John Shinn
By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
Oklahoma still doesn’t have a starting quarterback, but Sam Bradford bore a striking resemblance to what the Sooners are looking for Saturday night.
The redshirt freshman made a pretty good argument for closing the door on the competition after OU’s second public scrimmage. He threw four touchdown passes and led the offense on five touchdown drives on a rainy night at Owen Field.
“We’re still deciding,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “We like what we’ve seen from all of them. They’ve all made great progress.”
But Saturday night Bradford was a step ahead of Joey Halzle and Keith Nichol.
Bradford was 12-for-17 for 130 yards and was the only quarterback to complete at least 50 percent of his passes. It was an impressive feat considering the workout was conducted under a steady rain.
Most of his series were run with the first team. Perhaps it was another sign Bradford will be under center when the Sooners open the season Sept. 1 against North Texas.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson warned not to read too much into it. He spent the night calling plays from the press box and left the rotation in the hands of quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel.
“I kept asking who was in each drive,” Wilson said. “The only reason I wanted to know was to get certain guys certain throws.”
Whatever he called when Bradford was behind center seemed to be working. It also helped that the running backs and receivers stepped up in the second scrimmage.
DeMarco Murray rushed for 105 yards on just nine carries. He ripped off 73 on the first series, rushing for 5, 61 and 7 yards on three straight plays.
He also caught Bradford’s first touchdown pass from 7 yards.
That first series seemed to light a fire under the offense. The unit struggled last Saturday, but turned things around a week later.
Tonight it was obvious we had our composure from the start and we were a lot more physical than we were last Saturday,” Murray said. “The offensive line did a great job blocking.”
Sophomore wide receiver Adron Tennell had a huge night as well, catching touchdown passes of 34 and 18 yards.
“Adron came up with some nice catches,” Stoops said. “He’s a guy who is capable of making those plays … He’s coming on.”
Murray added a 3-yard touchdown run and Bradford capped the festivities with a 15-yard touchdown toss to fullback Matt Clapp.
The 5,000 rain-soaked fans felt a sense of offensive excitement that was missing in the first scrimmage.
Heupel said the energy level of the quarterbacks might have had something to do with the change.
“They’re energy and demeanor was a whole lot better and that might have had something to do with the success on the first drive,” Heupel said. “That’s something we talked about.”
But Halzle and Nichol struggled to get anything going during their stints on the field. Halzle had the roughest night, completing just 8-of-23 passes for 47 yards. None of those completions found the end zone. He also threw the workout’s only interception, which Lewis Baker returned 10 yards for a touchdown.
Nichol hit Manuel Johnson for a 53-yard touchdown pass midway through. But the heave accounted for most of he 82 yards he threw for. He completed just 5-of-16 attempts.
Still, Stoops said a decision hasn’t been made. But what happened Saturday leaves the impression the only remaining battle is for the backup quarterback spot.
The season begins in two weeks and the time has arrived to start gearing practices toward the starters.
“We’ve paid attention to all our practices and we have a good feeling where it’s going,” Stoops said.
After Saturday night, all signs appear to point toward Bradford.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
