Sooners during the Stoops era. He signed in 2001, waited his time, then found himself in the middle of a quarterback controversy during the summer of 2003.
Rawls or White?
Jason White was coming off his second knee injury, and Rawls performed well during the spring.
But then in mid-June, Stoops announced that White would be the guy and Rawls would be the fourth-stringer.
A few months later, Rawls transferred.
Then, there was Grady. The Californian who looked like he might be better suited for surfboard than gridiron was one of the country's most sought-after recruits in 2003. Southern Cal and Tennessee offered. Ditto for Florida State and Miami.
Grady chose OU, backed up Jason White for a year, then transferred to Utah before the 2005 season.
OU survived the departures of Rawls and Grady and even Rhett Bomar, who was escorted to the Norman city limits.
Would the Sooners have preferred to have those guys on campus?
Absolutely. You never know when you're going to need that depth.
"Last year, we were gonna redshirt Chris Brown until game eight or nine,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said of the tailback. "With all the injuries we had, he had to play. That's just the situation that presented itself.”
Bradford could be injured. Heck, so could Joey Halzle. Nichol is only a couple twisted ankles from being the starter. He might just be a heck of a player, too. He might be the new favorite son, the new golden boy.
Time will tell how the Sooners use Nichol, but it would be difficult to stray too far from the hot hand. Bradford has elevated the Sooners into the national championship picture.
Why mess with a good thing?
"We feel all three of those guys are good,” Wilson said of the quarterbacks. "It was a close race for a reason, and if it hadn't been, we would've made that decision a long time ago
"We're gonna keep working those other two guys, bringing Joey and Keith along.”
So, what about Nichol?
Stay tuned.
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You are probably the media person that called Nichol's parents in Michigan to ask if he was thinking of transferring? Which caused his dad to call Coach Stoops to find out why media people from oklahoma are calling him! Your articles make me ill.
You are probably the media person that called Nichol's parents in Michigan to ask if he was thinking of transferring? Which caused his dad to call Coach Stoops to find out why media people from oklahoma are calling him! Your articles make me ill.
You are probably the media person that called Nichol's parents in Michigan to ask if he was thinking of transferring? Which caused his dad to call Coach Stoops to find out why media people from oklahoma are calling him! Your articles make we ill.
good god, does anyone get more grief than jenni carlson? i mean, this isn't the most profound news in the world but for the love it's two days before utah state, what the heck is she suppose to write about that hasn't already been written about the QB's? let's be thankful we have two d**n good QB's on campus and third one on his way so that we can even ponder the what if's of this scenario. heck run sam bradford, keith nichol or keith pathridge out there, i could cares less as long as the team wins. breathe people, it's a long season we'll get through this.
I'm glad someone else despises the "sooner nation" tag too. It annoys me greatly to have to hear this stupid moniker that captain kangaroo...i mean, howard drunkenburger...i mean, schnellenberger dreamed up.
warning, dead horse being beaten here. who the hell cares about nichol? if bradford is the best QB, which the coaches obviously consider him to be, nichol is irrelevant, they don't need him. they will go out and recruit a QB every year. the dude who said nichol is the QB of the future...you sir are a moron.
I think they should REDSHIRT Nichol. If Sam keeps this up, he will be in the NFL after his JR year and Nichol will be ready to go 100% and he will have memorized the entire playbook. You want your starting QB to be the JR/SR guy that knows all the plays.
I hope we keep blowing people out so we can put in our backups for LIVE ACTION snaps.
steve has got a pretty good point. if you guys who are maligning ms. carlson have anything sublime to reveal, perhaps you should use this comment space to do so. shes just doing her job, one that all of us would probably like to have, and i dont know why there's so much vitriol here.
Tough crowd here. What do you think Jenny SHOULD write about on the Wednesday before we play Utah State? You boys should be glad for what you have. I am a displaced Sooner fan living in Waco, Texas. Our paper only has ONE columnist, and he has to come up with entertaining and interesting things to say about BAYLOR 7 days a week!!! Or you could be reading the drivel from the idiot fans in Miami who write in one week that they are about to take over the world because their football team is so great, and write in the next week and say that their team quit, their coach stinks and its all the fault of their president because she's so liberal! Get over it. It could be worse. Be glad you have a great team to read about and stop your whining.
Why are you already saying Bradford is a 4 year starter? He's played two games!!! As soon as he has a bad game, which is going to happen if you're planning on him already starting 4 years, then are we going to yank him and talk about how he was such a disappointment and Landry Jones is going to be the savior. Every coach will tell you to take it one game at a time. I'm not skeptical, just practical which our reporters should be as well.
I seriously believe that OU needs to keep Nichol at OU. However, the only way OU will keep him is by letting him play. Why not let him play when the score is lopsided as in the N. Texas game as well as the Miami game. He is the QB of the future and we need to keep him involved in each game.
I seriously believe that OU needs to keep Nichol at OU. However, the only way OU will keep him is by letting him play. Why not let him play when the score is lopsided as in the N. Texas game as well as the Miami game. He is the QB of the future and we need to keep him involved in each game.
Are you kidding me? This article was writtten why? Slow sports day, eh? This is why I don't read the oklahoman anymore,(a friend told me to read this article), you can throw Trammels garbage on the trash heap also....
If nichols is as good as we think, the freshman will benefit from a year in the system and take Bradford's place next season.. If not, he doesn't deserve to start (I know, it's obvious)...
Please stop calling us the "Sooner Nation". That was what Schnellenberger started calling us for the season he was here. We are "Sooner Fans", plain and simple.
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Quarterback Keith Nichol saw limited action in the second half of the season opener against North Texas. Nichol is currently playing a backup role to emerging star Sam Bradford. By CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
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I hope we keep blowing people out so we can put in our backups for LIVE ACTION snaps.