Casey Thompson

[babysdaddy 2718]

Glad he got his bad game out of the way the week before OU. 

[Gaffords 755]

On 10/2/2021 at 11:34 PM, Revolution512 said:

He did not see the field well, we continue to miss wide open deep shots. Casey had a bad game, there is no sugar coating that. But……we won

These should improve with more time.  In an interview they asked him about his 32 yard TD throw, his response was. You have to trust your training and your receivers. I couldn't see him but I knew he should be there. We practice these plays.  It's hard to see the receivers down the field and the defenders, so you just trust the play call and receiver and throw to where they should be.

More familiarity between qb, receivers and the playbook should improve accuracy ( not to mention an OLine that can move people to open passing lanes.

[Ignatius 4001]

5 hours ago, 1leggedduck said:

So far, on offense, no childish resistance to go to what will work, and no insistence on trying to go back to the original plan and away from what is working.

This is what I’ve been most pleased about; the playcalling seems to adapt to how the game is going. Under Herman it looked like the entire game was scripted…

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[HtownHorn 14487]

I think this offense is going to chew people up next year when we have everyone coming back except Kerstetter and Brewer. The biggest benefit from Okafor's injury is the game reps it likely gives Karic, Conner, and likely Hookfin.

This will be Casey's 4th start of his career. It took VY and Colt 2 years of game reps to become the dominate QBs they were.

[Valmy77 13094]

7 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Holy shit! Thompson's NIL deal must be pretty sweet.

[Gucci_Suit 2610]

12 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Holy shit! Thompson's NIL deal must be pretty sweet.

Just imagine if he was a tight end. Be taking fools to French Laundry. 

[USNALonghorn 5024]

52 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

If they won’t block for a quarterback like that then they’re hopeless.

[Happy Gilmore 1001]

1 hour ago, USNALonghorn said:

If they won’t block for a quarterback like that then they’re hopeless.

Christian Jones: Not good enough, goodluck on Saturday. 

[coachherman'sgrill 1982]

I think this offense is going to chew people up next year when we have everyone coming back except Kerstetter and Brewer. The biggest benefit from Okafor's injury is the game reps it likely gives Karic, Conner, and likely Hookfin.
This will be Casey's 4th start of his career. It took VY and Colt 2 years of game reps to become the dominate QBs they were.

I think the it will start near the end of the season. I also think the deep ball will start working and that's a multi threat offense.
I have to believe everyone grew from the TCU game. Casey did what he had to, even though it was ugly, X had a shit game that he acknowledged, and Bijan showed he has the shoulders to carry the team if needed.
A win like that, when the base offense wasn't working that allows the game plan to open up had to instill confidence that the game may truly never be out of hand.
I like the trajectory and what Sark is doing and like others have said, more reps equals more experience which is what Casey needs just like VY and Colt needed to become great.

[LTtxfan 48972]

How many throws by Casey to TE's vs tcu???  Gotta believe there are some opportunities there that will be used vs blOU.

Didn't Money throw a pass on a trick play in the Orange/White game??  Roschon gonna throw the ball on Saturday??

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by LTtxfan
typo

[ztejas 43266]

4 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

"I don't think I'll be nervous or anxious."

Oh Casey... you will be. And that's okay. Everything's cool til you hit that tunnel. 

[LTtxfan 48972]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

"I don't think I'll be nervous or anxious."

Oh Casey... you will be. And that's okay. Everything's cool til you hit that tunnel. 

Had to sit in the blOU section one time with a friend of mine who bought wrong tickets.  We were right next to the tunnel -- 

UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE...  🤘

[CoachTex 2618]

Only place I have ever seen an 80 year old woman flipping off and spitting at the opposing team. Birdseye view from on top of the consession stand by the tunnel.

[Rhinotx 499]

56 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

  Roschon gonna throw the ball on Saturday??

 

100%

[LTtxfan 48972]

Casey wearing #8 in this video...

 

 

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[ousux 5587]

I think the it will start near the end of the season. I also think the deep ball will start working and that's a multi threat offense.
I have to believe everyone grew from the TCU game. Casey did what he had to, even though it was ugly, X had a shit game that he acknowledged, and Bijan showed he has the shoulders to carry the team if needed.
A win like that, when the base offense wasn't working that allows the game plan to open up had to instill confidence that the game may truly never be out of hand.
I like the trajectory and what Sark is doing and like others have said, more reps equals more experience which is what Casey needs just like VY and Colt needed to become great.

While this might be a little bit too much sunshine, I do agree Casey will get better as the season goes on, and should be one of the best returning QB's in the country for '22. Games like last Saturday are ones we lose under Herman. It's so gotdam refreshing seeing us not being outcoached on a regular basis and more often than not being the difference in a W or L. (Arky was a combo of things, not simply coaching)

[UTEE97 3429]

SiAP

Spoiler

• The untold story of how Casey Thompson almost became a Sooner not once, but twice.
  
  The following includes excerpts of Charles Thompson’s exclusive interview 
•  
• Thompson’s eye-opening conversation with Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune. If you’re interested in gaining access to all the exclusive news and notes pertaining to the Oklahoma Sooners, you can get two months of OUInsider VIP membership for just $1 by clicking here.
  
  When Casey Thompson steps onto the hallowed playing surface at the Cotton Bowl this Saturday, odds are that his amalgam of emotions will include nostalgia, gratitude, and a very poignant quandary regarding what could have been.
  
  After all, long before Thompson ever rose to notoriety as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, he dreamed of wearing the Sooner crimson.
  
  And given his heritage, who in his shoes wouldn’t?
  
  His father, Charles, played quarterback at Oklahoma in the late 1980’s at the tail end of Barry Switzer’s tenure. Casey’s older brother, Kendal, had worn the Sooner uniform for three seasons in the early 2010s before an injury prompted him to jump ship for Utah as a graduate transfer.
  
  For Casey, the writing was seemingly emblazoned on the wall: if he was good enough to warrant a courtship from Oklahoma, he’d be a Sooner too. And once he stepped onto the gridiron at the high school level, it soon became evident that he was more than good enough. By the end of his sophomore season, the Moore native had picked up an offer from OU, one of two dozen total FBS scholarship offers that he’d garner.
  
  
  However, the Sooners were pursuing a pair of additional signal-callers in the 2018 class, and weren't about to play favorites with the three quarterbacks they targeted. In August 2016, some three months after Oklahoma offered Thompson, four-star pro-style passer Cameron Rising committed to the crimson and cream after Thompson initially deferred the chance.
  
  “Before Cameron Rising ever committed to the University of Oklahoma, Casey was given a courtesy call by Lincoln Riley and crew. Lincoln wanted Casey to commit at the barbecue event [the ChampU BBQ]. Casey, being obviously where he’s been around the game, it’s not that he wasn’t wanting to go to Oklahoma. He wanted to keep his recruitment open and wasn’t ready to commit his sophomore year in high school. And Lincoln [thought] obviously, as they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And he told Casey, ‘Man, I think Cameron Rising’s going to come in and he may commit. But I want to try to give you the opportunity.’ Casey didn’t commit. A week later, after the barbecue, Cameron Rising comes in and he commits.”
  
  Shortly thereafter, Thompson and his family sat down and weighed the options on the table. They eventually decided that despite their long-standing allegiance to the Sooners, Texas provided the best opportunity for Casey to develop and excel at the FBS level. On April 13, 2017, Thompson announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
  
  “Everything we did with Casey was calculated. We chose Texas out of a matrix. It’s not like I was jumping for joy like, ‘Hey! Go to the University of Texas!’ We had a matrix. We had a situation where they fit all of the criteria. We decided to strip all the colors off on every university and look at situations. One of the criteria: offensive-minded head coach. Another was the quarterback room; if you go back and look at Texas at the time of Casey’s commitment, Shane Buechele was the only returning player they had. Sam Ehlinger hadn’t even gotten on campus yet; he wasn’t a proven commodity.”
  
  Thompson and his family felt that the decision was rational and likely final. Nevertheless, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley continued to recruit Thompson fervently behind the scenes.
  
  Then, the sands shifted in seismic fashion. Nine days later, on April 22, Rising flipped from Oklahoma to Texas, and the Sooners’ pursuit ramped up.
  
  “Cameron Rising goes to the spring game, then goes to the Texas spring game and decides to decommit from Oklahoma and go to Texas. And I can tell you there was a hard push for Casey to flip to Oklahoma.”
  
  Thompson eagerly agreed to meet with Stoops and Riley, and told them he still wanted to be a Sooner.
  
  However, there was a fatal flaw in the ointment.
  
  At the time, several FBS programs had begun to kick the tires on Riley as a potential head coaching candidate. Thompson said he’d commit if Riley could promise to stick it out at Oklahoma and coach him for the duration of his collegiate career.
  
  In a moment of remarkable honesty, Riley admitted that he couldn’t make that promise.
  
  “Listen, here’s where I’ll give Lincoln respect. Casey had a meeting with Lincoln, and Bob at the time was the head coach. And he asked one question of Lincoln, and Lincoln was very honest with him. And that’s why I will always respect Lincoln Riley for this. He could have said to my son, ‘Casey, I guarantee I’ll be here for the remainder of your time.’ But he was honest. Casey asked him, ‘If I decommit from Texas and commit to Oklahoma, will you commit to being here the entire time I’m here as offensive coordinator?’ And Lincoln said, ‘Much as I’d love to tell you that I could do that, I can’t make you that promise.’ And that was really why that didn’t happen at that time.”
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: Jackson Laizure, Getty)
  
  
  A few weeks later, on June 1, the Sooners picked up a commitment from four-star dual-threat QB Tanner Mordecai. One week thereafter, on June 8, Stoops abruptly stepped down as Oklahoma’s head coach and handed the reins to Riley.
  
  Now fully able to assure Thompson that he’d be around for the long run, Riley reached back out, goading him to follow his heart and flip to OU. But once again, Thompson was unwilling to renege on his word, and his father wasn’t about to let his heart of crimson stand in the way of the decision that he felt was right.
  
  “I’ve had the luxury of having an older son, Kendal, who went through the process. I never knew how much Kendal loved the University of Oklahoma until Bob Stoops offered him. At the time, he was the earliest-offered quarterback that Bob Stoops had offered during his tenure. And I remember him calling me. I was on a trip; he said, ‘Dad, I think I’m about to commit to the University of Oklahoma.’ I said, ‘When did they offer?’ He said, ‘Just this morning.’ I said, ‘Whoa, nelly! Let’s talk about this.’ And he said, ‘Dad, it had been my whole dream my entire life to follow your footsteps at the University of Oklahoma. And I never thought I would be good enough for that. Now that I am, that’s where I want to go.’ And so as a dad, I wouldn’t say I pushed him to it. But I gave him my blessings blindly. … And so we learned a little bit through Kendal’s time of going through recruitment and then his situation in college. At the end of the day, you can go somewhere you’ve always dreamed to go. But you gotta make sure it’s the right fit. Because at the end of the day, it’s about getting on the field and playing. … And so playing trumped the notion, with Casey, [that] ‘Let’s go to OU just because I went, Kendal went, and you’re from Moore and you’re right around the corner from it, and it seems like that’s the natural thing to do.’ I just kind of wanted to take my experiences, my heart, my loyalty to OU out of the equation. And that’s why we decided to make a matrix. We took ten things that we thought were important, and we gave every school that was recruiting Casey a number. And we said, the team that came out with the highest number — if the conversation matched the situation, that’s where we went.”
  
  Thus, Thompson stayed loyal to the Longhorns until the end of the recruiting cycle, and inked his letter of intent in December 2017.
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: 247Sports)
  
  
  Fast-forward one year, and the Sooners’ quarterback job suddenly appeared to be up for grabs in the wake of the memorable Heisman tour de force from Kyler Murray. Oklahoma had Austin Kendall and Mordecai already on campus, plus five-star signee Spencer Rattler on his way to Norman. But none of those candidates looked like the surefire answer.
  
  Thus, on the heels of a largely fruitless redshirt year, Thompson decided to come home. He entered his name in the transfer portal and enrolled at Oklahoma.
  
  Yes, you read that correctly.
  
  “If you go [back] after Casey’s redshirt year… during that time, Casey did enter the portal. And I’ll be quite honest with you: we had several other schools that were on the charts for Casey to look at. … And I will tell you, the other places did include the University of Oklahoma. … And I’ll even go a step further and let [out] a bombshell here that nobody knows: he actually enrolled at Oklahoma when he got into the portal.”
  
  It stood to reason that no one would be more overjoyed to see him in crimson than his father.
  
  Instead, Charles laid his loyalty aside and talked Casey out of the decision, encouraging his son to remain in Austin and stay the course.
  
  “During my experiences and my older son’s experiences, there’s a few things that I [came to] understand. Listen: first of all, every QB1 has been, at some point in their career, QB2. So the number-one objective was to get to that No. 2 spot and be the heir apparent for Sam Ehlinger. So our goal for Casey when he decided to go to Texas was that by not the redshirt year, but the next spring, the goal was for him to be the No. 2 quarterback at the University of Texas behind Sam Ehlinger. … I told him, 'It's too early to run out on a plan that we had talked about since you were a junior in high school.' ”
  
  Persuaded by his father’s spirit of persistence, Thompson withdrew from the portal and returned to Texas. He spent the next two seasons backing up Ehlinger, a rarity in an era that sees very few blue-chip recruits display the willingness to wait for their shot.
  
  “I thought my son was physically, mentally ready to compete and play at a high level a year ago. And for me, it was tough. But I told him, ‘Man, you’ve just gotta ride it out, bide your time. I really felt like the University of Texas was still the right place for him. And I told him, ‘You’re only one snap away.’ "
  
  
  Ehlinger declared for the NFL draft after the 2020 season, most expected Thompson to take the reins. However, new head coach Steve Sarkisian somewhat surprisingly named redshirt freshman Hudson Card the starter to open the 2021 campaign.
  
  Few would have faulted Thompson for immediately entering the portal upon being denied a job that he’d so long anticipated. However, he continued in his labor of patience, and by the second game of the season, Sarkisian called Thompson’s number in relief of a floundering Card.
  
  The kid from Moore never looked back.
  
  After seizing the gig, Thompson led the Longhorns to wins in his first three starts, including a 32-27 road victory over a TCU team that had beaten Texas in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Now, the opponent in the fourth start of his collegiate career is an all-too-familiar one.
  
  In some former life, Thompson may have fantasized about leading Oklahoma to victory over Texas in front of a jubilant Cotton Bowl crowd. But this weekend, he’ll look to lead the Longhorns to an upset win over the program to which he nearly committed, and at which he briefly enrolled as a transfer.
  
  “When Sam Ehlinger left, he thought, ‘It’s now my time to be the leader of this program.’ And he never thought any different. So trust me: it was very difficult and a blow to his psyche when he wasn’t named the starter out of the gate this year. But he consistently and constantly believed in his preparation. And listen, I have a saying: What God has meant for you, there is nobody, no man that can stand in your way. And guys, I truly believe [that]. Casey does everything the right way. He’s not worried about going out on Sixth Street in Austin. He’s worried about focusing on the football and the preparation he has. And he has a tremendous amount of belief and faith in God. … I think the way that things went down, with him not being named the starter — ultimately, going through that wilderness and persevering through that, I think now it’s a perfect fit for him.”
  
  
  Save for his father’s unexpected exhortation, Casey Thompson might well be a Sooner today. Instead, he may just as well be the Sooners’ undoing.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by UTEE97

[nunna yo bizness 1687]

I'm so excited for this young man.  Of course as a UT fan I'm excited but I can't imagine what this means to Casey.  Win or lose I just hope Casey has a huge game and has a memorably positive outcome for him.  He's hung in through adversity a lot of kids would have bailed on and stuck to his dreams.  I hope it plays out as everything he's worked for.

[Deej 76566]

23 hours ago, CoachTex said:

Only place I have ever seen an 80 year old woman flipping off and spitting

Sorry you've never experienced South Austin's mom.

[CoachTex 2618]

5 minutes ago, Deej said:

Sorry you've never experienced South Austin's mom.

Ms. South Austin is a Saint. I have never seen her angry when I'm around. 

[coachherman'sgrill 1982]

While this might be a little bit too much sunshine, I do agree Casey will get better as the season goes on, and should be one of the best returning QB's in the country for '22. Games like last Saturday are ones we lose under Herman. It's so gotdam refreshing seeing us not being outcoached on a regular basis and more often than not being the difference in a W or L. (Arky was a combo of things, not simply coaching)

Agree, Casey is going to be pretty damn good next year. Love watching him get better now and you are absolutely correct about talent being squandered and out coached for 3 years. Couldn't agree more that Herman would have lost that game in the last 3 minutes.

[touchthemonolith 646]

It's futile at this point, but part of me still hopes that Sark wants to unleash Casey as a runner against OU. He's been effective, notwithstanding that really weird and slow run against TCU. Grinch's first, second, and third priority is containing Bijan. If they do manage to slow him down, and especially if the passing game continues struggling, then I'm gonna be pretty pissed if Casey's out there attempting a Mac Jones impression. 

[JohnnyRage 1617]

3 hours ago, UTEE97 said:

SiAP

  Hide contents

• The untold story of how Casey Thompson almost became a Sooner not once, but twice.
  
  The following includes excerpts of Charles Thompson’s exclusive interview 
•  
• Thompson’s eye-opening conversation with Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune. If you’re interested in gaining access to all the exclusive news and notes pertaining to the Oklahoma Sooners, you can get two months of OUInsider VIP membership for just $1 by clicking here.
  
  When Casey Thompson steps onto the hallowed playing surface at the Cotton Bowl this Saturday, odds are that his amalgam of emotions will include nostalgia, gratitude, and a very poignant quandary regarding what could have been.
  
  After all, long before Thompson ever rose to notoriety as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, he dreamed of wearing the Sooner crimson.
  
  And given his heritage, who in his shoes wouldn’t?
  
  His father, Charles, played quarterback at Oklahoma in the late 1980’s at the tail end of Barry Switzer’s tenure. Casey’s older brother, Kendal, had worn the Sooner uniform for three seasons in the early 2010s before an injury prompted him to jump ship for Utah as a graduate transfer.
  
  For Casey, the writing was seemingly emblazoned on the wall: if he was good enough to warrant a courtship from Oklahoma, he’d be a Sooner too. And once he stepped onto the gridiron at the high school level, it soon became evident that he was more than good enough. By the end of his sophomore season, the Moore native had picked up an offer from OU, one of two dozen total FBS scholarship offers that he’d garner.
  
  
  However, the Sooners were pursuing a pair of additional signal-callers in the 2018 class, and weren't about to play favorites with the three quarterbacks they targeted. In August 2016, some three months after Oklahoma offered Thompson, four-star pro-style passer Cameron Rising committed to the crimson and cream after Thompson initially deferred the chance.
  
  “Before Cameron Rising ever committed to the University of Oklahoma, Casey was given a courtesy call by Lincoln Riley and crew. Lincoln wanted Casey to commit at the barbecue event [the ChampU BBQ]. Casey, being obviously where he’s been around the game, it’s not that he wasn’t wanting to go to Oklahoma. He wanted to keep his recruitment open and wasn’t ready to commit his sophomore year in high school. And Lincoln [thought] obviously, as they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And he told Casey, ‘Man, I think Cameron Rising’s going to come in and he may commit. But I want to try to give you the opportunity.’ Casey didn’t commit. A week later, after the barbecue, Cameron Rising comes in and he commits.”
  
  Shortly thereafter, Thompson and his family sat down and weighed the options on the table. They eventually decided that despite their long-standing allegiance to the Sooners, Texas provided the best opportunity for Casey to develop and excel at the FBS level. On April 13, 2017, Thompson announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
  
  “Everything we did with Casey was calculated. We chose Texas out of a matrix. It’s not like I was jumping for joy like, ‘Hey! Go to the University of Texas!’ We had a matrix. We had a situation where they fit all of the criteria. We decided to strip all the colors off on every university and look at situations. One of the criteria: offensive-minded head coach. Another was the quarterback room; if you go back and look at Texas at the time of Casey’s commitment, Shane Buechele was the only returning player they had. Sam Ehlinger hadn’t even gotten on campus yet; he wasn’t a proven commodity.”
  
  Thompson and his family felt that the decision was rational and likely final. Nevertheless, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley continued to recruit Thompson fervently behind the scenes.
  
  Then, the sands shifted in seismic fashion. Nine days later, on April 22, Rising flipped from Oklahoma to Texas, and the Sooners’ pursuit ramped up.
  
  “Cameron Rising goes to the spring game, then goes to the Texas spring game and decides to decommit from Oklahoma and go to Texas. And I can tell you there was a hard push for Casey to flip to Oklahoma.”
  
  Thompson eagerly agreed to meet with Stoops and Riley, and told them he still wanted to be a Sooner.
  
  However, there was a fatal flaw in the ointment.
  
  At the time, several FBS programs had begun to kick the tires on Riley as a potential head coaching candidate. Thompson said he’d commit if Riley could promise to stick it out at Oklahoma and coach him for the duration of his collegiate career.
  
  In a moment of remarkable honesty, Riley admitted that he couldn’t make that promise.
  
  “Listen, here’s where I’ll give Lincoln respect. Casey had a meeting with Lincoln, and Bob at the time was the head coach. And he asked one question of Lincoln, and Lincoln was very honest with him. And that’s why I will always respect Lincoln Riley for this. He could have said to my son, ‘Casey, I guarantee I’ll be here for the remainder of your time.’ But he was honest. Casey asked him, ‘If I decommit from Texas and commit to Oklahoma, will you commit to being here the entire time I’m here as offensive coordinator?’ And Lincoln said, ‘Much as I’d love to tell you that I could do that, I can’t make you that promise.’ And that was really why that didn’t happen at that time.”
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: Jackson Laizure, Getty)
  
  
  A few weeks later, on June 1, the Sooners picked up a commitment from four-star dual-threat QB Tanner Mordecai. One week thereafter, on June 8, Stoops abruptly stepped down as Oklahoma’s head coach and handed the reins to Riley.
  
  Now fully able to assure Thompson that he’d be around for the long run, Riley reached back out, goading him to follow his heart and flip to OU. But once again, Thompson was unwilling to renege on his word, and his father wasn’t about to let his heart of crimson stand in the way of the decision that he felt was right.
  
  “I’ve had the luxury of having an older son, Kendal, who went through the process. I never knew how much Kendal loved the University of Oklahoma until Bob Stoops offered him. At the time, he was the earliest-offered quarterback that Bob Stoops had offered during his tenure. And I remember him calling me. I was on a trip; he said, ‘Dad, I think I’m about to commit to the University of Oklahoma.’ I said, ‘When did they offer?’ He said, ‘Just this morning.’ I said, ‘Whoa, nelly! Let’s talk about this.’ And he said, ‘Dad, it had been my whole dream my entire life to follow your footsteps at the University of Oklahoma. And I never thought I would be good enough for that. Now that I am, that’s where I want to go.’ And so as a dad, I wouldn’t say I pushed him to it. But I gave him my blessings blindly. … And so we learned a little bit through Kendal’s time of going through recruitment and then his situation in college. At the end of the day, you can go somewhere you’ve always dreamed to go. But you gotta make sure it’s the right fit. Because at the end of the day, it’s about getting on the field and playing. … And so playing trumped the notion, with Casey, [that] ‘Let’s go to OU just because I went, Kendal went, and you’re from Moore and you’re right around the corner from it, and it seems like that’s the natural thing to do.’ I just kind of wanted to take my experiences, my heart, my loyalty to OU out of the equation. And that’s why we decided to make a matrix. We took ten things that we thought were important, and we gave every school that was recruiting Casey a number. And we said, the team that came out with the highest number — if the conversation matched the situation, that’s where we went.”
  
  Thus, Thompson stayed loyal to the Longhorns until the end of the recruiting cycle, and inked his letter of intent in December 2017.
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: 247Sports)
  
  
  Fast-forward one year, and the Sooners’ quarterback job suddenly appeared to be up for grabs in the wake of the memorable Heisman tour de force from Kyler Murray. Oklahoma had Austin Kendall and Mordecai already on campus, plus five-star signee Spencer Rattler on his way to Norman. But none of those candidates looked like the surefire answer.
  
  Thus, on the heels of a largely fruitless redshirt year, Thompson decided to come home. He entered his name in the transfer portal and enrolled at Oklahoma.
  
  Yes, you read that correctly.
  
  “If you go [back] after Casey’s redshirt year… during that time, Casey did enter the portal. And I’ll be quite honest with you: we had several other schools that were on the charts for Casey to look at. … And I will tell you, the other places did include the University of Oklahoma. … And I’ll even go a step further and let [out] a bombshell here that nobody knows: he actually enrolled at Oklahoma when he got into the portal.”
  
  It stood to reason that no one would be more overjoyed to see him in crimson than his father.
  
  Instead, Charles laid his loyalty aside and talked Casey out of the decision, encouraging his son to remain in Austin and stay the course.
  
  “During my experiences and my older son’s experiences, there’s a few things that I [came to] understand. Listen: first of all, every QB1 has been, at some point in their career, QB2. So the number-one objective was to get to that No. 2 spot and be the heir apparent for Sam Ehlinger. So our goal for Casey when he decided to go to Texas was that by not the redshirt year, but the next spring, the goal was for him to be the No. 2 quarterback at the University of Texas behind Sam Ehlinger. … I told him, 'It's too early to run out on a plan that we had talked about since you were a junior in high school.' ”
  
  Persuaded by his father’s spirit of persistence, Thompson withdrew from the portal and returned to Texas. He spent the next two seasons backing up Ehlinger, a rarity in an era that sees very few blue-chip recruits display the willingness to wait for their shot.
  
  “I thought my son was physically, mentally ready to compete and play at a high level a year ago. And for me, it was tough. But I told him, ‘Man, you’ve just gotta ride it out, bide your time. I really felt like the University of Texas was still the right place for him. And I told him, ‘You’re only one snap away.’ "
  
  
  Ehlinger declared for the NFL draft after the 2020 season, most expected Thompson to take the reins. However, new head coach Steve Sarkisian somewhat surprisingly named redshirt freshman Hudson Card the starter to open the 2021 campaign.
  
  Few would have faulted Thompson for immediately entering the portal upon being denied a job that he’d so long anticipated. However, he continued in his labor of patience, and by the second game of the season, Sarkisian called Thompson’s number in relief of a floundering Card.
  
  The kid from Moore never looked back.
  
  After seizing the gig, Thompson led the Longhorns to wins in his first three starts, including a 32-27 road victory over a TCU team that had beaten Texas in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Now, the opponent in the fourth start of his collegiate career is an all-too-familiar one.
  
  In some former life, Thompson may have fantasized about leading Oklahoma to victory over Texas in front of a jubilant Cotton Bowl crowd. But this weekend, he’ll look to lead the Longhorns to an upset win over the program to which he nearly committed, and at which he briefly enrolled as a transfer.
  
  “When Sam Ehlinger left, he thought, ‘It’s now my time to be the leader of this program.’ And he never thought any different. So trust me: it was very difficult and a blow to his psyche when he wasn’t named the starter out of the gate this year. But he consistently and constantly believed in his preparation. And listen, I have a saying: What God has meant for you, there is nobody, no man that can stand in your way. And guys, I truly believe [that]. Casey does everything the right way. He’s not worried about going out on Sixth Street in Austin. He’s worried about focusing on the football and the preparation he has. And he has a tremendous amount of belief and faith in God. … I think the way that things went down, with him not being named the starter — ultimately, going through that wilderness and persevering through that, I think now it’s a perfect fit for him.”
  
  
  Save for his father’s unexpected exhortation, Casey Thompson might well be a Sooner today. Instead, he may just as well be the Sooners’ undoing.

 

 

 

 

Fucking Hook'em

[ousux 5587]

Wow, I knew Casey portaled at one time, had no idea he actually enrolled at blowU. I now like and respect Charles Thompson..he took down Switzer and decades later kept his son at Texas. Hook em Charles and Casey

[UTEE97 3429]

33 minutes ago, ousux said:

Wow, I knew Casey portaled at one time, had no idea he actually enrolled at blowU. I now like and respect Charles Thompson..he took down Switzer and decades later kept his son at Texas. Hook em Charles and Casey
 

Casey will become a legend if he can deliver Texas a Big 12 championship. If what's written in the article is true, his dad deserves a lot of gratitude and respect from our fanbase. We don't see parents like him these days. Kudos to both of them!

[ztejas 43266]

5 hours ago, UTEE97 said:

SiAP

  Hide contents

• The untold story of how Casey Thompson almost became a Sooner not once, but twice.
  
  The following includes excerpts of Charles Thompson’s exclusive interview 
•  
• Thompson’s eye-opening conversation with Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune. If you’re interested in gaining access to all the exclusive news and notes pertaining to the Oklahoma Sooners, you can get two months of OUInsider VIP membership for just $1 by clicking here.
  
  When Casey Thompson steps onto the hallowed playing surface at the Cotton Bowl this Saturday, odds are that his amalgam of emotions will include nostalgia, gratitude, and a very poignant quandary regarding what could have been.
  
  After all, long before Thompson ever rose to notoriety as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, he dreamed of wearing the Sooner crimson.
  
  And given his heritage, who in his shoes wouldn’t?
  
  His father, Charles, played quarterback at Oklahoma in the late 1980’s at the tail end of Barry Switzer’s tenure. Casey’s older brother, Kendal, had worn the Sooner uniform for three seasons in the early 2010s before an injury prompted him to jump ship for Utah as a graduate transfer.
  
  For Casey, the writing was seemingly emblazoned on the wall: if he was good enough to warrant a courtship from Oklahoma, he’d be a Sooner too. And once he stepped onto the gridiron at the high school level, it soon became evident that he was more than good enough. By the end of his sophomore season, the Moore native had picked up an offer from OU, one of two dozen total FBS scholarship offers that he’d garner.
  
  
  However, the Sooners were pursuing a pair of additional signal-callers in the 2018 class, and weren't about to play favorites with the three quarterbacks they targeted. In August 2016, some three months after Oklahoma offered Thompson, four-star pro-style passer Cameron Rising committed to the crimson and cream after Thompson initially deferred the chance.
  
  “Before Cameron Rising ever committed to the University of Oklahoma, Casey was given a courtesy call by Lincoln Riley and crew. Lincoln wanted Casey to commit at the barbecue event [the ChampU BBQ]. Casey, being obviously where he’s been around the game, it’s not that he wasn’t wanting to go to Oklahoma. He wanted to keep his recruitment open and wasn’t ready to commit his sophomore year in high school. And Lincoln [thought] obviously, as they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And he told Casey, ‘Man, I think Cameron Rising’s going to come in and he may commit. But I want to try to give you the opportunity.’ Casey didn’t commit. A week later, after the barbecue, Cameron Rising comes in and he commits.”
  
  Shortly thereafter, Thompson and his family sat down and weighed the options on the table. They eventually decided that despite their long-standing allegiance to the Sooners, Texas provided the best opportunity for Casey to develop and excel at the FBS level. On April 13, 2017, Thompson announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
  
  “Everything we did with Casey was calculated. We chose Texas out of a matrix. It’s not like I was jumping for joy like, ‘Hey! Go to the University of Texas!’ We had a matrix. We had a situation where they fit all of the criteria. We decided to strip all the colors off on every university and look at situations. One of the criteria: offensive-minded head coach. Another was the quarterback room; if you go back and look at Texas at the time of Casey’s commitment, Shane Buechele was the only returning player they had. Sam Ehlinger hadn’t even gotten on campus yet; he wasn’t a proven commodity.”
  
  Thompson and his family felt that the decision was rational and likely final. Nevertheless, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley continued to recruit Thompson fervently behind the scenes.
  
  Then, the sands shifted in seismic fashion. Nine days later, on April 22, Rising flipped from Oklahoma to Texas, and the Sooners’ pursuit ramped up.
  
  “Cameron Rising goes to the spring game, then goes to the Texas spring game and decides to decommit from Oklahoma and go to Texas. And I can tell you there was a hard push for Casey to flip to Oklahoma.”
  
  Thompson eagerly agreed to meet with Stoops and Riley, and told them he still wanted to be a Sooner.
  
  However, there was a fatal flaw in the ointment.
  
  At the time, several FBS programs had begun to kick the tires on Riley as a potential head coaching candidate. Thompson said he’d commit if Riley could promise to stick it out at Oklahoma and coach him for the duration of his collegiate career.
  
  In a moment of remarkable honesty, Riley admitted that he couldn’t make that promise.
  
  “Listen, here’s where I’ll give Lincoln respect. Casey had a meeting with Lincoln, and Bob at the time was the head coach. And he asked one question of Lincoln, and Lincoln was very honest with him. And that’s why I will always respect Lincoln Riley for this. He could have said to my son, ‘Casey, I guarantee I’ll be here for the remainder of your time.’ But he was honest. Casey asked him, ‘If I decommit from Texas and commit to Oklahoma, will you commit to being here the entire time I’m here as offensive coordinator?’ And Lincoln said, ‘Much as I’d love to tell you that I could do that, I can’t make you that promise.’ And that was really why that didn’t happen at that time.”
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: Jackson Laizure, Getty)
  
  
  A few weeks later, on June 1, the Sooners picked up a commitment from four-star dual-threat QB Tanner Mordecai. One week thereafter, on June 8, Stoops abruptly stepped down as Oklahoma’s head coach and handed the reins to Riley.
  
  Now fully able to assure Thompson that he’d be around for the long run, Riley reached back out, goading him to follow his heart and flip to OU. But once again, Thompson was unwilling to renege on his word, and his father wasn’t about to let his heart of crimson stand in the way of the decision that he felt was right.
  
  “I’ve had the luxury of having an older son, Kendal, who went through the process. I never knew how much Kendal loved the University of Oklahoma until Bob Stoops offered him. At the time, he was the earliest-offered quarterback that Bob Stoops had offered during his tenure. And I remember him calling me. I was on a trip; he said, ‘Dad, I think I’m about to commit to the University of Oklahoma.’ I said, ‘When did they offer?’ He said, ‘Just this morning.’ I said, ‘Whoa, nelly! Let’s talk about this.’ And he said, ‘Dad, it had been my whole dream my entire life to follow your footsteps at the University of Oklahoma. And I never thought I would be good enough for that. Now that I am, that’s where I want to go.’ And so as a dad, I wouldn’t say I pushed him to it. But I gave him my blessings blindly. … And so we learned a little bit through Kendal’s time of going through recruitment and then his situation in college. At the end of the day, you can go somewhere you’ve always dreamed to go. But you gotta make sure it’s the right fit. Because at the end of the day, it’s about getting on the field and playing. … And so playing trumped the notion, with Casey, [that] ‘Let’s go to OU just because I went, Kendal went, and you’re from Moore and you’re right around the corner from it, and it seems like that’s the natural thing to do.’ I just kind of wanted to take my experiences, my heart, my loyalty to OU out of the equation. And that’s why we decided to make a matrix. We took ten things that we thought were important, and we gave every school that was recruiting Casey a number. And we said, the team that came out with the highest number — if the conversation matched the situation, that’s where we went.”
  
  Thus, Thompson stayed loyal to the Longhorns until the end of the recruiting cycle, and inked his letter of intent in December 2017.
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: 247Sports)
  
  
  Fast-forward one year, and the Sooners’ quarterback job suddenly appeared to be up for grabs in the wake of the memorable Heisman tour de force from Kyler Murray. Oklahoma had Austin Kendall and Mordecai already on campus, plus five-star signee Spencer Rattler on his way to Norman. But none of those candidates looked like the surefire answer.
  
  Thus, on the heels of a largely fruitless redshirt year, Thompson decided to come home. He entered his name in the transfer portal and enrolled at Oklahoma.
  
  Yes, you read that correctly.
  
  “If you go [back] after Casey’s redshirt year… during that time, Casey did enter the portal. And I’ll be quite honest with you: we had several other schools that were on the charts for Casey to look at. … And I will tell you, the other places did include the University of Oklahoma. … And I’ll even go a step further and let [out] a bombshell here that nobody knows: he actually enrolled at Oklahoma when he got into the portal.”
  
  It stood to reason that no one would be more overjoyed to see him in crimson than his father.
  
  Instead, Charles laid his loyalty aside and talked Casey out of the decision, encouraging his son to remain in Austin and stay the course.
  
  “During my experiences and my older son’s experiences, there’s a few things that I [came to] understand. Listen: first of all, every QB1 has been, at some point in their career, QB2. So the number-one objective was to get to that No. 2 spot and be the heir apparent for Sam Ehlinger. So our goal for Casey when he decided to go to Texas was that by not the redshirt year, but the next spring, the goal was for him to be the No. 2 quarterback at the University of Texas behind Sam Ehlinger. … I told him, 'It's too early to run out on a plan that we had talked about since you were a junior in high school.' ”
  
  Persuaded by his father’s spirit of persistence, Thompson withdrew from the portal and returned to Texas. He spent the next two seasons backing up Ehlinger, a rarity in an era that sees very few blue-chip recruits display the willingness to wait for their shot.
  
  “I thought my son was physically, mentally ready to compete and play at a high level a year ago. And for me, it was tough. But I told him, ‘Man, you’ve just gotta ride it out, bide your time. I really felt like the University of Texas was still the right place for him. And I told him, ‘You’re only one snap away.’ "
  
  
  Ehlinger declared for the NFL draft after the 2020 season, most expected Thompson to take the reins. However, new head coach Steve Sarkisian somewhat surprisingly named redshirt freshman Hudson Card the starter to open the 2021 campaign.
  
  Few would have faulted Thompson for immediately entering the portal upon being denied a job that he’d so long anticipated. However, he continued in his labor of patience, and by the second game of the season, Sarkisian called Thompson’s number in relief of a floundering Card.
  
  The kid from Moore never looked back.
  
  After seizing the gig, Thompson led the Longhorns to wins in his first three starts, including a 32-27 road victory over a TCU team that had beaten Texas in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Now, the opponent in the fourth start of his collegiate career is an all-too-familiar one.
  
  In some former life, Thompson may have fantasized about leading Oklahoma to victory over Texas in front of a jubilant Cotton Bowl crowd. But this weekend, he’ll look to lead the Longhorns to an upset win over the program to which he nearly committed, and at which he briefly enrolled as a transfer.
  
  “When Sam Ehlinger left, he thought, ‘It’s now my time to be the leader of this program.’ And he never thought any different. So trust me: it was very difficult and a blow to his psyche when he wasn’t named the starter out of the gate this year. But he consistently and constantly believed in his preparation. And listen, I have a saying: What God has meant for you, there is nobody, no man that can stand in your way. And guys, I truly believe [that]. Casey does everything the right way. He’s not worried about going out on Sixth Street in Austin. He’s worried about focusing on the football and the preparation he has. And he has a tremendous amount of belief and faith in God. … I think the way that things went down, with him not being named the starter — ultimately, going through that wilderness and persevering through that, I think now it’s a perfect fit for him.”
  
  
  Save for his father’s unexpected exhortation, Casey Thompson might well be a Sooner today. Instead, he may just as well be the Sooners’ undoing.

 

 

 

 

Stories like this are why this is the greatest rivalry in American sports. You can present an argument as to why another rivalry might be better - and that argument might be a good one - but there is NOTHING like Texas/OU. 

The connections and allegiances are so bastardly intertwined and yet the hate remains so pure. There is no other rivalry where there is as much on the line almost every single time and where the distance, crowd, and results are split so cleanly down the middle. There is no other rivalry with as many inexplicable, devastating losses handed out to each side. And there is no rivalry that stays so true to all of that throughout every era of the sport. 

If any kid anywhere ever needed to understand college football a good start would be showing them a Texas/OU game. And if that kid is worth a shit, he (or she) should come away thinking something along the lines of, "I think I'd like to know more about this game".

I just hope Sark and Casey are up to it and we kick the shit out of these assholes because they never try and do anything less to us. And nor should they. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by ztejas

[DigglerontheHoof 21061]

3 hours ago, ztejas said:

Stories like this are why this is the greatest rivalry in American sports. You can present an argument as to why another rivalry might be better - and that argument might be a good one - but there is NOTHING like Texas/OU. 

The connections and allegiances are so bastardly intertwined and yet the hate remains so pure. There is no other rivalry where there is as much on the line almost every single time and where the distance, crowd, and results are split so cleanly down the middle. There is no other rivalry with as many inexplicable, devastating losses handed out to each side. And there is no rivalry that stays so true to all of that throughout every era of the sport. 

If any kid anywhere ever needed to understand college football a good start would be showing them a Texas/OU game. And if that kid is worth a shit, he (or she) should come away thinking something along the lines of, "I think I'd like to know more about this game".

I just hope Sark and Casey are up to it and we kick the shit out of these assholes because they never try and do anything less to us. And nor should they. 

Agreed.

IMO, there are only 4 cfb rivalries that can make a claim for best/most intense:

Texas/OU

Army/Navy

Alabama/Auburn

Michigan/tOSU

If you're a fan of any of these schools, you have an argument for best rivalry in cfb. 

All others pale in comparison. 

[Rockwell Torrey 1277]

WTF ESPN?  Paul Thompson?

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/gamedaykickoff100721/college-football-week-6-penn-state-iowa-red-river-rivalry-more

Edited October 7, 2021 by Rockwell Torrey

[BurntOrange&White 39655]

4 minutes ago, Rockwell Torrey said:

WTF ESPN?  Paul Thompson?

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/gamedaykickoff100721/college-football-week-6-penn-state-iowa-red-river-rivalry-more

Damn, just glad he could raise Casey while going through high school.

[TwiceHorn 31273]

8 hours ago, ousux said:

Wow, I knew Casey portaled at one time, had no idea he actually enrolled at blowU. I now like and respect Charles Thompson..he took down Switzer and decades later kept his son at Texas. Hook em Charles and Casey
 

I am frankly surprised by the intelligence, insight, and integrity displayed by Charles Thompson in those quotes and in that whole scenario.

My recall of his tenure at OU is dim except for the SI cover and an hilarious contemporary tshirt with him in uniform wearing a thick gold chain and fur coat.  I would have expected him to be more of a degenerate meathead than he showed there.

Edited October 7, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[1leggedduck 443]

I have to admit a little respect for Lincoln Riley being honest with Casey. Too bad about how Riley buys children in cages from Asia, and leaves his garbage cans on the curb for days after garbage pickup. 

[gmr548 16512]

I have to admit a little respect for Lincoln Riley being honest with Casey. Too bad about how Riley buys children in cages from Asia, and leaves his garbage cans on the curb for days after garbage pickup. 

Honestly if Riley coached anywhere else I’d be a big fan, but he doesn’t, so fuck him

[UTEE97 3429]

28 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I am frankly surprised by the intelligence, insight, and integrity displayed by Charles Thompson in those quotes and in that whole scenario.

My recall of his tenure at OU is dim except for the SI cover and an hilarious contemporary tshirt with him in uniform wearing a thick gold chain and fur coat.  I would have expected him to be more of a degenerate meathead than he showed there.

Different people experience maturity at different ages. Charles appears to have been a wonderful role model for his kids, which is evident from Casey's demeanor as well.

[capnamerca 571]

15 hours ago, UTEE97 said:

SiAP

  Reveal hidden contents

• The untold story of how Casey Thompson almost became a Sooner not once, but twice.
  
  The following includes excerpts of Charles Thompson’s exclusive interview 
•  
• Thompson’s eye-opening conversation with Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune. If you’re interested in gaining access to all the exclusive news and notes pertaining to the Oklahoma Sooners, you can get two months of OUInsider VIP membership for just $1 by clicking here.
  
  When Casey Thompson steps onto the hallowed playing surface at the Cotton Bowl this Saturday, odds are that his amalgam of emotions will include nostalgia, gratitude, and a very poignant quandary regarding what could have been.
  
  After all, long before Thompson ever rose to notoriety as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, he dreamed of wearing the Sooner crimson.
  
  And given his heritage, who in his shoes wouldn’t?
  
  His father, Charles, played quarterback at Oklahoma in the late 1980’s at the tail end of Barry Switzer’s tenure. Casey’s older brother, Kendal, had worn the Sooner uniform for three seasons in the early 2010s before an injury prompted him to jump ship for Utah as a graduate transfer.
  
  For Casey, the writing was seemingly emblazoned on the wall: if he was good enough to warrant a courtship from Oklahoma, he’d be a Sooner too. And once he stepped onto the gridiron at the high school level, it soon became evident that he was more than good enough. By the end of his sophomore season, the Moore native had picked up an offer from OU, one of two dozen total FBS scholarship offers that he’d garner.
  
  
  However, the Sooners were pursuing a pair of additional signal-callers in the 2018 class, and weren't about to play favorites with the three quarterbacks they targeted. In August 2016, some three months after Oklahoma offered Thompson, four-star pro-style passer Cameron Rising committed to the crimson and cream after Thompson initially deferred the chance.
  
  “Before Cameron Rising ever committed to the University of Oklahoma, Casey was given a courtesy call by Lincoln Riley and crew. Lincoln wanted Casey to commit at the barbecue event [the ChampU BBQ]. Casey, being obviously where he’s been around the game, it’s not that he wasn’t wanting to go to Oklahoma. He wanted to keep his recruitment open and wasn’t ready to commit his sophomore year in high school. And Lincoln [thought] obviously, as they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And he told Casey, ‘Man, I think Cameron Rising’s going to come in and he may commit. But I want to try to give you the opportunity.’ Casey didn’t commit. A week later, after the barbecue, Cameron Rising comes in and he commits.”
  
  Shortly thereafter, Thompson and his family sat down and weighed the options on the table. They eventually decided that despite their long-standing allegiance to the Sooners, Texas provided the best opportunity for Casey to develop and excel at the FBS level. On April 13, 2017, Thompson announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
  
  “Everything we did with Casey was calculated. We chose Texas out of a matrix. It’s not like I was jumping for joy like, ‘Hey! Go to the University of Texas!’ We had a matrix. We had a situation where they fit all of the criteria. We decided to strip all the colors off on every university and look at situations. One of the criteria: offensive-minded head coach. Another was the quarterback room; if you go back and look at Texas at the time of Casey’s commitment, Shane Buechele was the only returning player they had. Sam Ehlinger hadn’t even gotten on campus yet; he wasn’t a proven commodity.”
  
  Thompson and his family felt that the decision was rational and likely final. Nevertheless, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley continued to recruit Thompson fervently behind the scenes.
  
  Then, the sands shifted in seismic fashion. Nine days later, on April 22, Rising flipped from Oklahoma to Texas, and the Sooners’ pursuit ramped up.
  
  “Cameron Rising goes to the spring game, then goes to the Texas spring game and decides to decommit from Oklahoma and go to Texas. And I can tell you there was a hard push for Casey to flip to Oklahoma.”
  
  Thompson eagerly agreed to meet with Stoops and Riley, and told them he still wanted to be a Sooner.
  
  However, there was a fatal flaw in the ointment.
  
  At the time, several FBS programs had begun to kick the tires on Riley as a potential head coaching candidate. Thompson said he’d commit if Riley could promise to stick it out at Oklahoma and coach him for the duration of his collegiate career.
  
  In a moment of remarkable honesty, Riley admitted that he couldn’t make that promise.
  
  “Listen, here’s where I’ll give Lincoln respect. Casey had a meeting with Lincoln, and Bob at the time was the head coach. And he asked one question of Lincoln, and Lincoln was very honest with him. And that’s why I will always respect Lincoln Riley for this. He could have said to my son, ‘Casey, I guarantee I’ll be here for the remainder of your time.’ But he was honest. Casey asked him, ‘If I decommit from Texas and commit to Oklahoma, will you commit to being here the entire time I’m here as offensive coordinator?’ And Lincoln said, ‘Much as I’d love to tell you that I could do that, I can’t make you that promise.’ And that was really why that didn’t happen at that time.”
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: Jackson Laizure, Getty)
  
  
  A few weeks later, on June 1, the Sooners picked up a commitment from four-star dual-threat QB Tanner Mordecai. One week thereafter, on June 8, Stoops abruptly stepped down as Oklahoma’s head coach and handed the reins to Riley.
  
  Now fully able to assure Thompson that he’d be around for the long run, Riley reached back out, goading him to follow his heart and flip to OU. But once again, Thompson was unwilling to renege on his word, and his father wasn’t about to let his heart of crimson stand in the way of the decision that he felt was right.
  
  “I’ve had the luxury of having an older son, Kendal, who went through the process. I never knew how much Kendal loved the University of Oklahoma until Bob Stoops offered him. At the time, he was the earliest-offered quarterback that Bob Stoops had offered during his tenure. And I remember him calling me. I was on a trip; he said, ‘Dad, I think I’m about to commit to the University of Oklahoma.’ I said, ‘When did they offer?’ He said, ‘Just this morning.’ I said, ‘Whoa, nelly! Let’s talk about this.’ And he said, ‘Dad, it had been my whole dream my entire life to follow your footsteps at the University of Oklahoma. And I never thought I would be good enough for that. Now that I am, that’s where I want to go.’ And so as a dad, I wouldn’t say I pushed him to it. But I gave him my blessings blindly. … And so we learned a little bit through Kendal’s time of going through recruitment and then his situation in college. At the end of the day, you can go somewhere you’ve always dreamed to go. But you gotta make sure it’s the right fit. Because at the end of the day, it’s about getting on the field and playing. … And so playing trumped the notion, with Casey, [that] ‘Let’s go to OU just because I went, Kendal went, and you’re from Moore and you’re right around the corner from it, and it seems like that’s the natural thing to do.’ I just kind of wanted to take my experiences, my heart, my loyalty to OU out of the equation. And that’s why we decided to make a matrix. We took ten things that we thought were important, and we gave every school that was recruiting Casey a number. And we said, the team that came out with the highest number — if the conversation matched the situation, that’s where we went.”
  
  Thus, Thompson stayed loyal to the Longhorns until the end of the recruiting cycle, and inked his letter of intent in December 2017.
  
  Title/Alt Text
  (Photo: 247Sports)
  
  
  Fast-forward one year, and the Sooners’ quarterback job suddenly appeared to be up for grabs in the wake of the memorable Heisman tour de force from Kyler Murray. Oklahoma had Austin Kendall and Mordecai already on campus, plus five-star signee Spencer Rattler on his way to Norman. But none of those candidates looked like the surefire answer.
  
  Thus, on the heels of a largely fruitless redshirt year, Thompson decided to come home. He entered his name in the transfer portal and enrolled at Oklahoma.
  
  Yes, you read that correctly.
  
  “If you go [back] after Casey’s redshirt year… during that time, Casey did enter the portal. And I’ll be quite honest with you: we had several other schools that were on the charts for Casey to look at. … And I will tell you, the other places did include the University of Oklahoma. … And I’ll even go a step further and let [out] a bombshell here that nobody knows: he actually enrolled at Oklahoma when he got into the portal.”
  
  It stood to reason that no one would be more overjoyed to see him in crimson than his father.
  
  Instead, Charles laid his loyalty aside and talked Casey out of the decision, encouraging his son to remain in Austin and stay the course.
  
  “During my experiences and my older son’s experiences, there’s a few things that I [came to] understand. Listen: first of all, every QB1 has been, at some point in their career, QB2. So the number-one objective was to get to that No. 2 spot and be the heir apparent for Sam Ehlinger. So our goal for Casey when he decided to go to Texas was that by not the redshirt year, but the next spring, the goal was for him to be the No. 2 quarterback at the University of Texas behind Sam Ehlinger. … I told him, 'It's too early to run out on a plan that we had talked about since you were a junior in high school.' ”
  
  Persuaded by his father’s spirit of persistence, Thompson withdrew from the portal and returned to Texas. He spent the next two seasons backing up Ehlinger, a rarity in an era that sees very few blue-chip recruits display the willingness to wait for their shot.
  
  “I thought my son was physically, mentally ready to compete and play at a high level a year ago. And for me, it was tough. But I told him, ‘Man, you’ve just gotta ride it out, bide your time. I really felt like the University of Texas was still the right place for him. And I told him, ‘You’re only one snap away.’ "
  
  
  Ehlinger declared for the NFL draft after the 2020 season, most expected Thompson to take the reins. However, new head coach Steve Sarkisian somewhat surprisingly named redshirt freshman Hudson Card the starter to open the 2021 campaign.
  
  Few would have faulted Thompson for immediately entering the portal upon being denied a job that he’d so long anticipated. However, he continued in his labor of patience, and by the second game of the season, Sarkisian called Thompson’s number in relief of a floundering Card.
  
  The kid from Moore never looked back.
  
  After seizing the gig, Thompson led the Longhorns to wins in his first three starts, including a 32-27 road victory over a TCU team that had beaten Texas in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Now, the opponent in the fourth start of his collegiate career is an all-too-familiar one.
  
  In some former life, Thompson may have fantasized about leading Oklahoma to victory over Texas in front of a jubilant Cotton Bowl crowd. But this weekend, he’ll look to lead the Longhorns to an upset win over the program to which he nearly committed, and at which he briefly enrolled as a transfer.
  
  “When Sam Ehlinger left, he thought, ‘It’s now my time to be the leader of this program.’ And he never thought any different. So trust me: it was very difficult and a blow to his psyche when he wasn’t named the starter out of the gate this year. But he consistently and constantly believed in his preparation. And listen, I have a saying: What God has meant for you, there is nobody, no man that can stand in your way. And guys, I truly believe [that]. Casey does everything the right way. He’s not worried about going out on Sixth Street in Austin. He’s worried about focusing on the football and the preparation he has. And he has a tremendous amount of belief and faith in God. … I think the way that things went down, with him not being named the starter — ultimately, going through that wilderness and persevering through that, I think now it’s a perfect fit for him.”
  
  
  Save for his father’s unexpected exhortation, Casey Thompson might well be a Sooner today. Instead, he may just as well be the Sooners’ undoing.

 

 

 

 

Damn. That's a great article, and makes me like Casey (and his dad, what even is life that I'm complimenting Charles Thompson?) even more. Thanks for sharing.

[Bigjohns97 125]

5 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

Agreed.

IMO, there are only 4 cfb rivalries that can make a claim for best/most intense:

Texas/OU

Army/Navy

Alabama/Auburn

Michigan/tOSU

If you're a fan of any of these schools, you have an argument for best rivalry in cfb. 

All others pale in comparison. 

This guy college footballs

[GoldAppleCorps 617]

12 hours ago, touchthemonolith said:

It's futile at this point, but part of me still hopes that Sark wants to unleash Casey as a runner against OU. He's been effective, notwithstanding that really weird and slow run against TCU. Grinch's first, second, and third priority is containing Bijan. If they do manage to slow him down, and especially if the passing game continues struggling, then I'm gonna be pretty pissed if Casey's out there attempting a Mac Jones impression. 

OU's defensive priority is pressure from the edges. Texas's OL does their best, but pass protection on the edge isn't their calling card currently. I mention this because while analyzing the TCU game, Sark mentioned that Casey could step up into the pocket more. OU's run stopping DTs aren't their strong suit. Washing them out and stepping into the pocket would open up the QB run lane if the defense overloaded to cover the receivers and Bijan as the escape valve.

Casey's long run in the TCU game demonstrates he's got wiggle and speed. This offense has too many weapons to deliberately call the QB's number, but if the defense uses all their players elsewhere (or the Tackles fail to contain OU's very talented Ends), then stealing the yards up front would keep drives alive.

[dcar00 14035]

besides the obvious neutral field, the uniqueness of Texas/ou is that the sooners always have many players from Texas.  I'm not sure if that exists in the Mich/tOSU game. also Ohio and Michigan are of about the same size.

the neutral field/fair aspect of Texas/OU puts it at the top.

the fact that Mich/OSU is at the end of the year and was always in conference puts it next

then Army/Navy - the overall pagentry and history.

then Bama/Auburn - mainly because it is within one state so its more akin to Texas/aggy.

 

[MrBig 5289]

After we win, I’m ok with Casey putting on the golden hat and hijacking the wagon so he can do some donuts midfield. If we win by 20+ I wouldn’t mind Sark cutting a hole out of the back and riding around like he’s in a limo to get the party started.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

10 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

besides the obvious neutral field, the uniqueness of Texas/ou is that the sooners always have many players from Texas.  I'm not sure if that exists in the Mich/tOSU game. also Ohio and Michigan are of about the same size.

the neutral field/fair aspect of Texas/OU puts it at the top.

the fact that Mich/OSU is at the end of the year and was always in conference puts it next

then Army/Navy - the overall pagentry and history.

then Bama/Auburn - mainly because it is within one state so its more akin to Texas/aggy.

 

Part of the reason for Michigan's recent struggles is their failure to recruit Ohio as they well as they once did.  Guys like Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson are from Ohio. Additionally, Ohio has about 2 million more people than Michigan. 

[dcar00 14035]

2 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Part of the reason for Michigan's recent struggles is their failure to recruit Ohio as they well as they once did.  Guys like Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson are from Ohio. Additionally, Ohio has about 2 million more people than Michigan. 

good info on the recruiting with Mich.  sure Ohio has larger pop but it isn't as big a difference as the 25M between Texas and Ok.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

34 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

good info on the recruiting with Mich.  sure Ohio has larger pop but it isn't as big a difference as the 25M between Texas and Ok.

No doubt but Ohio as a state takes high school football much more seriously than Michigan which results in a large disparity in the number of D1 players that come from each state. Typically Ohio outpaces Michigan in D1 signees at a 2:1 ratio. So while their populations are similar their football production is significantly different. A more severe example of the same phenomenon happens in the Northeast. The state of New York is much more populous than New Jersey, but New Jersey produces twice as many D1 signees for similar reasons. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by Catdaddyhorn

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[LTtxfan 48972]

 

[gmr548 16512]

Casey Thompson being from Oklahoma is the new Colt/Shipley roommate or Texas didn’t offer Charlie Brewer story

[immamac 42518]

Casey is going to absolutely mud hole the gooners

lincoln Riley is a pussy as butch and knows it too.