Halzle has potential to compete
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
3/23/2006
Transfer QB makes an impression while he learns Sooner offense.
NORMAN -- Joey Halzle, Oklahoma's new quarterback, lobs a 50-yard rainbow right into the hands of Malcolm Kelly, as he did on the Sooners' first day of spring practice Tuesday. Or he drops a 20-yard out just over a linebacker and into the grasp of Joe Jon Finley, as he did Wednesday.
And that's when it makes sense for OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson to say, "You see him do some things and you go, 'Hey, he's not bad,' " as Wilson said Wednesday night.
And it makes sense for Halzle, a 2,077-yard passer at California's Golden West Community College last fall, to talk seriously about battling incumbent Rhett Bomar for OU's starting job.
"If you're content to be on the sidelines, you're not doing what you need to be doing," Halzle said Tuesday.
But then reality sets in. Halzle isn't just fighting Bomar, he's fighting time. He's only been on campus since January.
"I've thrown a lot at him," said quarterback coach Josh Heupel.
"His head is swimming," said Wilson. "Ultimately, it's just being in tune -- new words, new coverages, faster players. I think right now everything's a little quick. He needs to settle in and be more
comfortable.
"He's probably months from being really what you want."
That's why Halzle's spring isn't really about coming from behind to upset Bomar.
"The main thing is I want to have the offense down perfectly," he said.
So while Bomar gets the bulk of the snaps, Halzle, OU's only other full-time scholarship quarterback with Paul Thompson now at wide receiver and signee Sam Bradford still at Putnam City North, loads up on film.
He meets with Heupel as much as he can and consumes the maximum amount of his new offense.
There is tweaking along the way.
"I came in with the stereotypical West Coast thing where I'd hold the ball really high (before delivering passes)," Halzle said.
"We've moved it down, and that's helped my accuracy a lot."
There is plenty of observing, too.
Halzle knew how much faster OU's defensive backs broke on passes than the ones he faced in junior college. But it took watching Bomar to understand how much faster OU's defensive linemen get off the ball.
By all accounts, it has been a case of so far, so good.
"Joey really picks things up quickly," Heupel said. "He's got a natural feel for the game."
By all accounts, there is a long way yet to go.
"I came from junior college ball, which was a little more (intricate) than high school, but still it doesn't even compare," Halzle said. "It's not the same type of football you play here."
"You just have to go through the whole spring, get experience," said Bomar, now in spring No. 2, "and it's kind of downhill from there."
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Guerin Emig 581-8355
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