Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops may pick starting quarterback by end of this week

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops isn't yet ready to answer the question being asked the most Sooners fans: Who will be the starting quarterback?

But Stoops is hinting that he'll make an announcement by the end of the week. While meeting with reporters Monday, he says he wanted to watch practices "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday" before deciding between Blake Bell and Trevor Knight.

No. 16 Oklahoma will open the season Aug. 31 at home against Louisiana-Monroe. Stoops says when the Sooners are ready to name a starter, "we'll say so."

He says Knight, Bell and Kendall Thompson — who suffered a fractured foot on the opening day of practice, knocking him out of the competition for the job — are all "mentally tough guys who work hard."