Pollyanna journalists should just hand over the Heisman to Thompson
Sooners stumbling upon dynamic trio (Dave Sittler, Tulsa World)
Go ahead and laugh. But I'm dead serious in my belief that Oklahoma's on the verge of giving birth to its own set of triplets.
Two games obviously isn't enough time to place quarterback Paul Thompson, tailback Adrian Peterson and receiver Malcolm Kelly anywhere near the same league as college football's original set of triplets -- Nebraska's trio of Turner Gill, Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar.
[snip]
And perhaps this combination will never deserve to be considered anything more than a poor man's triplets. But their rendition Saturday afternoon of "The Triplets" was impressive in the 37-20 win over the Huskies at Memorial Stadium.
[snip]
If Saturday's performance was any indication, Peterson and Kelly have nothing to worry about. A fifth-year senior who was making only his third start at quarterback, Thompson has continued to make rapid improvement in the month since he returned from wide receiver to quarterback.
Yes, Thompson did have two turnovers for a second straight game. And one of them could have been an absolute game killer, when he lost a fumble on OU's 4-yard line.
But here's the encouraging deal: That fumble wasn't Thompson's fault. Neither was the pass he had intercepted. Both times the culprit was OU's offensive line.
Thompson looks good for OU; defense becomes trouble spot (Berry Tramel, Daily Oklahoman)
The Sooner offense has been more than Stoops or Thompson or anyone else could have hoped. Thompson committed two more turnovers Saturday; that’s four in two games, and that better stop. Two turnovers could get Oklahoma beat in Oregon. But otherwise, Thompson’s passing and decision-making have grown from encouraging to impressive.
Thompson helps OU pull away in 2nd half (John Helsley, Daily Oklahoman)
Thompson’s second half was near-flawless: 9-for-11, 170 yards. He was intercepted once when hit as he threw. And he did lose a fumble, but only after getting blindsided as he was trying to pass from the end zone.
Pollyanna Groupthink really seems to have set in among the major Oklahoma columnists who cover the Sooners.
I especially like Pollyanna Helsley's bizarre formulation. The blockquote is accurate. Helsley really does describe Thompson's TWO second-half turnovers as part of a "near-flawless" performance. Even Pollyanna Sittler said one of those turnovers could have been a gamebreaker before going on to HIS praise of Thompson's play.
Thompson has done some good things, but he has also done some very bad things. One hopes he will do fewer bad things the more snaps he gets, and the more he acclimates himself to major college football game speed, but that is hardly a given. He has some talent around him, and the challenge for Thompson and the coaching staff is to utilize that talent without asking Thompson to do too much, because he is not a good enough quarterback to do too much. Thompson and the coaches will obviously have to do better as the competition improves, because they have had a fairly tough couple of games against two bad football teams.
Columnists who cover the Sooners need to step back and try to be a little more objective in their coverage. Paul Thompson does not deserve to be compared to Turner Gill, which ought to make people laugh out loud. And the notion that Paul Thompson is having a great season if you just take away the turnovers because they really were someone else's fault is pretty funny too, since MOST quarterbacks look pretty good if you take away their bad plays!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 17:23 | Big 12 Football | Technorati
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