And so goes the life of Sooner football coach Bob Stoops.

Just back from a European vacation, Stoops will make a business trip Wednesday to one of his favorite capitals in the Sooner Nation. He'll be in T-Town as part of the Sooner Caravan.

Several hundred OU fans always show up for the annual event. And they haven't paid $30 to hear Stoops talk about the Austrian Alps; they have a mountain of questions about the upcoming season.

In advance of his trip to sell supporters on OU's future, I asked Stoops a question he won't get in Tulsa: Can Sam Bradford become this season's Colt McCoy?

No loyal OU booster would ever ask anything that includes mentioning a player from the bitter enemy south of the Red River. Sooners don't like comparing themselves to Longhorns.

"I don't either," said Stoops in a telephone interview while waiting for his luggage at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.

Ah, but it's a logical question. When it comes to quarterback, OU's in a position similar to what Texas faced a year ago. The Longhorns had some inexperienced players and no idea who was going to replace Vince Young, who had departed for the NFL.

It was McCoy, a little-known redshirt freshman, who eventually emerged in preseason camp as the starter. He won a spirited battle with Jevan Snead, a true freshman who was highly recruited.

Nobody, including UT coach Mack Brown, had any idea McCoy would become so good so fast. The first freshman to start at quarterback for the Longhorns since 1944, McCoy's name started appearing on Heisman Trophy candidate lists when he got on a roll that started when he beat OU and eventually tied the NCAA freshman record with 29 touchdown passes.

"But in the end we won the Big 12 championship," Stoops said.

Touch[ 191]. But that was then, and this discussion is about now. Or about whom OU will start at quarterback in the Sept. 1 season opener against North Texas.

Bradford, true freshman Keith Nichol and junior Joey Halzle are contenders to replace Paul Thompson. Stoops didn't declare a frontrunner after spring practice, but it was obvious that Bradford had made more progress than the heavily recruited Nichol.

The 6-foot-5, 197-pound Bradford's resume is similar to McCoy's. He was a versatile athlete who starred in several sports at Putnam City North High School, and arrived on the college scene with minimal fanfare.

So, can Bradford emulate McCoy? Stoops wouldn't get specific, but the always-confident OU coach insisted that the Sooners will start a quarterback who can play to McCoy's level.

"Every bit as well," Stoops said. "And hopefully even better."

Stoops' confidence is based on his entire offense and not just one position. Like McCoy last season, OU's inexperienced quarterback will be surrounded by a wealth of veteran talent. The offensive line, receivers and running backs are all considered positions of strength for the Sooners.

"The biggest factor for them (quarterbacks) will be how much the players around them have improved from a year ago," Stoops said. "Every position around them ought to be better and stronger than they were a year ago."

When Stoops takes the stage Wednesday night inside a huge tent, he will undoubtedly preach to the Sooner faithful that they must keep the faith that OU's staff will make the right decision at quarterback.

"I think where people can have confidence in what we're saying is that we've done it before," he said.

Stoops recalled that of the four Big 12 championships he's won in eight seasons, three of them came when the Sooners entered the season with questions about the game's most important position. Yet Thompson, Jason White, Nate Hybl and Josh Heupel all had success because they had talented teammates.

"The year Josh Heupel did it," said Stoops of the 2000 season, when OU won the Big 12 and national titles, "no one even picked him as preseason all-Big 12."

Stoops steadfastly declines to set a timetable for when he'll name a starter. While he wants all three to get as many snaps as possible in fall camp, he already feels comfortable that he'll find someone to get the ball to OU's talented receivers.

"They all are every bit the passer, if not further along than where Paul (Thompson) was by a long shot," Stoops said. "But it has to be earned. You don't get respect in the locker room or the huddle if you haven't earned it.

"So when we feel it's far enough along and that one guy is it, we'll make the decision."

Until then, Stoops will continue to enjoy his summer vacation and caravan stops in hot spots like Oklahoma City and Tulsa instead of Vienna and Innsbruck.

"The history over there (Austria) is incredible," Stoops said. "Tulsa's a little newer. But I always enjoy Tulsa."