FanHouse KeithNichol

Back to the old drawing board. Ron Zook's plan to spark the Illinois offense by benching quarterback Juice Williams in favor of backup Eddie McGee didn't exactly yield the desired results Saturday as the Illini fell to Michigan State, 24-14.

McGee was ineffective, going 2-for-11 for just 32 yards and an interception before being pulled in the third quarter. Williams came in to relieve McGee. He wasn't a world-beater, but Williams was just enough better to get the Illini on the board.

As for Michigan State, for the first time all season, it played just one quarterback until garbage time.

While Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State were struggling with their opening day opponents, three Big Ten schools were making short work of theirs. Penn State had little trouble with Akron, beating the Zips 31-7. Michigan State likewise found Montana State easy pickings, rolling over the Bobcats 44-3. And, in Evanston, Northwestern flattened Towson, 47-14.

For Michigan State, quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol had big days, with Cousins throwing for three touchdowns and Nichol adding two more. The Spartan rushing game seemed to take its predicted step backwards, though that could just be because the passing game was clicking so well. The MSU defense held Montana State to just 171 yards of total offense; after their opening three-and-out drive, the Bobcats only entered Spartan territory once.

Michigan State wasn't the only school to put up unexpected passing numbers today, however.

Brian Hoyer is lonely.

Anyone who pays the slightest attention to college football knows about Michigan's uncertain quarterback situation, but recent events have put the state's other Big Ten team in a similarly dodgy spot:

Out: Redshirt freshman Connor Dixon, a Pennsylvania native, decided to transfer a few days ago.

In: Michigan State picked up transfer Keith Nichol, who originally committed to Michigan State but decommitted when John L Smith was fired and Rhett Bomar pulled a Bomar, opening up the job at Oklahoma. Sam Bradford kinda slammed that door shut.

Out: Redshirt freshman Nick Foles, a Texan, announces he's going to transfer somewhere closer to home, specifically citing the crowded(?!?!) Michigan State depth chart as a reason to bolt.

As a result, MSU is left with starter Brian Hoyer, a fifth year senior, and redshirt freshman Kirk Cousins, an unrated recruit with one other BCS offer (Colorado). Past that it's walkons. The Spartans will have Nichol and incoming freshman Andrew Maxwell in 2009; in 2008 they'll be desperately hoping the mediocre Hoyer stays in one piece.

Keith Nichol is a highly touted quarterback at Oklahoma. The Michigan native was all but set to enroll at Michigan State last year before throwing a curveball and choosing Oklahoma.

That didn't work out so well.

Third-string quarterback Keith Nichol plans to transfer from Oklahoma after just one season."We had a good conversation with Keith and certainly understand his desire to seek an opportunity in another program," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said in a statement Friday.

Nichol actually enrolled a semester early, and stood a decent chance of becoming the team's starter. The competition included a redshirt junior slotted to be a backup and a little-known redshirt freshman.

Slam-dunk, right? Errrrr. That redshirt freshman won the job and put together one of the best passing seasons in NCAA history for a freshman. Helloooo, Sam Bradford.

Goodbye Keith Nichol.

How does that go? "The best-laid plans are fraught with peril". Yeah.

Yes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this is getting ridiculous. First, Colorado announced its intentions to utilize a no-huddle offense in 2008. Now we get more information about Oklahoma and their desire for a speedier offensive approach. These two teams join Missouri, Texas Tech and Kansas as other Big 12 teams running some version of a no-huddle approach.

The shift to a quicker offensive tempo is based in large part on the success that this sort of attack has had in recent years.

The top eight college football offenses in 2008 ran versions of a no-huddle. Four of those -- Missouri, Houston, Texas Tech and Tulsa -- ran more than 1,000 plays (OU ran 975). Tulsa (1,126) and Missouri (1,112) led the nation in total plays.

This means we can probably expect more in the way of outrageous scoring come Big 12 play. 76-39? 65-51? 59-43? But other than concession vendors who can complain about more plays and more scores per contest?

Back in Oklahoma, the Sooners have been slowly implementing the no-huddle this spring. In the team's most recent scrimmage the up-tempo attack led to "volatile" results.

Keith Nichol and Mossis Madu produced back-to-back gainers of 20 and 12 yards, then Nichol threw an interception to Jonathan Nelson.

This is one amateur's assessment of how the Oklahoma quarterback derby will shake out this spring.

The Contenders:
Joey Halzle (JR) 6-3, 198
Sam Bradford (R-FR) 6-5, 197
Keith Nichol (FR) 6-2, 180

As you can see, all three quarterbacks lack that classic dropback build. They're smaller, more combo-style passers, particularly Nichol who has some running ability and played cornerback as well as quarterback in high school. He's also the closest thing to a blue-chipper among the quarterbacks. The Sooners earned his commitment late in the recruiting game this year after he spurned homestate Michigan State where he would have been one of the gems in their recruiting class.

Halzle was signed out of a junior college last year (probably as much-needed insurance) and failed to beat out senior Paul Thompson last year after incumbent quarterback Rhett Bomar was kicked out of school.

The way I see it, Halzle has a slight edge on Bradford thanks to his junior college experience and extra semester with the offense. Neither quarterback distinguished himself as a backup last year. If form holds this spring and fall, Halzle will probably be the Sooners' starting quarterback as ties tend to go to the veterans.

Eventually, Nichol has a chance to make a push for the job as his pedigree's a little better than the other quarterbacks who are both relative unknowns at a position that tends to be played amongst blue chippers at major programs like Oklahoma.

I suspect Halzle earns the starting nod in the fall and plays well enough to hold the job for much of the year. From there he's either going to run away with the job, look decent and buy time for Nichol or fall on his face and open the job to Bradford or Nichol. The first option sounds unlikely, as does the third, leaving the second option as a time-buyer who will complement the Sooners' ground game rather than propel the offense as happened with guys like Jason White and Josh Heupel.

The real question at that point becomes this: can Nichol distinguish himself enough through spring, fall and the early season to be ready to outplay Halzle and become a long-time starter in the mold of Rhett Bomar before he got himself kicked out of school? There's no way to really know, obviously, but I suspect he'll fall just short and Halzle will ride out the season as the Sooners' starting quarterback.

Agree? Disagree? Be kind as this is just an outsider's perspective to what certainly will be a very guarded, highly competitive situation.

Last Year: 11-3 (8-1), # 11 AP, # 11 Coaches

Fans Are: Optimistic. It's been a wild run under coach Bob Stoops. There was the championship in his second season and several more frustrating title game appearances, Jason White's Heisman trophy, Adrian Peterson's near-miss with the Heisman, many wins over Texas and finally last year the end of the Adrian Peterson era and the epic bowl loss to Boise State. It's breath-catching time with a roster depleted of stars but full of quality.

Expectations: Beat Texas, play in the Big 12 Championship Game, play in a BCS bowl game.

Questions:

1. What's going on with the quarterbacks?

This sounds like a rare "open" competition. There is no holdover player with a vast experience edge on his competitors who are often less experienced but more talented. Joey Halzle has some JUCO experience but otherwise has been at Oklahoma as long as redshirt freshman Sam Bradford. The Sooners snuck true frosh Keith Nichol out of the grasps of Michigan State. He has enrolled early and because of that has a legitimate shot at the job.

2. Can freshman quarterback Keith Nichol win the job?

It's doubtful at best, at least out of spring. I read a Stoops quote somewhere recently where he said a frosh starter, particularly at quarterback, has to be special unless injuries have killed the depth chart. He may be more competitive later in the year but the real task this spring is probably to get Nichol to grasp the offensive basics while evaluating the competence of Bradford and Halzle.

3. Can the tailbacks fill in for Adrian Peterson?

Absolutely. We saw that last year as Allen Patrick and Chris Brown led the Sooner offense through an 8-0 league run after the Red River Rivalry loss to Texas. Coach Stoops is also talking up redshirt frosh backs Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray who are more slippery runners and nice counters to the inside styles of Brown and Patrick.

4. Will the defense still dominate?

Probably. It all starts up front and the Sooners lose three senior ends that have to be accounted for. Zach Latimer and Rufus Alexander also depart, leaving vacancies at linebacker. The defensive interior should be fantastic once again with Steve Coleman, Carl Pendleton, Cory Bennett, DeMarcus Granger and others around to clog things up inside.

The secondary is young but has lots of speedy veterans in Lendy Holmes, D.J. Wolfe, Nic Harris, Darien Williams, Marcus Walker and All America candidate Reggie Smith. The Big 12 has become increasingly pass-happy and the Sooners have the secondary to manage against the league's best passers.