QB battle could be pared to 2

By Jake Trotter

Published: August 11, 2007

NORMAN — This preseason, Sam Bradford, Joey Halzle and Keith Nichol have split reps in practice.

After today's 11 a.m. scrimmage, could the three-player battle for Oklahoma's starting quarterback job be trimmed to at least two?

"If there's some differentiation, some separation that occurs,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. "The sooner we could know, or feel comfortable with what direction we're moving, maybe that would help whoever that person is play at a high level, or the two guys.”

After the scrimmage, Oklahoma coaches likely won't be ready to name a starter.

But with the season opener against North Texas only three weeks away, they'd like to begin giving more snaps to whoever the starter might be.

That means eliminating at least one quarterback from the competition.

"My real concern is the guys that are going to get the bulk of plays getting the bulk of practice reps for the experience,” Wilson said. "We are so inexperienced that they can't get enough snaps between now and the opener.

"That's why it's in our best interest, in time, if something happens were we can manage it better internally. Maybe after the scrimmage, we can have a more realistic timeline.”

To the public, the quarterbacks remain a mystery, since Halzle is the only one to take a snap in an actual game and since practices have been closed.

Last season, Halzle completed just one of two passes for 15 yards against Middle Tennessee State.

Bradford redshirted.

And at this time last year, Nichol was playing for Michigan's Lowell Senior High School.

Today, the three will have to perform in front of a crowd for the first time since the spring game.

"One of (coach Bob Stoops') main reasons for open scrimmages is that he likes the quarterbacks to have people around them,” Wilson said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how they play.”

Quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel didn't reveal who would take the first snap with the first-team offense, but did say that all three would have plenty of chances to impress.

"You always look for guys to come out and perform in game-type situations,” Heupel said. "When we feel like a guy is taking control of the thing and puts himself in position to be our quarterback, then we'll name a guy.”

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