FanHouse Reggie Smith

With less than 90 days to go until the start of the 2007 college football season, the FanHouse is exploring the impact players in each conference. Although Vince Young no longer dominates the headlines, the Big 12 still has its share of stars worthy of celebration.

What follows are one man's picks for Big 12 impact players on offense, defense and newcomers.

Offense

Colt McCoy - Texas: He got banged around quite a bit at the end of last year, but in response McCoy beefed up and returns as one of the nation's most efficient passers. Kid is legit, completing 68% of his passes for an NCAA freshman record 29 touchdowns.

Chase Daniel - Missouri: Daniel's a bit of a wild one, but he has full command of a potent Missouri offense. The Tigers are darkhorse league title contenders thanks to Daniel's heroics as both a passer (63% completions, 3,527 yards and 28 touchdowns) and runner (379 yards, 4 touchdowns).

Stephen McGee - Texas A&M: The Aggies are always going to pound the ball on the ground, but McGee's versatile enough to contribute as both a runner and passer. He famously scored the winning touchdown against Texas last year, driving his team down the field. McGee rushed for 666 yards and 4 touchdowns last year to go with 2,295 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and a fine .620 completion percentage.

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.