Jenni Carlson, Sports columnist
Bradford's play keeps Nichol on sideline
But freshman is just a few twisted ankles away from starting job
Bradford's play keeps Nichol on sideline
By Jenni Carlson
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Published: September 12, 2007
NORMAN — Sam Bradford followed up his impressive performance against North Texas with an even more impressive one against Miami.
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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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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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I hope we keep blowing people out so we can put in our backups for LIVE ACTION snaps.