By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer



Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops stood at the podium in the Switzer Center Friday, facing as many questions about the past as the future.



But if several aspects of the 2005 Sooners are unsettled, Stoops said, that hardly makes things unsettling.



OU must replace 12 starters from last year’s 12-1 squad, a group that was at the core of two Big 12 championships that played for two national titles.



“I realize we’re not the only team in the Big 12 or in the country that had players move on,” Stoops said. “That’s natural. It happens all the time.”



Most eyes are on the hole left by Jason White’s departure at quarterback. The competition between Paul Thompson, Rhett Bomar and Tommy Grady is the biggest storyline of the preseason.



But if quarterback was the only position where OU was looking for a new player to lead, it would make for a dull season.



With Mark Clayton, Mark Bradley and Brandon Jones selected in the first three rounds of the NFL draft, the Sooners are without three of last season’s top receivers. The offensive line is dealing with the subtraction of three four-year starters in Jammal Brown, Vince Carter and Wes Sims.



On the other side of the ball, Dan Cody and Jonathan Jackson have vacated their defensive end spots and the secondary includes several holes be filled.



The Sooners are confident that will happen. It’s just part of the process.



The secondary lost three starters from last season, but co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Bobby Jack Wright said that’s the way it should be.



“You graduate players and people go on and new guys come in,” he said. “So those guys have been in our system, they understand the defense, they understand our program. They know how to compete and they know how to play at the level that we want them to play, so I’m not worried about that.”



The players are more concerned with who’s available than who isn’t.



“We’re never rebuilding,” offensive tackle Davin Joseph said. “We’re always reloading. We’re all hungry to get to the same place. We all want to be successful and we all want to have fun.”



Stoops was quick to compare this year’s Sooners with his second team.



The 2000 Sooners had 23 freshman and sophomores in its two-deep rotation, but continued to mature as the season went along, eventually winning OU’s seventh national championship.



While that team arrived out of nowhere, the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll was released Friday and the Sooners will start the season at No. 5.



“Our expectations are what they have always been,” Stoops said, “and that is to pursue and compete for a Big 12 championship. And if things go right, we can find our way and earn our way to a national championship. That’s what our sights are always on.”



It’s a process that even has the Heisman Trophy runner up, sophomore running back Adrian Peterson, talking about taking his presence to another level.



“I am starting to realize that a lot of guys look up to me,” he said. “Older guys, and even younger guys, are asking me questions and ask me about how to handle situations. I’m young but that leadership role has been put on me, so I need to live up to it.”



Stoops said August is when a great deal of growth can occur.



“I think it’s the way you prepare and develop through this period of time,” he said. “ Everyone seems to just want to get to the season as if this time does not matter a whole lot. To us it’s a big part of the year and how you develop through this period of time and how you go into the first game.



“This is a long period of time; 29 practices is two spring balls. That’s where we will find out what kind of attitude we have and what kind of work ethic we have.”



The last five seasons, OU has used the time to build itself into a national contender. The Sooners don’t see that changing this season.



John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com