The usually poker-faced Bob Stoops has his hardest time hiding feelings through his vocal cords.
The words, phrases and sentences from the Oklahoma coach are spoken with a sharpness and inflection that vary considerably depending on his feeling of the topic at hand.
Monday, that topic was Paul Thompson and Rhett Bomar.
The former is Oklahoma’s current starting quarterback, placed in this position because the latter was dismissed from the team after it was revealed he received payment for work he did not do over the summer. Experts across the country said that with Bomar the Sooners were national-title contenders. With Thompson, well, let’s just say Oklahoma is predicted to be something less than a title contender.
How does Stoops feel about it?
“I definitely think people made too much of the differences,” Stoops said. “Truthfully, I think most people got caught up in what maybe Rhett might have been someday. The truth is we lost a guy who finished the year last year with 10 interceptions and 10 touchdowns….It isn’t like when you lose a Jason White that’s thrown maybe 40 touchdowns and seven interceptions. That’s different.
“People wanted to go on, ‘At one point maybe (Bomar) will develop into this.’ Well, at the point he was, he had not developed into that. So we as a team don’t look at it any different at all. We understand the potential in Paul and what the possibilities are.”
It’s prudent to note that Thompson, a senior, was replaced by Bomar after the first game of 2005 because of ineffectiveness and what was believed to be a brighter future in Bomar. Now, Stoops reports Thompson has fared well in preseason camp and is more than adequate enough to guide the Sooners into contending status.
“Paul, had he continued and stayed through the entire year (in 2005), I think it’s fair to say he could have thrown for at least (what Bomar did) or better,” Stoops said. “He’s done a really good job. Day in and day out, he’s gotten more and more comfortable in his reads and his throwing and what he’s doing, where we’re going with the football and what we’re doing on offense. He’s made really good progress. I’ve been very pleased with his work.”
Football rules changes
The NCAA implemented rules changes to shorten football games this season. That has been met with frowns, shrugs and stinging statements of disapproval from coaches across the country, including the Big 12.
“I liked the game just the way it was, but I’m not jumping up and down about these changes,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said.
Added Stoops, “I’d like to see us shorten halftime five minutes and leave the game alone.”
Footnotes
Freshman Colt McCoy will start at quarterback for Texas, narrowly beating out equally highly touted freshman Jevan Sneed. … Mangino said the Jayhawks will start “four, maybe five” freshmen and redshirt freshmen in its opener Saturday against Northwestern State….When Baylor takes the field against TCU in its opener Sunday, coach Guy Morriss facing his alma mater, now in the Mountain West Conference. “It would be a great one to win, obviously,” he said.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
