Sooners drop

John Shinn's Oklahoma Football Notepad

Despite winning its season-opener, Oklahoma dropped five spots in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today coaches polls. The Sooners fell from No. 10 to No. 15 in the media poll. They went from No. 5 to No. 10 in the coaches’ version.

No other winning team in the polls fell more than one spot.

OU coach Bob Stoops said his team’s position in the polls didn’t matter.

Quarterback Paul Thompson cautioned against those who believe the Sooners’ seven-point victory over Alabama-Birmingham is a sign of tough times to come.

“I can see that people outside of this organization are concerned, but a win is a win,” Thompson said. “It was the first game of the year. I feel real confident and the team feels real confident coming out of this game and it’s something to build on.

“There were some mistakes, but at the same time there were some real effective plays which is something we can build on. From the outside looking in, everyone outside the organization might be worried about us, but we feel real comfortable about what we can do right now and comfortable with this organization.”



Isolated incidents

Junior cornerback D.J. Wolfe was beaten twice for plays of over 20 yards in the UAB game. Stoops said Wolfe needs to improve or Lendy Holmes would play more at the cornerback spot.

Wolfe admitted his play has to get better, but believed his mistakes were isolated incidents.

“There are some little things hear and there that need to improve,” Wolfe said. “I think this week will be a better performance.”

However, secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright said it’s way too early to cast Wolfe aside. Defensive backs aren’t going to make every play.

“A guy gets beat, he gets beat,” Wright said. “That’s going to happen. If it’s something that happens every week, then it’s something I’d worry about.”





More to come

Reggie Smith’s experiment at wide receiver only consisted of a handful of plays against UAB. Stoops said he like to get him more plays on the offensive side Saturday against Washington.

He wasn’t the only player the coach would like to see in game more.

Freshman tight end Jermaine Gresham caught a 14-yard pass against the Blazers, but also had the ball stripped away. Once that happened, he spent the rest of the game on the sideline.

Stoops said the turnover was the reason Gresham didn’t see more action, but it shouldn’t keep him on the sidelines indefinitley.

“He has to learn from it,” Stoops said. “He can make some big plays and is a good player. We just have to get him to take better care of the football and get him on the field more.”





Who’s calling?

Thompson has received lots of congratulatory phone calls since Saturday’s win, his first as OU’s quarterback.

He said his family and friends have filled up his answering machine. Thompson admitted one call he hasn’t received is from former OU quarterback Jason White.

But Thompson said that’s what he expected.

“I haven’t heard from him, but he knows how it is with all the people calling,” Thompson said. “He’ll usually call a couple of days or even a week after all the phone calls have died down.”

White was one of the first people to call Thompson after he was moved back to quarterback after Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team.

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com