Coaches No. 11 2006 record 11–3 (7–1 Big 12) | Division South AP No. 11 | |
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
Coaching staff
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.
Statistics
The Sooners led the conference in many defense statistics, including pass efficiency defense, scoring defense, total defense, and sacks allowed. They finished second in rushing defense. They also ranked in the top 20 nationally in all the above categories. The Sooners' weakness came on offense where they finished in the middle of the pack in the conference. The Sooners' rushing offense ranked third in the conference but passing offense ranked tenth, total offense eighth and passing efficiency sixth.
Scores by quarter
Statistics from: "Oklahoma Sooners – Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Oklahoma Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
Postseason
As the 2006 college football season neared the end, many organizations began to announce finalists and winners of various post-season awards. Sooner players and coaches appeared on many of these lists. Head coach Bob Stoops was unanimously named Coach of the Year on the AT&T All-Big 12 Coaches Team. This was the third time he'd won the award, more than any other coach in the conference. Stoops was also named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award, a national award handed out by the Football Writer's Association of America. Oklahoma defensive coordinator/linebacker coach/associate head coach Brent Venables was named one of five finalists for the Broyles Award which goes to the nation's best assistant coach.
Several players for the Sooners were also honored. Oklahoma junior kicker Garrett Hartley was named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. Oklahoma senior linebacker Rufus Alexander was named the AT&T All-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was the third Oklahoma player to earn this honor, following Teddy Lehman in 2003 and Roy Williams in 2001. He was also Oklahoma's lone All-American this year was linebacker, and was given first team All-American status by the American Football Coaches Association. The following Oklahoma players were also named to the All–Big 12 First, Second, and Honorable Mention Team:
Adrian Peterson finished his last season at Oklahoma with 1,012 yards. This brought his career total to 4,045 which placed him third all-time at Oklahoma. He would remain 26 yards behind Joe Washington and 73 yards behind Billy Sims.
2007 NFL Draft
The 2007 NFL Draft was held on April 28–29, 2007 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The following Oklahoma players were either selected or signed as undrafted free agents following the draft. Adrian Peterson was the highest Sooner drafted since Cedric Jones was drafted as the fifth pick in 1996.