OU football notebook
OU football notebook

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Published: August 7, 2007

Joe Jon Finley isn't listening to the hype

Joe Jon Finley knows the talk is out there — he hears about it from his friends and family — that Oklahoma has loads of talent on offense.

But the Sooners' tight end isn't listening.

"We can't listen to the hype about our offense,” said Finley, one of four seniors on the offensive two-deep. "Last year, we weren't supposed to be any good and ended up pretty good. It can go the opposite way if you let it.”

The OU offense returns a player, in some cases two, with starting experience at 10 of the 11 positions on a team that won the Big 12 Championship a year ago.

"(The media says) we're supposed to be good, but they don't see what's going on out here,” Finley said. "We've got a lot of work to do.”

•Rookies: OU coach Bob Stoops mentioned true freshman offensive lineman Donald Stephenson when asked which players have looked good in the early days of training camp.

Stoops didn't elaborate on what has impressed him about the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder from Blue Springs, Mo.

Making an impression isn't always easy for true freshmen at the start of camp, because of all the changes they face with a new system, new surroundings and the overwhelming task of making the jump to college football.

"You know how it is with freshmen,” OU secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright said. "They come in and they get crazy pretty quick. They're good football players and they're talented, but the learning curve is really incredible for them.”

•Gamer: OU linebacker Lewis Baker was one of the most popular Sooners of the last month and it had nothing to do with any of his own actions.

Baker was the primary player in the EA Sports commercials for their NCAA Football 2008 video game. In the commercial — a recreation of the final play of last season's Fiesta Bowl — Baker tackles Boise State's Ian Johnson short of the goal line for an OU victory.

"It's pretty cool that I was on there — or, the video game me,” Baker said with a laugh. "When it first came out, everybody was talking to me about it. It's starting to wear down now.”

Baker said several teammates were watching TV in the locker room when they saw the commercial for the first time. His head coach wasn't among them.

"I haven't seen it,” Stoops said. "I don't watch a lot of TV.”

By Scott Wright