No. 8 Sooners Expect Young QB Bradford To Make Plays

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ When Sam Bradford starts No. 8 Oklahoma's opener Saturday against North Texas, it will be the first time he takes a snap in a college football game. <br/><br/>Sooners coach Bob

Tuesday, August 28th 2007, 4:23 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ When Sam Bradford starts No. 8 Oklahoma's opener Saturday against North Texas, it will be the first time he takes a snap in a college football game.

Sooners coach Bob Stoops would argue it's not the first time the redshirt freshman will face a real college defense.

``I've watched him here for a full year and what he's been doing competing against our defense every day. In the end, he needs to take some comfort in that he sees a good defense constantly all through the spring and all summer,'' Stoops said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. ``Those are good snaps for him and good learning experiences.

``Ultimately you do have to get out there and do it, but I have confidence he will.''

Bradford emerged from a competition with junior Joey Halzle and freshman Keith Nichol to become Oklahoma's starting quarterback, with coaches touting his consistency and his ability to avoid mistakes. But he'll be counted on to generate offense too.

``Sam's ready to do that, he's capable of doing it and he has players around him that can make plays,'' Stoops said. ``You just see what's there and take what's there. You can't just sit there and avoid making a bad play. You definitely have to be able to make your plays as well. And we expect him to.''

Bradford's playmaking ability could be tested by some uncertainty at running back. Stoops hopes Allen Patrick, the expected replacement for former Heisman Trophy runner-up Adrian Peterson, will recover from a sprained ankle in time to play. Stoops suspended backup Chris Brown for the game, and said freshman standout DeMarco Murray, senior Jacob Gutierrez and freshman Mossis Madu are all options.

``All those guys will play, and we'll see how far along we get Allen,'' Stoops said. ``It's our intention to work him to be prepared to play.''

The backup situation behind Bradford is also somewhat muddled. Halzle and Nichol are considered about even for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart, and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said both could be used if Bradford struggled or was hurt.

``Joey might go probably first because he's been around a little bit longer, a little bit more experience. Keith's coming along pretty good, though,'' Wilson said. ``We haven't really point blank said this is exactly what we would do. We're pretty comfortable with all three.''

Wilson said he didn't anticipate the backups playing early on while the game is still on the line.

``We want Sam to be our guy, and right now he is,'' Wilson said. ``He's clearly performed the best we think through a long period of time. We want him to learn and grow and fill it, and I feel like if he makes a mistake that that's an issue and he needs to learn from those mistakes.''

The last time Oklahoma started the season on the heels of a quarterback competition was in 2005, when Paul Thompson edged out Rhett Bomar for the start against TCU. After a slow start on offense, Bomar started splitting time with Thompson and the Sooners were upset 17-10.

Stoops sees a different scenario this time around.

``I don't think there's any question that a couple years ago, not only was the quarterback inexperienced, the entire team was inexperienced,'' Stoops said.

Outside of the running back situation, Oklahoma returns its entire corps of receivers, several proven tight ends and four of its five starting linemen. Since Bradford was named the starter last week, Stoops has noticed his quarterback being more willing to address his teammates in the huddle or after plays.

``At first he was trying to find his place,'' said receiver Malcolm Kelly, who led the Sooners with 993 yards on 62 catches last season. ``Now he knows that he's the guy.''

Still, there's always some anxiety going into the season opener for Stoops _ who said he's not normally the nervous type.

``The first game to me is always a little more difficult than any of the others each year,'' Stoops said. ``Everybody wants to talk about carryover from a year ago. To me, they're like brand new babies. Each year is its own thing.

``You're kind of walking out there like, `Here we go, let's see what we're really about.' I think I know what we're about (but) there's always a little uneasiness.''