By Clay Horning, Sports Editor
They could, of course, mean just what they say. And if they do, well, paint me a cynical naysaying sportswriter, which may be redundant. Because I don’t believe it.
Oh, yeah, I believe Rhett Bomar will play. But early? I’ll believe it when I see it. And with great consequence? I’ll believe it when Paul Thompson quits starting. Which I don’t see happening.
You must admit, it’s more fun this way.
And I must admit, I’m not even clear what the law firm of Stoops and Long would even have us believe.
That Thompson will start, yes. And that Bomar will play, yes. But that the competition will continue because the position has yet to be settled? Or that even while Thompson is a clear No. 1 now, we have to see what happens for a couple Saturdays to really be sure?
I honestly don’t know.
But that’s small potatoes.
What the head coach and offensive coordinator believe themselves is a very different guessing game.
So, we begin again.
When they say both will play, they really mean …
That the competition will continue because it always continues; because just like Chij … oh, do I really have to spell that name out? Because just like anybody must earn his keep from week to week, be it an offensive lineman, a safety or a corner, so too must the quarterback?
That could be the real story.
Or …
That deep down, really deep down, so deep and down any memo purporting such a theory has already been shredded, they know it’s going to be Bomar sooner or later so they’re going to give him every chance to take the job and Thompson every chance to lose it?
That could be it, too.
But I don’t buy it.
And just as a sidebar, if that’s it, we could just start calling him Mack Stoops.
Here’s what I buy.
I buy that it’s Thompson.
I buy that it’s Thompson until he fails to a point equal to the last guy who ever lost the job on (de)merit. And I don’t see that happening, because I don’t see Thompson ever looking completely inept against the likes of Kansas.
I know this won’t go over too well in Grand Prairie or, perhaps, the message boards of any number of recruiting-dot-coms, but for every time we heard how close this race was, or how they might decide not to decide because, man, who wants to make such an impossible call, was it really that close?
Thompson has been in the system two years longer than Bomar. Thompson redshirted with the approval, if not outright sponsorship, of the coaches, so he might have two more seasons to play quarterback at Oklahoma. And even while this staff is all about winning, it’s still a little about loyalty.
And Thompson was 41-for-73 for 453 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions over three public preseason scrimmages against Bomar’s 30-for-61 for 359 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. That is, Thompson completed 17 percent more of his passes for 94 more yards, the same number of touchdowns and five fewer interceptions. The only category Bomar led was yards-per-reception by less than a yard.
So what is it they mean when they say both will play?
Maybe nothing. Because they’ve said such things before.
Or they’re playing to Bomar’s ego. Not that it’s fragile. Like keeping Adrian Peterson out of contact, it’s a precautionary move.
Got to be one of the two. Because Thompson didn’t just eke out a victory. He won in a landslide.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
