Heupel, Leach share special bond

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel has the Sooners undefeated, ranked No. 1 and closing in on a chance for the school's seventh national title. He's a front-runner for the Heisman

Thursday, November 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel has the Sooners undefeated, ranked No. 1 and closing in on a chance for the school's seventh national title. He's a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

If not for a phone call he received in December 1998, Heupel's life could be far different.

``I'd probably be at Utah State or New Mexico, somewhere like that,'' he said.

The call was from Mike Leach, who will be bringing his Texas Tech Red Raiders to town on Saturday.

When he called Heupel, Leach had just been hired by Bob Stoops to be Oklahoma's offensive coordinator. He was hunting for a quarterback to run the wide-open passing game he had used as offensive coordinator at Kentucky, where Tim Couch flourished.

Heupel had just finished his second season at Snow College in Utah, where he was a junior college All-American after throwing for 2,300 yards and 28 touchdowns. Leach had spent time in Utah and knew that Snow used an offense similar to the one he was implementing.

Heupel made a visit to Norman, where he and Leach spent seven hours studying Kentucky game tapes.

``He didn't want to go out and run around town, he didn't care about going to see the learning center. I think he knew he was smart enough, he'll get a good degree,'' Stoops recalled. ``He wanted to watch football. He wanted to know, `Can I run this offense and have success?'''

He found out that he could. Heupel threw for 3,460 yards and 30 touchdowns last season and helped the Sooners go 7-5, ending a streak of five straight non-winning seasons.

During the year, Heupel and Leach developed a strong bond _ both loved to dissect opposing defenses and develop game plans, although they went about things differently.

``His personality was, you never knew what was going to come at you,'' Heupel said this week. ``When I went up to talk to him about a game plan, he was usually watching Howard Stern or something like that late at night. That was the type of guy that he was.

``He came out with whacky formations. He loved to throw wrinkles inside the offense. He really enjoyed that part of the game.''

Leach was hired by Texas Tech in December of last season. The Red Raiders (7-4, 3-4 Big 12) rank second in the conference to Oklahoma in pass offense and are fifth in the league in scoring.

Heupel and Leach have spoken occasionally since Leach moved on, and they're likely to see each other on the field before Saturday's game. But Heupel said there is no special significance to the game, other than Oklahoma wanting to win to clinch the Big 12 South Division title.

``I'm going into this game just like I would any other game, the same emotions,'' he said. ``I'm just preparing to play against a great Texas Tech defense and go out there and play the best that I can.''