Sooners have moved on

The Norman Transcript

July 24, 2007 01:23 am

— Transcript Sports Writer
SAN ANTONIO -- Oklahoma's players haven't commented since the NCAA's ruling on the infractions committed by former quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn.
Monday at Big 12 Football Media Days, wide receiver Malcolm Kelly and tight end Joe Jon Finley said it wasn't something they had spent a lot of time thinking about.
"We had a meeting the day after it was announced and they let us know what the situation was and now everyone has moved on," Finley said. "You can't really do anything about it now.
"I haven't really heard anybody talking about it at all, except for that one meeting."
The NCAA has reduced the Sooners' scholarship total from 85 to 83 the next four seasons and has taken away their 8-4 record in 2005 and replaced it with an 0-4 mark. All the wins must be vacated because Bomar and Quinn were considered ineligible once they took money for hours they didn't work at Big Red Sports and Imports, a Norman auto dealership.
OU is appealing the verdict and the process is already under way. As it affects the football program, the only contention is getting back that 8-4 record.
Why is that so important?
"It's fair for us as a university to stand up for the 110 guys who did things the right way and played by the rules," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "We'll appeal and hopefully give (the NCAA) something to look at there."
But it wasn't something weighing heavily on the minds of anyone speaking on behalf of OU Monday.
Stoops didn't want to spend much time talking about it. Neither did the players.
They were there to talk about the future, which they believe will be unaffected by the NCAA's ruling.
"There's nothing there that would inhibit us from winning championships," Stoops said. "Most of the stuff is in the past. In the end, there's nothing there we can't overcome and continue to win championships. Most of the penalties, to me, are in the past."
Finley and Kelly both played on that 2005 team and neither wants to see those wins erased. Whether or not they remain in the record book isn't their call. But they're pretty sure they won eight games that season.
"Everyone who saw us play knows we were 8-4," Kelly said. "It's nothing I can control. The game was a game. If they want to put a loss on the scoreboard, then they can do that. The people who played in those games remember who walked out happy after them. And that was us."