Sports
Thompson uses his head in win
NORMAN — Paul Thompson’s biggest play in Oklahoma’s 24-17 victory over Alabama-Birmingham Saturday might have been with his head.
Thompson’s decision- making was demonstrated in a safety-value pass to Heisman Trophy candidate Adrian Peterson, which resulted in a 69-yard touchdown play that gave the Sooners a 21-17 lead with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
Peterson, said OU coach Bob Stoops, was the fourth option on the play.
“Paul started his reads on the other side of the field,’’ Stoops said. “He went through a progression where Adrian was his last read. A lot of guys would have gone through two or three options, and that’s it. I told him Adrian Peterson wasn’t a bad fourth option.’’
Peterson scored because tight end Joe Jon Finley made a mental mistake earlier on the play.
Finley ran the wrong route, Stoops said. That was good, though, as it put Finley in a position to throw the block around the 40 that sprung Peterson.
Thompson redeemed himself for his one and only start a year ago.
Thompson hit only 11 of 26 passes for 106 yards and an interception in a 17-10 loss to Texas Christian.
That caused him to lose his job to Rhett Bomar.
Thompson got a second chance this summer when Bomar was dismissed from the team for violating NCAA rules.
The senior quarterback completed 14 of 24 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
He hit Finley from 21 yards out for OU’s first touchdown with 8:12 remaining.
“I felt I did well for my first game,’’ Thompson said. “There are things that I could improve on.’’
The only negatives were two interceptions — one which was tipped by Juaquin Iglesias into the hands of UAB’s Kevin Sanders.
The second was taken away from Iglesias by the Blazers’ Will Evans.
The interceptions came in the second period after OU had driven to the Blazers’ 24 and the 13.
Peterson finished the game with 139 yards on 24 carries. The Sooners went with him more in the second half.
He touched the ball on every play in the third quarter except for one play.
He only had nine carries for 56 yards in the first half.
“We really would have like to have gotten him the ball sooner, but we were moving the ball in the first half,’’ Stoops said.
One reason why OU didn’t give Peterson the ball more was the Blazers were set up to stop the run first.
“They were cheating on their coverage,’’ Stoops said. “That’s one reason why Paul was having success. You have to get people off your back.’’
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