The effect Rhett Bomar’s arrest for minor in possession of alcohol will have on Oklahoma’s Saturday morning game against Tulsa remains to be seen.
OU coach Bob Stoops doesn’t meet with the media on Thursdays and Fridays and stuck to that policy Thursday, issuing no comment.
Kenny Mossman, OU’s associate athletic director for media relations and communications, said the coach was aware of the incident but would handle the matter privately.
“It will be handled within the framework of the team,” Mossman said.
Regardless of the incident, OU appears to be ready to give the redshirt freshman from Grand Prairie, Texas, his chance to run the offense and see if the Sooners can finally find a long-term solution at quarterback.
It’s the opportunity Bomar has been waiting for.
“I’m ready for Saturday,” he said Monday, the only day he was allowed to speak with the media. “I’m just going to work hard this week and get my mind ready mentally.”
Paul Thompson, who made his first career start against the Horned Frogs, was only 11-for-26 through the air for 109 yards. His performance left the door wide open for a change at quarterback.
Stoops was adamant Thompson wasn’t the only reason OU struggled out of the gate. The Sooners didn’t run the ball well either. But it doesn’t hurt to try something else.
“Everybody takes responsibility for it,” Stoops said. “But we do believe that Rhett deserves that opportunity in the preparation and in the games to see if he can move the team and be more consistent in our passing.”
Bomar only played a handful of snaps against TCU. He was 2-for-5 through the air for 19 yards. He had one big run for 28 yards, his first play, but he was also sacked once, resulting in a fumble that turned into the Horned Frogs’ go-ahead touchdown.
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long believes Thompson had a chance to show what he could do under the gun and Bomar deserves to receive the same chance.
“We’re now at a point where it depends what happens in the games,” Long said. “That is the final grade for quarterbacks. It’s like taking a final exam in a class. It’s a heavy percentage of your grade. Whether it’s fair or not, that’s ultimately what decides quarterback races and who gets to play.”
The players won’t pick a side and will do everything they can to keep a quarterback controversy from erupting.
“I can’t see any difference between the two of them,” wide receiver Travis Wilson said. “It seems to me that they both do everything pretty good and about the same.”
But it’s a question OU would like to have answered sooner rather than later. It doesn’t want to spend the season alternating quarterbacks.
“I’m just going to go out there and play my game and use my natural ability,” Bomar said.
The Sooners are waiting eagerly to see what happens.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Stoops has no comment on Bomar
Freshman still scheduled to start
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