Bradford’s numbers impressive

You can’t always tell a quarterback by his numbers.

I came away from the OU scrimmage Saturday still convinced that Sam Bradford would be the starter. I thought Bradford played reasonably well in the scrimmage; about as well as did Kid Nichol, and I’ve always thought Bradford started out ahead.

Then I got home, opened my email and saw the stats from the scrimmage. Bradford 12-of-17 passing for 130 yards and four touchdowns, though two came in red-zone situations in which the offense was given prime real estate. Nichol: 5-of-16 passing for 82 yards and a TD.

That’s a big, big difference. But you couldn’t tell without charting the scrimmage. Nichol looked off to start the scrimmage but seemed to come on. Bradford looked OK throughout the night but seemed to get a lot of help from his receivers, ala Paul Thompson in 2006.

Yet 12-of-17 is miles ahead of 5-of-16. You can’t always go by numbers. Sometimes, a hitter goes 0-for-4 but hits the ball a lot harder than a guy who gets two hits. Sometimes, a good shot rims out, while a bad shot clangs in off the backboard. Sometimes, a good drive can roll into the rough, while a wild drive can hit a tree and carom into the fairway. But there’s explanation for 12-of-17 compared to 5-of-16, other than Sam Bradford performed the best in the scrimmage and will start the Sooner season opener against North Texas.