ShareThisBefore Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford even returned from the halftime locker room Saturday night, his shoulder harnessed, the speculation began.
Did Slingin' Sammy B. make the wrong decision in returning to college football after winning the Heisman Trophy?
NFL riches awaited Bradford had he declared for the draft. Now, after what amounts to a shoulder separation, Bradford's status for the 2010 draft, not to mention the rest of the 2009 season, drifts into cloudiness.
But draft status is no way to measure the quality of Bradford's choice. Coming back to Oklahoma was not a money decision, at least not according to Bradford's own testimony.
Bradford's decision to be the Sooner quarterback for a third year and an OU student for a fourth was a quality-of-life issue. He likes the campus life. Likes college football. Likes the pursuit of a finance degree, which so far has produced a transcript sporting one grade below an A.
I know. Hard to believe. But such free thinkers exist, even in rare numbers. So analyzing Bradford's choice in wake of the Brigham Young disaster cannot include NFL considerations.
It's irrelevant what Bradford is missing in the hard knocks of pro football. What counts now is what Bradford could be missing if this AC joint doesn't heal before the leaves fall.
Bradford came back not necessarily to collect bookend Heismans -- who really needs two? -- but to quarterback the Sooners to greater glory. Another autumn with treasured teammates. Another Big 12 title. Another Big Bowl, only this time with a victory.
That appears to be Bradford's rationale, so that should be the prime criteria in eyeballing the decision.
Which leads us to this after one half of Bradford and two halves of the '09 Sooners: Uh-oh.
Even before Coleby Clawson's crunch of Bradford's shoulder, you couldn't blame Harry Heisman for thinking: I came back for this?
An offensive line that drew more flags than an Independence Day parade. Receivers who consistently failed to get open. Old-reliable ballhandlers who suddenly turned fumblefingers. An injured Jermaine Gresham.
Bob Stoops likes to remind us every year that every team, every season, is different. Squads are organisms that change mightily even with only a little switch in roster.
Nothing is guaranteed.
No one in their right mind would believe the '09 Sooners could match the '08 Sooners, who led the nation averaging 51.1 points a game. But also no one could imagine a steep drop, not with Sammy B., Gresham, Trent Williams, Chris Brown, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Broyles returning.
Yet there it was Saturday night, before Bradford went out. A BYU defense that was solid and tough and vastly underrated shut down the Sooners.
Oklahoma's first-half stats, with Bradford: nine first downs, 164 total yards, 10 points. That was half a quarter in 2008, even against very good teams.
Oklahoma's second-half stats, with Landry Jones quarterbacking: six first downs, 101 total yards, three points.
One bad game does not condemn this Sooner offense.
Maybe BYU's defense is the '85 Bears. Maybe the Sooners will improve dramatically. Maybe Arlington was just Black Rock.
Maybe Bradford will return soon, and his 2009 season can be all he hoped it would be.
But if not, Bradford's decision to return serves as a reminder to many that one more year in college does not always follow the script.
(Contact Berry Tramel at btramel(at)opubco.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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