No. 1 issue? Who will quarterback OU football OU offseason focus: offense
By John Helsley
Published: January 7, 2007
NORMAN — Bob Stoops readied himself weeks ago for cries of concern surrounding Oklahoma's quarterback spot for 2007.
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"Come Jan. 2, it'll be doomsday,” Stoops said at the time.
The Sooners' thrill-ride overtime defeat in the Fiesta Bowl delayed much fast-forward speculation.
"That'll come the third,” Stoops cracked the day after the loss. "Gotta write about the game.”
Eventually, distress, if not doomsday, has settled in among OU fans.
Paul Thompson's career over, the Sooners have no established quarterback, not even a favorite to take over the team next fall. And it may be the only question separating OU from national title talk.
The Sooners return 18 starters from their Big 12 championship game lineup and 39 players off the two-deep. There will be stars on both sides of the ball — wide receiver Malcolm Kelly and safety Reggie Smith among them with All-American upside.
Yet just who will emerge to distribute the ball on every snap? That may take a while.
"That's a long way off for that battle to be won,” said co-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.
The known candidates:
• Junior-to-be Joey Halzle served as Thompson's backup this year, but barely saw the field.
• Redshirted freshman Sam Bradford is an intriguing talent, but spent this season running the scout team, not OU's offense.
• Incoming freshman Keith Nichol – arriving for school next week – is the most heralded of the group, yet still has a prom date with his high school sweetheart.
"They're all good kids,” Stoops said. "Good attitude guys who work hard. They're not selfish guys, so they'll work with the team and let it unfold.”
And therein lies Stoops' focus, letting the competition unfold.
"It's like everybody wants to hurry the process. And get it done now,” Stoops said. "And it's a process. And developing them. And we will.
"They'll be fine. And they've got more ability, just like Paul had more ability than everybody gave him credit for. These guys do, too.”
The supporting cast offers the next quarterback and the Sooners reason for optimism. OU returns four of five offensive linemen, every receiver and running backs Allen Patrick and Chris Brown, who kept the ground game gouging ahead when Adrian Peterson.
And both will be pushed, with redshirt freshmen Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray set to show their talents.
Peterson is expected to leave for the NFL, although that decision hasn't come yet.
The defense, with only moderately more losses, should again be strong.
"This year, we took a guy people didn't think highly of and he played pretty good ball,” Wilson said. "No matter who it will be, there's enough pieces that our future will be OK.
"I don't know if it's going to be the Heisman Trophy winner coming back like it was a couple years ago in Jason (White), but whoever that guy is, he's got a lot of surrounding pieces coming back who are going to be good players for him.”
Such talent served as a buffer to success for Thompson, who rarely had to be a difference maker. The Sooners won the big 12 championship and Thompson never entered all-conference conversations.
Those same players, minus tackle Chris Messner and in all probability Peterson, should be better with a year's improvement.
Stoops allows that the search for 2007's quarterback is a front-burner topic. And a key component in forecasting the team's ultimate destiny.
"It's always a factor, sure,” Stoops said. "We weren't real far off this year with a guy who hadn't taken a snap in a year. And hadn't started much.”
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