OU's question mark a big one
Sooners football: Spring practice begins Wednesday
Sooners loaded with lots of weapons; then there's the matter of quarterback

NORMAN — Oklahoma's spring scene is flooded with familiar faces.

The Sooners return 18 starters off their Big 12 championship game lineup and 39 players from the two-deep.

There's All-American candidates — wide receiver Malcolm Kelly and safety Reggie Smith among them. And there are budding stars across the offensive line, at running back, tight end and linebacker.

OU is built to win – now.

Except at one all-important spot: quarterback.

The Sooners open spring practice Wednesday, the first step in identifying their field general for 2007, and in turn, assessing their readiness to repeat as Big 12 champions.

There are few issues on offense, even with Adrian Peterson moving on to the NFL. Ready replacements are lining up at running back, as well as left tackle where Chris Messner was a senior starter.

Inexperience at quarterback, however, casts uncertainty over the unit, if not the entire team.

"There will be some expectations that are unrealistic,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

OU's quarterback will either be a lightly recruited junior college transfer with two career Division I passes, or a freshman.

The candidates:

•Joey Halzle, 6-3, 198, junior. Essentially recruited to be Rhett Bomar's backup, Halzle wasn't even given a thought when Bomar was dismissed on the eve of preseason practices last August. Paul Thompson was moved back from wide receiver and handed the job. Halzle barely played behind Thompson, getting on the field for but a handful of series. His stats: 1-for-2 passing for 15 yards.

•Sam Bradford, 6-5, 197, redshirt freshman. Redshirted last fall, but made his mark as a scout team MVP. His background is full of success in several sports — football, basketball, hockey, baseball and golf — yet he wasn't highly recruited. Still, he's known as a competitor. And he has the size and arm strength. Given an opportunity to run OU's offense during bowl practices, Bradford impressed.

•Keith Nichol, 6-1, 190, freshman. Nichol bypassed his final semester of high school to enroll at OU early and make a run at leading the Sooners next fall. He comes with all the credentials — directed high school team to state championship in Michigan; massive stat totals rushing and passing; four-star recruit. All that said, can a true freshman lead a team to a championship?

Bomar's mess got the Sooners into this predicament.

When Bomar was dismissed, it was always the 2007 season that was going to leave OU exposed, not 2006, as Thompson showed.

Still, Thompson was unproven and he managed the offense well enough to get the Sooners to the Fiesta Bowl.

"This year, we took a guy people didn't think highly of and he played pretty good ball,” Wilson said of Thompson. "No matter who it will be, there's enough pieces that our future will be OK.”

The same factor that aided Thompson, the surrounding talent, will again be in place for whoever takes the snaps from center.

"That will be the case even more so next year,” OU coach Bob Stoops has said. "We'll be much more experienced — line, backs, tight ends, receivers — around that position than we were,” last fall.

The job won't be settled in 15 spring practices. Bradford and Nichol are playing catch-up on the playbook, which will limit them initially. The focus early will be on putting the quarterbacks in positive situations to help them build confidence.

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