Paul Thompson played quarterback for the Sooners in the spring of 2005 (above) but had since moved to wide receiver. Darren Carroll/SI

While it's hardly ideal to have to rejigger your entire offense on three weeks' notice, one could easily see offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson employing the more mobile Thompson out of spread formations the way he did with Zak Kustok at Northwestern in 2000-01. And it's not like OU was going to be passing the ball 35 times a game what with Adrian Peterson lining up in its backfield. So long as the Sooners can regroup from the shock of this, they can still contend for the Big 12 title in 2006.

What every OU fan should be frightened about right now, however, is 2007 and beyond. If things had gone according to plan, Bomar by then would have had two years of experience under his belt and the Sooners' cast of talented young receivers, led by Malcolm Kelly, would have established themselves as veterans. In the likely event that Peterson turns pro early, OU would have been able to naturally morph back into a passing team.

Because of Bomar's presence, however, quarterback had not been a big recruiting priority for Oklahoma. After Thompson, the Sooners are down to unimpressive juco transfer Joey Halzle and incoming true freshman Sam Bradford, Scout.com's 17th-rated QB in last year's class. The guy that would have taken over, former stud recruit Tommy Grady, bailed out following Bomar's ascension last year and is currently battling for Utah's QB job. Barring a big-name transfer or heralded blue-chipper arriving between now and then, either Halzle or Bradford will be the starting quarterback next season. (OU is not currently listed among the favorites of any current top-25 QB prospects, though that may change now.)

But the real impact of Bomar's folly is the irreparable stain it will leave on Bob Stoops' previously squeaky-clean program, though you have to give the guy props for reacting the way he did. Stoops didn't have to throw his star player off the team. Normal protocol in such situations is suspension and restitution, a la Troy Smith's two-game ban at Ohio State last year. Whether it was the ludicrous amount of money involved, the fact that Bomar has run afoul of his coach twice before with a pair of possession-of-alcohol arrests or just wanting to send a message, Stoops went ahead and booted one of his most valuable players. "I firmly believe that our program is stronger than any individual player, and that a championship program cannot compromise its values," he said in a statement.

But the program isn't without blame in this mess, either. One has to wonder how such a thing was able to go on in the first place. This wasn't a case of Bomar receiving secret handouts from some nefarious mystery figure. If the reports are to believed, he was an actual salaried employee of the car dealership. And not just any car dealership -- the same one that provides free rides to OU coaches and athletics staff (most schools have similar arrangements). And the same one that raised eyebrows in April when it was revealed that Peterson had been allowed to "return" a pre-owned Lexus from there after driving it for several weeks (Peterson was cleared of any wrong-doing because then-owner Brad McRae deemed the arrangement a "standard operating business practice.")

Schools like Oklahoma employ compliance people for the sole purpose of monitoring ticking time bombs like this one. While it's unreasonable to expect them to know every intimate detail of every athlete in their department, the star quarterback working at the shady car dealership should have raised red flags from day one.

Ultimately, Stoops and his program will have to deal with the fallout for years to come. NCAA sanctions are possible, but not likely, unless an investigation uncovers university involvement and/or a repeated pattern of such abuses. (The Wisconsin "Shoe Box" scandal of a few years back comes to mind -- the school received five years' probation.) Rival coaches will use it against him in recruiting. And media outlets will draw inevitable, albeit ludicrous comparisons to the Barry Switzer/Charles Thompson/Brian Bosworth-era "bad boy" Sooners.

Stoops has a far more pressing concern than any of those, however. Fall camp starts Thursday, and two expected offensive starters -- including the quarterback -- won't be there. So much for the happy vibes of August.

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