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Hybl Still Makes Sense, White Adds Comfort by Justin Waganer Senior Sports Writer October 9, 2001
Jason White gave Sooner fans and Oklahoma writers a story to remember and relive for years to come with his emergency performance in the Cotton Bowl last Saturday, helping lead the Sooners to their first back-to-back victories over Texas since 1987-88. White was poised and prepared when he entered all the way to final gun, his lone big mistake was forgetting OU was out of timeouts late in the game, at times he showed Heupel-like ability to make the play and move the ball. A little run here and a last second pass there drove Texas players, coaches, and fans crazy as he ate the clock to give the ridiculously good Oklahoma defense a break.
Despite this tremendous performance there should be no doubt who the starting quarterback is when the Sooners play the Jayhawks at 6 p.m. Saturday night, Nate Hybl is still the man. Hybl took the punishment against Kansas State and continued to make the plays, then he took hits from the Longhorns and still tried to return after being knocked out once, but finally succumbed to the pain. The fact is that you should never lose a starting job to injury unless you haven't been productive or the injury prevents you from playing at your top level.
Aside from the fact that Hybl had just made a nice play before he went out and had 283 yards passing with two touchdowns against Kansas State, this is the guy that the coaches chose as the best man for the job. At this point if you want to challenge or question these coaches you are on the same level of intelligence as Lee Corso. OK, so you can always question someone because nobody's perfect, but right now these guys are pretty close.
If you want to question them on personnel then you are a notch below the Corso intelligence level, these guys have won 18 in a row and 25 of 32 since they got here, after the program was 23-33-1 since 1994. The same guys that told everyone since last season that Andre Woolfolk could be a better cornerback than a receiver. The same guys that moved Jimmy Wilkerson to end from linebacker, the guy who had three sacks against Texas. The same guys who are 8-0 against top 10 teams, kept Texas and Florida State out of the end zone, and took Antonio Perkins and moved him to cornerback. Why is that impressive? Perkins admitted after the game that he had never played defense in his life before coming to OU.
Yes, White was very impressive and in the end, be it this year, next year, or the next may be the man for the Sooners, but right now Hybl is the man. The play he made before finally leaving the game ABC's Gary Danielson called, "one of the best throws he'd ever seen." Should he get hurt against Kansas and White does the same thing again, Hybl is still the man. If Hybl struggles against Kansas and White enters to engineer some touchdown drives, then there's an argument. These coaches will know that too.
When J.T. Thatcher blew plays against Nebraska last season he was pulled in favor of the young, fiery Brandon Everage. When the OU receivers have played below their ability this season they have been pulled in favor of youngsters Mark Clayton and Will Peoples. For the fans and media types it is fun to think of another superstar emerging from the bench such as Jamelle Holieway in 1985 and for it to be a born and bred Okie it's even better, but for now, Hybl still makes sense.
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