Quarterback Derby II nearing an end
Published: 8/21/2007 11:52 AM
Last Modified: 8/21/2007 11:52 AM
Quarterback competitions at Oklahoma don't usually lack for drama. Maybe that's why everyone's so nonplussed by this year's race. There's no drama. Not yet, anyway.
On Tuesday morning, just before noon, Sam Bradford was named the starter for next week's season-opener against North Texas. It's apparent that Keith Nichol will be the backup and will likely get to play from time to time.
It's not unlike the good old days of 2005, when Paul Thompson walked onto the practice field with a broad smile on his face, a pep in his step – the first Sooner on the field – with 10 days to go before the season opener.
A few minutes later, Rhett Bomar walked onto the same field with a scowl on his face, his shoulders slumped, dragging his feet – one of the last Sooners on the field – as the soon-to-be infamous TCU game approached.
Everybody already knew it by then, but after practice, Bob Stoops announced first to the team (to hearty applause) and then to the press (to eyes glazed over by the six-month pursuit) that Thompson was the starter.
He won the job with superior production and efficiency in the Sooners' fall scrimmages.
"They just felt like I would be a better fit for this offense," Thompson told us.
Bomar also stopped that day to give his reaction.
"What do you think my reaction is? I ain't happy," he said.
Two weeks later, after both quarterbacks stunk it up against the Horned Frogs, things were 180 degrees. Thompson had been benched, and Bomar was the starter.
Stoops decided that Bomar and his four years of eligibility had a far better upside than Thompson and his two. Bomar was almost Thompson's equal in three fewer years of college football.
"To this point, he's had the fewest amount of snaps overall when you look at his amount of time here, and he's been that close all along," Stoops said then. "We feel maybe giving him more opportunities, more snaps, maybe he'll do more with it."
That seems like a solid line of thinking. But then, Thompson never got another shot. At all.
The question at the time was, who made the call? Then-QBs coach Chuck Long awarded the job to Thompson, but it was Stoops who pulled rank, reversed field and gave the job to Bomar. Head coaches have that tendency, and they have that privilege.
Other than that -- Thompson, the patient and good soldier, came back to the position a year later to lead the team to a Big 12 title, when he could have said 'stick it' -- there are probably no lessons to be learned this year from the mess of 2005. But there are similarities.
Sam Bradford was clearly better in the open scrimmages than Keith Nichol, although Nichol made a handful of plays that make people stop and say, `Wait, are you sure about Bradford?'
Bradford and Nichol's skill sets are eerily similar to Thompson and Nichol. Bradford (Thompson) is taller, even lanky, with a calm demeanor, a smooth delivery, a wide base and good mechanics. Nichol (Bomar) is faster, more compact, with an excitable disposition, a lightning-quick delivery and fast feet. Like Bomar, Nichol throws a harder ball, but his accuracy has yet to be reigned in. He, like Bomar, has a stronger upside. But unlike 2005, this team doesn't need a quarterback with upside, it needs a quarterback with poise and precision.
It seems unlikely that this season and even next will turn in the weird ways that 2005 and '06 did for the Sooners.
We got a glimpse of the future in the days before OU played its second game of '05 against Tulsa. Just two days before Bomar was promoted over Thompson, he received two alcohol-related citations from Norman police. There would be more, and, ultimately, an illicit job that got him kicked off the team and got the program in hot water with the NCAA.
Somehow, I think the Nichol-Bomar comparisons end there.
-- John E. Hoover
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
