Paul Thompson’s senior season begins with second chance at QB

By John Helsley

Published: September 1, 2006

Paul Thompson dutifully sat down to review his performance, a forgettable debut in a loss to TCU.

Then he was done with it.

“I haven’t seen it since we watched it in the film room (the next day),” Thompson said. “I really don’t want to see it.”

Preparing for his second start - a year later - Thompson maintains that he’s focused only ahead. Ever confident. Still secure. So here he goes ... again.

For Thompson, it’s a second chance.

“I always tell the guys, ‘This is my last year. I’m going all out for this team,’” said Thompson, in line for his second career start Saturday against UAB. “I don’t feel I have anything to prove. I’ve proven a lot to myself.

“I have goals to achieve for myself as well. Definitely, one of those is winning a lot of games here. And winning championships.”

At quarterback, mulligans are rarely offered.

Miss a wide open receiver - as Thompson did a streaking Travis Wilson on his first pass against TCU - turn it over twice in a dull offensive day that ends in a loss, a home loss, to the likes of the Horned Frogs, and Siberia awaits.

Or wide receiver, which is where Thompson landed, benched for Rhett Bomar.

To be fair, OU coaches say, the TCU loss can’t all be pinned on Thompson. “There were a lot of guys around him that didn’t play very good,” said Sooners coach Bob Stoops. “To put it on him isn’t fair at all. Our offensive line was very poor. The receivers were very poor.

“You put those two together and it’s going to be pretty tough being a stellar quarterback. He didn’t have a whole lot of help.”

Bomar was hardly better that day. Given four series, he completed 2-of-5 passes for 19 yards and handed over a fumble that led to TCU’s winning touchdown.

But Bomar was younger, a redshirt freshman brimming with potential. Thompson was an unproven junior. So coaches turned quickly to the future, installing Bomar as the starter the following week.

Now, with Thompson back at quarterback for the booted Bomar, there’s some talk Thompson didn’t get a fair shake. That OU’s offense fell into some middle ground for him and Bomar and wasn’t initially geared to feature Thompson’s athleticism, since neither firmly secured the job through a close preseason competition.

“I don’t know if we had a good plan to play to his strengths,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, then a co-coordinator with Chuck Long. “Hindsight, if we’d won that game ugly, we probably would have held pat.”

This time, the offense is so tailored to Thompson’s skills he holds veto power over the plays he doesn’t like.

“They’ve asked me what I like, what I’m comfortable with,” Thompson said. “And we’ve continued to do those things more and more.”

Thompson uses the word “comfort” often. He’s OU’s quarterback and he knows it. There’s no young stud lurking over his shoulder.

“That’s allowed me to relax even more,” Thompson said. “When you’re in a race as I was last year, when you make throws and you make reads, you want to be perfect. You feel if you don’t, there’s a lot more pressure.

“This year, I know if I make a mistake, I can put it off and move on to the next play.”

Of course, that also means there’s no safety net, with neither backup, Joey Halzle or Sam Bradford, apparently ready to lead a title-caliber team. And the Sooners do think they can win titles with Thompson.

“We really want him to succeed,” center Jon Cooper said. “And he really wants us to succeed. We all have that for each other. And I have a very high confidence that he is going to succeed.”

So much has happened to Thompson and the Sooners since TCU.

Bomar was up and down in an 8-4 season, tossing as many interceptions (10) as touchdowns. Yet his future star status remained.Following his so-called failed stint as the starting quarterback, Thompson moved to wide receiver. By spring, his hard work and enhanced receiving skills earned him a starting spot in OU’s three-wide receiver sets.

Then came the Bomar bombshell.

Offered a shot to return to quarterback, void of competition, but heavy on pressure, Thompson accepted.

The transition was seamless.

“It could have been a disaster,” Cooper said. “But everybody was like, ‘OK, here we go.’”

And here goes Thompson ... again.

There are skeptics. Some in the media and a faction of fans keep going back to that TCU loss, a game Thompson would just as soon forget.

“As far as the fans, they need to relax,” Thompson said. “I’m sure people are panicking and freaking out, throwing away their season tickets. If you want to do that, go ahead.

“Don’t jump back on the bandwagon after you get off.”

“I feel really good,” Thompson said. “I’m getting really excited. Not as much nervous, but anxious to get out there and show to everybody that we haven’t missed a beat. We’re right on track.

“And we’re going to make some big plays and win a lot of games this year.”