Thompson helps OU reach its goals
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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Bob Stoops can consider the Paul Thompson story of 2006 the biggest sales job of his career.
It was back in August when the Oklahoma football coach, left with little choice but to part ways with NCAA-rule-breaking quarterback Rhett Bomar, was trying to convince the Sooners they could win a Big 12 Conference championship with the senior Thompson switching back from receiver to behind center.
This, mind you, is the same guy who started OU’s 2005 season opener against Texas Christian and played so poorly (losing two fumbles and throwing an interception while passing for just 109 yards) that following the 17-10 loss, the first at home for Oklahoma in four years, he was moved to a new position.
Thompson may have still been considered the backup to Bomar, but only in an emergency scenario. It was clear that his future as a Sooner would be catching passes, not throwing them.
But when word came that Bomar had run afoul for turning in hours he hadn’t worked at a summer job, Thompson got the emergency call. And Stoops delivered his damage-control pitch to his club.
“I said, ‘Now, if you’re looking for an excuse for this, or for our expectations to change, or that we’re not going to have a chance to win the Big 12 South, it will not because of Paul Thompson.’ And I truely meant that,” Stoops said Monday. “Paul is a good football player, great character guy who’s worked hard, has maturity to him, and we felt he would do really well — if the guys around him would help him. And that’s what’s happened.
“We never took our eye off of what our goals were and felt that we couldn’t meet ’em. It was going to be tough, but we could do it.”
Fourth months later, following a controversial setback at Oregon in which officials acknowledged they made errant last-minute calls that cost OU victory, and a Big 12 Conference-opening loss to Texas, Thompson has guided Oklahoma to seven straight victories and a spot in the league championship game against Nebraska in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday night.
For the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder from Leander, Texas, the most gratifying part has been that Stoops was right. Getting to Kansas City was far from easy, and Thompson definitely has had to produce in the clutch all year long.
That formula started in the opener against Alabama-Birmingham, when Thompson hooked up with tailback Adrian Petersn for a 69-yard touchdown pass to erase a third-quarter deficit.
It continued at Texas A&M, where Thompson gained 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 dive play from the OU 29-yard line that allowed the Sooners to run out the rest of the clock while guarding a one-point lead.
Against Texas Tech, he also threw a pivotal 40-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the first half to start a comeback from a 14-point hole.
“When I made the switch back, even though there’s definitely pressure at the quarterback spot, I kind of just took it for what it’s worth,” Thompson said.
“Hey, this is my last year, let’s go get it. I’m not holding nothing back. I’m not panicking. I’m not worried about anything. I’m just going to take this in stride and go with it.
“I really haven’t put too much pressure on myself and I haven’t let other people put pressure on me. I’ve kind of been relaxed, just naturally.”
Starting over is nothing new for Thompson. In 2004, when Jason White, the Sooners’ 2003 Heisman Trophy winner, was granted a sixth year of eligibility, Thompson decided to redshirt. He originally had figured on sitting out his true freshman season in 2002 but ditched that plan in the third game when another player was injured.
The fact Thompson got a final chance to play quarterback because of circumstances beyond his control only makes his story better.
What makes his season particularly sweet for Stoops and the Sooners is that Thompson was, essentially, the only option. Behind him is Joey Halzle, a sophomore who didn’t enroll at OU until last January.
When asked if Thompson could be considered as big an MVP-type player as he’s coached, Stoops replied, “Absolutely. What he’s meant to this team and how he’s directed it — the calming influence he’s been on the offense, because the offense has had most of the changes — Paul has been the steady force behind it all. He’s got maturity to him that all these young players playing for us really look up to him.”
Part of the smallest senior class (11 players) in Stoops’ eight seasons, Thompson has executed well enough to keep opposing defenses from loading up to stop one aspect of Oklahoma’s offense. With Thompson completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,169 yards, 18 touchdowns and just seven interceptions, the Sooners are almost equally balanced with 2,264 rushing yards and 2,184 passing.
“The dismissal of Rhett Bomar, I mean, it was bad,” linebacker Rufus Alexander said. “It was a big blow, but Paul came in and … It was just like he hadn’t fell off the bike. He got right back on and started playing quarterback throwing the ball left and right.”
Actually, Stoops took great care in monitoring that part of Thompson’s game.
“He didn’t throw a football for about eight, nine months, and when you haven’t thrown for that long you’ve got to be careful of all the muscles and ligments, tendons, that you don’t overdo it,” Stoops said.
But once a quarterback, always a quarterback. Right?
“I’d say yes,” Stoops added. “He got in a groove in a quick way.”
During Oklahoma’s stretch run of the season, Thompson has managed the offense as much as anything. In four of the past five games, he’s thrown no more than 19 passes.
But if Thompson were to hear that his calm demeanor has been just as uplifting as if he’d carried the Sooners entirely on his back, so be it.
“I definitely take that as a compliment,’ he said, “but that’s just my personality, just kind of how I am. I feel being at the position I’m at, if I show confidence, show no panic, that kind of feeds off to everyone else. If I’m panicking, if I’m uncomfortable, guys might start to worry a little bit, so I definitely try to stay more focused and (ease) that doubt throughout the team.”
Not that there ever was a doubt. Just ask Stoops.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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