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Sooner backups one snap away
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
8/27/2006
Coaches say they won't hesitate to put reserves in the game.
NORMAN -- Joey Halzle is ready. He swears.
"I do feel like, if called upon, I can come in," Halzle said, "and step up and play for the team."
The most important nugget of wisdom about backup quarterbacks is this one: He's one snap away from being the starter. Halzle, backup to Paul Thompson at Oklahoma, knows that. Or, at least, he says he thinks he does.
"I guess you never really understand it until it happens," he said.
Former QB coach and offensive coordinator Chuck Long signed Halzle last December from Golden West (Calif.) Community College to back up Rhett Bomar and maybe even push the mercurial starter, if only a little. But when Bomar was pushed clean out of Norman on Aug. 2 for committing NCAA violations, for a moment it seemed Halzle's status had suddenly been elevated.
Instead, the 10th-ranked Sooners, who open the 2006 season Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham, turned back to Thompson.
Halzle's stats at Golden West -- a .466 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 2,077 yards and a 1-9 record -- weren't good, but at least he's been under center in the last 12 months. Thompson's only game time at QB
during that stretch was last year's loss to TCU.
But head coach Bob Stoops' firm and final decision to make Thompson the starter -- if he wanted it, that is, which he did -- isn't based on what happened just last fall.
"Paul's a guy that had spent four years as a quarterback," quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel reminded. "He's got a lot of reps, a lot of time invested, a lot of carryover between what we're doing now and what coach Long was doing previously. So I think it was a comfortable move for him coming back to quarterback."
Heupel and Stoops aren't likely to put Halzle's name over Thompson's on the depth chart. But they say they don't have any reservations about Halzle executing the game plan if he's needed.
"He's getting more and more ready," Stoops said. "The guy, in his defense, was only with us for 15 practices in spring, so it takes time to learn a system and feel the speed at this level. And he's doing a really good job."
Halzle's strengths, coaches say, are physical. That includes a powerful arm and an ability to make any throw. Running back Adrian Peterson says he has a nice touch on the short tosses, which may become a big part of the OU offense this year.
Halzle (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) said, "I can make most of the throws on the field if I'm getting my body under control and using my mechanics and not getting out of control."
Halzle's weaknesses, he and Heupel explained, are mental. A defender gets in his face or changes up the coverage at the last moment and, instead of checking down to a short receiver, scrambling or throwing it away, "He'll force one late. He's out of timing, he's out of rhythm and all of a sudden a bad play happens," Heupel said.
One snap behind Halzle is Sam Bradford, a first-year freshman who at this time last year was preparing to face Edmond North.
But will any of that be helpful just minutes after running down the ramp at the Cotton Bowl?
"When we go in our (meeting) room, I tell the third-team guy, you're two snaps away from being the guy," Heupel said. "You've got to prepare yourself as though your time is now and you're going to be on the football field. Sam's continuing to push and continuing to learn and he's getting himself ready to go."
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John E. Hoover 581-8384
[email protected]
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Online: Read other stories about OU football and the OU blog by Tulsa World beat writers John Hoover and Guerin Emig at www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra..