The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the 112th season of Sooner football. The team was led by two-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award winner, Bob Stoops, in his eighth season as head coach. They played their homes games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. They were a charter member of the Big 12 Conference.
The season began on a bad note when starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn were kicked off the team for violating NCAA rules when they received payment for work they did not do the day before fall practice started. Paul Thompson, who had not practiced in the quarterback role for nearly a year, was asked to move back to quarterback, which he did.
Conference play began with a loss to the Texas Longhorns in the annual Red River Rivalry on October 7, and ended with a win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 Championship Game on December 2. The Sooners finished the regular season with an 11–2 record (7–1 in Big 12) while winning their fourth Big 12 title and their 40th conference title overall. They received an automatic berth to the Fiesta Bowl, where they were upset by the Boise State Broncos, 42–43, in what many consider to be one of the greatest bowl games of all time. Alt URL
Following the season, Adrian Peterson was selected seventh overall in the 2007 NFL draft, Rufus Alexander was chosen in the 6th round, and C. J. Ah You was drafted in the 7th.
Preseason
After the previous year's 8–4 season, the Sooners looked to return to past success in 2006. Standout running back Adrian Peterson came into the season healthy and was also on the Maxwell Award watch list. Star linebacker Rufus Alexander (a Bednarik Award hopeful) returned for his senior campaign as did defensive ends C.J. Ah You, Larry Birdine, and Calvin Thibodeaux (Ah You and Birdine were Ted Hendricks Award hopefuls). Reggie Smith was also named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.
Nearly all major sports publications had the Sooners in the preseason Top 10. Some had the Sooners as the preseason No. 1 pick including Athlon, Phil Steele and Gold Sheet. The team had a lot of young talent this year. The high school scouting website Rivals.com ranked Oklahoma's 2005 recruiting class number one in the nation and the 2006 recruiting class number nine. Most of the 2006 signees redshirted and did not play in 2006. When combined with statements from the Oklahoma coaching staff, the Sooners expected to be back in contention for the national title this year. On July 24, 2006, the Sooners were a 5–1 favorite to win the National Championship.
The Sooners adopted a different jersey design in 2006, which included the removal of the players' last names from the back of the jersey due to the design of the uniform's shoulders and back, and a darker crimson color for the jersey and helmet.
On August 2, 2006, quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn, both sophomores, were dismissed from the team. It was reported that they violated NCAA regulations regarding receiving extra compensation. It was later determined Bomar received $7,406.88 and Quinn $8,137.17. The loss of these two key players affected the team's placement in many publications' preseason polls as well as their chances of winning a national championship. The team turned to starting quarterback Paul Thompson (a converted wide receiver in 2005) and backup Joey Halzle to lead the team.
After investigating the Bomar scandal, on July 11, 2007, the NCAA announced a finding of "failure to monitor" the employment of student athletes and handed out penalties. These included a verdict that all wins from the 2005 Oklahoma season were vacated, changing the team's record from 8–4 to 0–4 for that year. The University of Oklahoma appealed the finding, and the wins were later restored.
Schedule
Roster
In 2006, the Sooners competed with a relatively young team. Oklahoma listed 72 players on the roster and only nine of them were scholarship seniors. Following the dismissal of quarterback Rhett Bomar, fifth-year senior Paul Thompson reconverted back to his former role of quarterback after spending 2005 as a wide receiver. Junior college transfer Joey Halzle was slotted as his backup. Thompson had several wide receivers to look to in 2006, including Malcolm Kelly, Manuel Johnson, and Juaquin Iglesias. Not to mention junior Adrian Peterson, the team's main running back. Most of the Sooners' experience was on the other side of the ball. The Sooner linebackers were the most experienced players on the team. The squad was anchored by Rufus Alexander and Zach Latimer. Alexander was ranked as the third best linebacker in the country at the beginning of the season by College Football News. Behind them were other key players such as Demarrio Pleasant and Lewis Baker. Sophomore Ryan Reynolds, a notable player coming out of high school, was injured in the preseason and therefore was unable to contribute in 2006. In addition to a veteran linebacker squad, Oklahoma had a number of big-name defensive ends. During the preseason, College Football News ranked Larry Birdine, Calvin Thibodeaux and C.J. Ah You in the top 25 best defensive ends for the 2006 season (ranked 14th, 20th, and 22nd, respectively). Oklahoma was the only team with three players in the top 25. (final) Wide receivers 1 Manuel Johnson† – Sophomore 4 Malcolm Kelly† – Sophomore 8 Brandon Caleb – Freshman 9 Juaquin Iglesias – Sophomore 14 Carter Whitson – Freshman 17 Eric Huggins – Freshman 22 Russell English – Sophomore 27 Garrett Bothun – Junior 80 Adron Tennell – Freshman 81 Fred Strong – Sophomore 84 Quentin Chaney – Sophomore
Offensive line 50 Jon Cooper† – Sophomore 60 Curtis Bailey – Freshman 63 Noah Hughey – Freshman 71 Trent Williams† – Freshman 65 Ben Barresi – Freshman 70 Cory Brandon – Freshman 72 Duke Robinson – Sophomore 73 Brandon Walker† – Freshman 74 Brian Simmons – Freshman 75 Chase Beeler – Freshman 76 Branndon Braxton – Sophomore 77 Sherrone Moore – Junior 79 Chris Messner† – Senior
Tight ends 18 Jermaine Gresham – Freshman 19 Joe Jon Finley† – Junior 83 Brody Eldridge – Freshman 87 Aaron Cummings – Freshman 88 Eric Mensik – Freshman
Fullbacks 34 Matt Clapp – Sophomore 45 Dane Zaslaw – Junior 49 Ian Pleasant – Junior 83 Brody Eldridge† – Freshman Quarterbacks 12 Paul Thompson† – Senior 14 Sam Bradford – Freshman 15 Joey Halzle – Sophomore 16 Hays McEachern – Sophomore
Running backs 7 DeMarco Murray – Freshman 13 Mossis Madu – Freshman 26 Bruce Buckson II - "Freshman" 21 Jacob Gutierrez – Junior 23 Allen Patrick – Junior 28 Adrian Peterson† – Junior 29 Chris Brown – Freshman
Defensive line 33 Auston English – Sophomore 34 Ben Weyand – Freshman 44 Jeremy Beal – Freshman 58 Calvin Thibodeaux† – Senior 68 Carl Pendleton – Junior 78 Billy Blackard – Freshman 82 Laenar Nixon – Senior 85 Tim Johnson – Junior 86 Adrian Taylor – Freshman 89 Cordero Moore – Freshman 90 Steven Coleman† – Junior 91 Alonzo Dotson – Junior 92 Larry Birdine – Senior 93 Gerald McCoy – Freshman 94 Pryce Macon – Freshman 95 Alan Davis – Sophomore 96 DeMarcus Granger – Freshman 97 Cory Bennett† – Sophomore 98 John Williams – Junior 99 C.J. Ah You† – Senior Linebackers 8 Ryan Reynolds* – Sophomore 16 Lewis Baker – Junior 30 Lamont Robinson – Freshman 40 Curtis Lofton† – Sophomore 42 Rufus Alexander† – Senior 46 Zach Latimer† – Senior 48 Brandon Crow – Freshman 51 Demarrio Pleasant – Junior 53 Kyle Petersen – Sophomore
Defensive backs 2 Brian Jackson – Freshman 3 Reggie Smith† – Sophomore 4 Jonathan Nelson – Freshman 5 Nic Harris† – Sophomore 6 Jason Carter – Senior 11 Lendy Holmes† – Sophomore 15 Dominique Franks – Freshman 18 Cortney Carter – Sophomore 20 Quinton Carter – Freshman 22 Keenan Clayton – Freshman 24 Marcus Walker† – Junior 25 D.J. Wolfe – Junior 26 Brett Bowers – Sophomore 41 Darien Williams† – Junior
Punters 13 Mike Knall – Sophomore 31 Michael Cohen – Junior
Kickers 10 Garrett Hartley – Junior
Deep Snapper 52 Derek Shaw – Freshman † Starter at position * Injured; did not play in 2006.
Coaching staff NamePositionYearsat OU Bob StoopsHead coach8 Brent VenablesAssociate head coachDefensive coordinatorLinebackers8 Bobby Jack WrightAssistant head coachCo-defensive coordinator Defensive backs8 Kevin WilsonOffensive coordinatorTight ends/fullbacks5 Casey GlennOffensive line ga2 Cale GundyRecruiting coordinatorRunning backs8 Kevin SumlinCo-offensive coordinatorReceivers5 Josh HeupelQuarterbacks3 James Patton Offensive line 1 Jackie Shipp Defensive line 8 Chris Wilson Defensive ends 2
Bob Stoops returned for his eighth season as Oklahoma's head coach. During the off-season, he was once again mentioned as a candidate for positions outside of Oklahoma. While Stoops decided to stay in Norman, the rest of the Oklahoma coaching staff did see some changes. The biggest change came at the offensive coordinator position. Former offensive coordinator Chuck Long left Oklahoma to take the head coaching job at San Diego State University. Stoops chose somebody already on the staff to fill Long's spot. Kevin Wilson was named the new offensive coordinator after previously serving as the co-offensive coordinator along with Long as well as the offensive line coach. Rejoining the staff was former Sooner quarterback Josh Heupel, who led Oklahoma to the 2000 National Championship. Heupel had served two years as a graduate assistant before taking a position with Mike Stoops, Bob Stoops's brother, at the University of Arizona in 2005. Heupel took over Long's old position of quarterback coach. Leaving the staff was Darrell Wyatt, who spent four years as the wide receivers coach. He took a position with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. This move launched another reshuffle of duties on Stoops's staff. Coach Kevin Sumlin took over Wyatt's duties with the wide receivers and was also named co-offensive coordinator with Wilson. Coach James Patton was hired on from Northwestern to take over Wilson's duties with the offensive line.
Game summaries
UAB
The Sooners began their season on September 2 against the UAB Blazers coached by Watson Brown. The Sooners' offense performed well with quarterback Paul Thompson completing 58% of his passes for 227 yards. Heisman hopeful Adrian Peterson performed well also, rushing for 139 yards, plus an additional 69-yard reception and two touchdowns. However, the Oklahoma defense did not perform as well as expected, giving up over 300 yards of offense. Bob Stoops himself said that "they weren't nearly as good as they were billed to be." Nevertheless, Oklahoma avoided another opening game upset and won 24–17.
Washington
On September 9, the Sooners took on the Huskies of Washington coached by Tyrone Willingham. Washington began with the ball and on the opening offensive play, Kenny James squeezed through Oklahoma's line and dodged Keenan Clayton's tackle to race 54 yards for a touchdown. Before the end of the 1st quarter, Paul Thompson hit wide receiver Malcolm Kelly in the back of the endzone to tie the game 7–7. Washington answered with a field goal early in the 2nd quarter and Oklahoma and Washington continued to trade field goals to end the 1st half tied 13–13. Oklahoma, however, came out strong in the second half and took the game away from the Huskies. Oklahoma scored 24 consecutive points before Washington scored a late-game touchdown to bring the final score in favor of Oklahoma, 37–20.
Adrian Peterson continued his march up the Oklahoma record books with 165 rushing yards. Peterson was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. Quarterback Paul Thompson improved over his season debut, going 21-for-33 including 9-for-11 in the second half. Some began to see the emergence of a "dynamic trio" in Thompson, Peterson, and Kelly.
Oregon