Quarterback Decision Awaits Sooner Coaching Staff

NORMAN, Okla. -- Will it be the steady, experienced junior or the determined rookie with potential to be a star?

The question of who will succeed Jason White as Oklahoma's quarterback remained unanswered Wednesday night as Oklahoma held its final open scrimmage of the fall at Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Coaches suggested the dominance of the Sooners' defense meant another scrimmage would be warranted next week behind closed doors.

Junior Paul Thompson continued a consistent run in Oklahoma's fall scrimmages with 14-for-26 for 144 yards.

His only touchdown came on a 2-yard toss to Quentin Chaney on the final play before coaches whistled the scrimmage to a close. He threw the ball away several times under pressure and again went without an interception. He hasn't had a pass picked off in any of Oklahoma's three fall scrimmages.

August 17th Scrimmage Photos | 2005 OU Preseason Central

Redshirt freshman Rhett Bomar started off hot with four straight completions, but tailed off to finish with 108 yards on 7-for-16 passing. He had two interceptions for the second straight scrimmage, and has five overall through three scrimmages.

"At times, the quarterbacks got a little impatient," offensive coordinator Chuck Long said. "We don't want them to turn the ball over, and that's a big coaching point. That's a big part of the development of a quarterback.

"Aside from that, I have to go watch tape to see what all the reads were."

O-Zone Scrimmage Coverage
   Scrimmage No. 3 Video Highlights
   Coach Stoops Post-Scrimmage
   Coach Venables on Defense
   Junior Quarterback Paul Thompson
   Chuck Long on Quarterback Decision
   Redshirt Freshman QB Rhett Bomar
   Bobby Jack Wright on Play of Secondary
   Senior OL Davin Joseph on Offense

Get in the O-Zone

Both quarterbacks suggested they were limited because a simple touch on them is ruled as a tackle and that the defense essentially knows what play is coming by this point in practice. Further, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops suggested that the offense was held down because standout tailback Adrian Peterson and starting fullback J.D. Runnels were both held out of the scrimmage to prevent any chance of them being injured.

Donta Hickson had a 59-yard run to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Bomar on a busted play, but running backs were otherwise held in check most of the scrimmage.

Thompson, who was Oklahoma's backup in 2002 and 2003 before redshirting last season, converted a third-and-11 with a 20-yard pass to Jermaine Hardison and a third-and-10 with a 23-yard completion to Travis Wilson. In an overtime drill, he got the offense to the 1-yard line with a 17-yard pass to Juaquin Iglesias, but attempts to hit Iglesias again for the score went incomplete on third and fourth downs.

Thompson has been labeled as the less dazzling of the two quarterbacks as Bomar has thrown into more risky situations, sometimes for spectacular results and other times for interceptions. Thompson suggested the removal of the quarterbacks' blue jerseys -- which prohibit contact -- could help open up more opportunities for him to be creative.

"If I get the chance to run around here a little bit, we've got some other plays that we're going to hit downfield," Thompson said. "We were working things during two-a-days that we didn't run out here. Today wasn't really a practice. There's definitely going to be times when we're a little bit flashier."

Thompson said there were times he was called down when he hadn't even been touched, but he felt he was still able to improve on his previous scrimmage.

"I'm never really too satisfied with what I do. I always want to do better," Thompson said.

Both quarterbacks left the grading of their performances to the coaches. But when Bomar was asked if he thought he'd done enough to win the starting job, he said, "I think so, but we'll see. It's not up to me."

Bomar came out like the quarterback's job was up for the taking. He hit his first four passes for 32 yards before cornerback D.J. Wolfe broke up a third down pass to Wilson. After that, Bomar was 3-for-10 with two interceptions.

He said he felt good about several of his throws and was happy with his third-down conversions, even though the offense was 2-for-9 on third downs and one of the conversions was on a pass interference penalty.

"You don't base the decision on one scrimmage ...," Bomar said. "They're going to look at everything."

Long said a big part of the quarterbacks' grades would be based on their ability to handle the defensive pressure in the scrimmage.

"Sometimes as a young quarterback, if you get sacked, you feel like you've got to make a play the next time when actually you've got to take what they give you," Long said.

Long said Thompson's maturity showed in his willingness to dump the ball off instead of forcing a risky pass. However, he did have some criticism.

"A couple times, we want to get that go route up or that bomb, and we need to hit that as well," Long said.

Long said Oklahoma's goal is to have a quarterback chosen before the season opener against Texas Christian on Sept. 3, and preferably 10 days ahead of time. However, he said he was still open to entering the season with both quarterbacks still in the mix.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Quarterback Decision Awaits Sooner Coaching Staff

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