A beaten Bomar vows to get better
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
10/12/2005
View in Print (PDF) Format
NORMAN -- After the beating he took against Texas -- first from the UT defense, then from his critics, then from himself -- Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar says he'll be better.
"I'll grow from it and move on," Bomar said. "I'll be much better because of Saturday."
Said coach Bob Stoops, "Rhett's a tough guy. He'll improve from this."
That's what Sooner fans want to hear as their team -- now 2-3 going into Saturday's game against 4-1 Kansas -- tries to salvage the second half of its season.
In last week's 45-12 loss to the No. 2-ranked Longhorns, Bomar completed just 12-of-33 passes for 93 yards. He threw short passes directly into the grass. He overthrew open receivers, threw into coverage, missed reads and botched assignments.
Perhaps Bomar's most grievous error came late in the game, when he called a pass protection shift to guard against a blitz from the left side. The blockers executed their assignment, but Bomar didn't. He was supposed to throw quickly to a hot receiver on the right side -- where defensive end Brian Robison was coming -- but didn't like what he saw. Knowing Robison would be untouched, he ignored the rush and waited for a receiver to come open on the left
side. Robison crunched Bomar, causing a fumble that Rod Wright returned for a TD.
"We've got five blocking and they're bringing six. One guy's free," Bomar said. "You've got to get it off quick."
Bomar basically ignored his own orders.
"I thought, 'Rhett, that's dumb,' " said Bomar's father and high school coach, Jerry Bomar. " 'You called the protection, you're going to have to throw it to that side or you're going to get blind-sided.' That's a young guy that's just -- he's young. He's a redshirt freshman. He's going to learn, but it's on-the-job training."
In four career starts, Bomar is completing just 50 percent of his passes (the average for the Big 12 Conference's other 11 starting QBs is .593). His passer rating of 94.6 ranks last in the Big 12 and isn't on the NCAA's top 100 list (the Big 12 average is 131.2). His per-game yardage average of 107.0 ranks 11th in the Big 12.
"I have a young player there that I believe is only going to get better," said OU quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chuck Long. "You're going to have to wait to be the judge of his career four years from now. I do believe he's going to be a fantastic football player before he's finished here.
"I certainly would like that to accelerate to now, but I also know that he is going to go through some growing pains and he needs to be developed. . . . Sooner or later, he's going to get better."
Tight end Joe Jon Finley has caught both of Bomar's TD passes this season and thinks his young quarterback will be fine.
"He got hit a lot (against Texas), and that makes it tough," said Finley said. "But I think he'll be all right. He'll respond. He's a good leader."
Bomar's father said his son is "a perfectionist," but is also "young and naive. He didn't understand that Oklahoma didn't have a prayer in that game. Not this year."
Jerry Bomar said it was clear that "Rhett's not playing with the freaking No. 2 team in the nation. They're a poor football team right now in a lot of ways. But they're young, and they're going to be good."
Long agreed more experience and talent around Bomar would make him better.
"That was good for him Saturday, even though it was painful and physically tough," Jerry Bomar said. "I think OU will be fine. You've just got to be patient. It's hard, I know, when you've been on top as long as they have. But you've got to remember, they're a bunch of young kids. They're talented, but they're young."
Rhett Bomar said he's already learned from many of the mistakes he made against Texas, and some are "easily correctable. You look at it and you're just kicking yourself sometimes when you're watching film."
His short-hop passes, for instance, are the byproduct of getting in a hurry and forgetting his throwing mechanics. His naturally quick release makes him tend to rely too much on his arm instead of planting his back foot, stepping with his front foot and using a free-flowing motion.
"I was recoiling and throwing off my back foot," he said, "and when you do that, the ball tends to go down."
Said Long, "You have to work that out in practice. It's a chronic thing that quarterbacks go through. . . . they lock that front leg and don't get through the ball. It's like a golfer not getting his hips through on a golf shot. It's a mechanical thing that can be corrected."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John E. Hoover 581-8384
[email protected]
Originally Posted by OklahomaTuba
