By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer

When Oklahoma booted Rhett Bomar from the team in early August, it took a tumble in the polls. Most believed the Sooners’ Big 12 and national title hopes hung on the former quarterback’s shoulders.

The fact OU turned to senior Paul Thompson did little to calm the waters. After all, his only career start was a disastrous three-interception performance in a 2005 loss to TCU.

Well, OU still hasn’t recovered in the polls. It started the season ranked in the top 10, but fell to No. 15 despite not losing until the controversial ending at Oregon.

The loss might prevent the Sooners from moving back into the top echelon of college football’s elite. Thompson, however, has proven he’s more than an emergency replacement.

“Paul stepped up to the challenge,” wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias said. “He’s really gone out there and proved everybody wrong.”

How wrong?

Through four games Thompson has thrown 930 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s well on pace to blast past Bomar’s 2005 totals of 2,018 yards and 10 TDs.

The Sooner offense doesn’t look like it’s missing any important pieces. OU’s averaging 416.5 yards per game with 236.2 coming through the air. More importantly, it’s averaging 38.5 points a game.

Those aren’t the averages most were expecting when the season began. Conventional wisdom predicted OU would feed the ball to Adrian Peterson and let the Heisman Trophy candidate grind out what he could.

Peterson’s certainly gotten his share of carries (117) and yards (643). He’s even found the end zone seven times.

But Thompson’s done a lot more than hand him the ball. Against the Ducks, he threw for 174 yards and a touchdown. Statistically, it was his worst performance of the season, but the poise he showed in the Autzen Stadium madness won over most of the doubters.

“When the switch was made I didn’t know about his consistency,” said wide receiver Malcolm Kelly, who has caught four touchdown passes and averages 94.8 receiving yards a game. “I knew he was a great athlete and I knew he could lead the team. I knew he would have some real good games, but I also thought we would have some bumpy ones, too. I haven’t seen any of that yet. He knows exactly what he needs to do and he knows how to conduct this offense.”

Last week’s 13-for-18 outing against Middle Tennessee was his most efficent. He threw for a season-high three touchdowns as part of a 257-yard night.