Clay Horning, Sports Editor
Isn’t it amazing how far we’ve come in this Oklahoma quarterback thing?
First it was a competition. Extended throughout preseason practices, it became a race. When neither Paul Thompson nor Rhett Bomar played well opening day, it became a mess. When Bomar was named starter and played every down against Tulsa without even throwing a second-half pass it became a full-blown debacle. And when it was made clear Sunday Bomar would continue to start despite a pair of interceptions and three fumbles, maybe for the very first time, it became a controversy.
Of course, all quarterback competitions are called controversies. It’s an accident of alliteration. Competition is too vanilla a word and quandary begins with a q. Whether it’s truly controversial hardly matters. But if it does, it’s nice to know the Sooners are finally fitting the bill.
Thompson was dropped for poor play. Bomar played poorly, but remains the starter. If Bomar was better in the huddle or on the sideline, it might make some sense. As long as they’re blowing sunshine at Thompson, it doesn’t.
So here we are.
Bomar will start.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll finish.
Asked how the balance might be struck between establishing a single quarterback and doing what must be done to win Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, Sooner coach Bob Stoops made an artful dodge.
Say you guys are struggling …
“It depends on what the reasons are that we’re struggling,” he said. “We still are going to continue to develop Paul and have him ready … I think, in the end, that can’t be determined without knowing what the issues are, why we’re not succeeding. You have to determine that as you go.”
When the coach pulls something like that, we know just what to do. Ask a follow up? Hardly.
Ask Chuck Long.
We know you want to establish a quarterback and right now that’s Bomar. But what if it’s not working, you fall behind 7-0, 14-0 …
“You have to win games,” Long said, interrupting the scenario.
So you might need relief?
“It may have to happen, yes. And you may see that this year. And you may see that more than once,” OU’s offensive coordinator said. “That’s just the way it is this year. Until someone settles in and nails the position down, we have to go with the best winning formula we know at the time. If that means taking somebody out of the game, then we need to do it.”
You may not like the way he calls plays, but you have to love the candor.
It’s pretty self-explanatory, but let us nonetheless review.
The competition/race/mess/ debacle/controversy is ongoing. Bomar has the upper hand, but only because he’ll have the ball in his hands when OU lines up against UCLA. He can play himself right out of the position. Should that happen, Thompson could win the job right back. He could also lose it right back. And so on and so on and so on.
As despondent as Stoops sounded over the passing game last Saturday, he’s used every chance since to emphasize the positive. That the Sooners had made a conscious choice to keep it on the ground. In the end, they accomplished what they wanted to accomplish against Tulsa.
Tuesday, he made another point.
That was then. This is now.
“That’s not what we’re going to do the rest of the season.”
Good to know.
Just as it’s good to know nothing more than an opportunity has been handed to Bomar.
If Long’s as good as his word, they’re going to make somebody win this thing.
It’s the best policy.
If all it took was losing it, they’d be making way for Hays McEachern.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
