Oklahoma quarterback Paul Thompson’s performance was far from spectacular Saturday night. He threw two interceptions and he only completed three passes in the second half.

But Thompson, whose only other start was OU’s season-opening loss to TCU last season, wasn’t ready to cry about the Sooners’ 24-17 win over Alabama-Birmingham.

“It felt great,” he said. “No matter how you slice it, it’s a win at the end of the day. It feels good. We were in a tough spot, but we were able to respond. That showed the character of this team.”

Thompson walked onto Owen Field with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’d been thrust into the starting job after Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team on the eve of OU’s first preseason practice.

Until then, he’d committed himself to becoming a wide receiver. The last four weeks have a been a crash course in returning himself to quarterback form.

He admits there’s still strides to be made. Both the interceptions cost the Sooners points.

The first came on a high pass tipped by Sooner receiver Juaquin Iglesias. The second was thrown behind the receiver. Both occurred when OU was within field goal range.

Still, Sooner coach Bob Stoops wasn’t critical.

“I was very pleased with Paul,” he said. “I thought he managed everything well. He was clean at the line of scrimmage. His management of the game was very good. He made a lot of nice throws.”

Thompson finished the game 14-for-24 for 227 yards. He also added a 21-yard touchdown pass to Joe Jon Finley and a hit Adrian Peterson on a screen pass that turned into a 69-yard touchdown.

There was some bad, but some good as well.

Thompson believes he and the Sooners have better performances ahead of them.

“I’m happy for this team and the direction it’s going,” he said. “Some might look at this as we played sloppy and we did. But a win is a win and we feel like we can build on this.”