NORMAN, Okla. -- Looks like Bob Stoops was right about anything being possible.
Oh,
he was probably joking at the time, back in August when he quoted "Dumb
and Dumber," when he made light of using a pair of quarterbacks – or
more – in a game, but it doesn't seem so funny now.
Not after he
went to his go-to movie quote once again, suggesting, the possibilities
are pretty much endless and yes, anything is possible.
Because
the truth is, Stoops is right. Anything is possible, especially now for
the 2-0 Sooners who wrapped up a 16-7 win against West Virginia but
opened up a whole lot of new issues in their Big 12 Conference opener.
Oklahoma
might actually use a two-quarterback system this season. They might go
to a one-dimensional running attack. They might even throw it better.
Who knows?
But the reality for the Sooners is they probably don't
have any idea – at this point anyway – who the heck will be the
quarterback a week from now.
"I'm not going to say," Stoops said
defiantly, cutting off any oxygen to what could have given ife to a
series of quarterback-controversy questions. "There's a chance at
everything."
Stoops wast exactly the face of contentment after the game, and here's why:
He
had a quarterback battle in the offseason where he ultimately chose a
redshirt freshman who lasted less than a pair of games before getting
ingloriously pulled out in a one-touchdown affair against a team the
Sooners were expected to beat by more than 20 points.
Out goes
Trevor Knight, who wasn't good, going 11-of-28 a week ago, but somehow
came in below that against WVU, going 10-for-20 with a pair of massive
third-quarter blunders that were his undoing. Knight started just 3-of-9
in the first quarter and had as many interceptions in the second half
(two) as completions. His two interceptions were crushers, one coming in
the endzone and the other coming in the redzone.
In comes junior
Blake Bell, who was good enough to score 24 touchdowns in the previous
two seasons, but not good enough to win the job back in August and not
good enough to play a meaningful down a week ago against ULM in OU's
34-0 win.
"We needed something to give us a little bit of spark," co-offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said.
Yeah,
you could say that, and now we'll see if that spark, which came in the
form a familiar face – Blake Bell – will burn bright enough to get the
junior his first-career start next week against Tulsa.
Bell
wasn't sensational, but he did lead OU to a field goal on his initial
drive and then led the Sooners into field goal range again, but Michael
Hunnicutt's 35-yard try hit the upright and missed.
Bell ran it
twice for 21 yards for an offense that clearly has trust issues with the
pass. Despite West Virginia putting about every player it had in the
box, daring OU to pass, the Sooners wouldn't budge. Instead, running
back Brennan Clay went for a career-high 170 yards and took any air,
momentum or energy away from both Bell and Knight.
And that, in itself, is another question that needs answering as the season wears on.
It's
only two weeks in, but we don't know who the quarterback will be, how
much the Sooners will rely on the pass or what kind of identity this
team will develop.
"It ought to be easier than it's been," Stoops
said. "And even some of our some of our execution needs to be better. I
believe we'll make that improvement."
There's no reason to think
he's right, or think he's wrong. There's just no way to tell. The only
thing we know for sure is Stoops will have to think hard about who will
start Saturday against Tulsa and how much he'll have to adjust the
offense from what he's used to.
Gone are the days of
super-accurate passing with Landry Jones and Sam Bradford. OU, maybe by
choice, but maybe out of desperation, ran the ball over and over against
West Virginia. OU did wind up with 372 yards, but this came against a
traditionally unsound defense. Call it what you want, but this was a
one-dimensional situation that was dangerously close to not working.
After all, the Sooners managed just 16 points and one touchdown.
If
Clay doesn't go off for 170 yards , OU probably loses the game, because
they showed an inability to create any life through its passing game.
"I'm not going to detail it here right after the game," Stoops said.
Too soon for that, but who knows, he could have surprised everyone and made a quick decision.
Hey, anything is possible, right?
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
