We last left Oklahoma freshman Blake Bell in Paradise Valley, Ariz., site of Fiesta Bowl Media Day Dec. 29. The five-star prep quarterback was coming off a redshirt season, and shooting down rumors he was itching to transfer.
"At some other schools they're celebrating Christmas break right now with their family because they're not at a bowl game," Bell told my tag-team partner John Hoover. "We came here to win championships. That's part of it, competing for a job. Landry (Jones) is doing a great job, and he'll do a great job next year.
"We all just have to fight it out and be behind him. Like Drew (Allen, OU's other backup QB) said, 'Anything can happen.'"
The fight continues this spring. Bell talked about it after practice Tuesday night, when he reiterated he has no desire to leave OU.
"You always have people saying I'm not happy here and stuff like that," he said. "But I know it's a learning process. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to learn from a guy like Landry that's been here. He's getting better every day, and he's going to keep getting better. I'm just excited to be behind him and learn from him, too."
What is it that Bell has to learn?
"I've got a lot of footwork to do," he said. "With all of my reads, I"ve got to quicken everything up timing-wise."
He's more comfortable with the faster speed of college football than he was last fall. But he's not there yet.
"It's coming in bits and pieces," Bell said. "I'm sure when you get in front of 85,000 people it will be a lot faster. I need to figure that out and keep going with it. I've got all of the plays down and stuff like that. It's the little things – drops, timing, reads."
Asked to rate his performance in the Sooners' two spring scrimmages, Bell said: "I did some good and did some bad. Just quicken up my decisions and it'll come, just like a lot of the guys say. It takes a long time at the quarterback position. I understand that. I'm just going to keep grinding every day and it will get better."
It will be interesting to see how Bell performs in his first Red-White Game. He's with Jones on the White, opposite the Red's Allen. If that sounds favorable to Allen, remember it is entirely possible coaches will shift Bell to the Red to ensure he gets enough snaps.
Here's one thing Bell is sure of: "I'm just ready to get out there and get a feel for the game, with (fans) there, and have fun with it. You can do all of the studying and preparation now and during the week, but you've just got to go out there and cut loose, have fun and make quick decisions."
There's that timing issue again, something every freshman quarterback must master, regardless of the numbers he amassed in high school (5,992 yards and 69 touchdowns in Bell's case).
Bell is working on it. He plans to keep working on it, even as Jones prepares for a second full season as starter, a Heisman Trophy and national championship both within reach.
For now, he's just looking forward to Saturday afternoon.
"I'm excited just to get out there and show them what I've got," Bell said. "Not even that, but go out there and have fun with it. I feel like I haven't gotten in a live game scrimmage since my senior year of high school, since we lost in the last round of the playoffs. So I'm excited."
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