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Oklahoma football: Ranking the Sooners quarterbacks since 2000

By Christopher Dukes

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 14: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners wears the Golden Hat Trophy after the 29-24 win over the Texas Longhorns at Cotton Bowl on October 14, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Richard W. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 14: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners wears the Golden Hat Trophy after the 29-24 win over the Texas Longhorns at Cotton Bowl on October 14, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Richard W. Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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Sooner quarterback Paul Thompson#12. (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images)
Sooner quarterback Paul Thompson#12. (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images) /

8. Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson’s senior year is one of the more remarkable stories in Oklahoma football history. After losing the quarterback job to Rhett Bomar Thompson decided to boost his NFL opportunities and learn to play wide receiver where he was primed to compete for a starting job going into 2006.

Just days before the start of the season the Sooners had to throw Bomar off the team, along with the starting center. Thompson answered the call and took over as the team’s starting quarterback on short notice, leading Oklahoma to a pair of wins over UAB and Washington before one of the biggest referee botches in NCAA history cost the Sooners a 34-33 game against Oregon.

Two weeks later the Sooners tasted a second defeat at the hands of a young Colt McCoy and Texas. At just one game over .500, things got worse the following week against Iowa State when All American running back Adrian Peterson broke his collar bone.

Now down a starting quarterback, a once-in-a-lifetime running back and a center, the wheels may very well have come off the Sooner Schooner without Thompson’s leadership. Instead the Sooners reeled off eight straight wins – including three over ranked opponents on the road – to win the Big 12 title. Had it not been for the screwy finish earlier in the year against Oregon the Sooners would have made an argument for a shot at the BCS Championship game, but instead drew upstart Boise State.

Thompson was never all that flashy as a passer, but his ability to lead sets him apart and earns him a spot in the Oklahoma football history books.

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