NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma's spring practices gave the coaches a chance to study the four quarterbacks who hope to become the starter. Settling on that person is likely to take a while.

Coach Bob Stoops says he is in no hurry to name Nate Hybl's replacement.

Hitting The Road

Don't miss ESPN College GameDay's Spring Practice Tour as Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso check in every day during SportsCenter. The GameDay guys will make stops in Norman, South Bend, State College, Iowa City and Columbus. During the week, there will also be features on some of the best storylines around the country, including who will replace Ken Dorsey and Marcus Vick's battle to win the starting job at Virginia Tech. A quick recap of the stops: April 14 -- Oklahoma April 15 -- Notre Dame April 16 -- Penn State April 17 -- Iowa April 18 -- Ohio State

"Everyone always wants to know who the starter's going to be," Stoops said in advance of Saturday's Red-White game. "As always here, we're not going to rush into anything. We're going to make sure we see it through, develop them all."

The candidates are senior Jason White, sophomores Brent Rawls and Paul Thompson and redshirt freshman Noah Allen.

White became the starter midway through the 2001 season, then blew out a knee. He began last season as the starter but injured his other knee and missed the rest of the year. He was back on a limited basis this spring.

Rawls got hurt during a scrimmage last fall, then suffered a concussion during the season and wound up not playing. Thompson threw 20 passes as Hybl's backup a year ago. Allen redshirted.

"That position in the end, I believe, will be good because of several things," Stoops said. "They're talented players, and they're surrounded by maybe our most versatile offense.

"Watching us through the spring, we've added a lot of new wrinkles and it's given us a lot of versatility on offense that gives the quarterback more opportunities to make plays."

In the Red-White game, White was 7-of-13 for 70 yards and two interceptions. Rawls was 11-of-17 for 138 yards and in interception. Thompson was 5-of-14 for 49 yards and was intercepted once; Allen was 4-of-14 for 79 yards and was picked off twice.

"They all made plays and they had some bad ones," Stoops said. "Some of their interceptions were tipped by the receiver, so it's hard to blame that on the quarterback. Overall, I saw a lot of good things."

Now he wants to see more good things from the quarterbacks before he and his staff decide who will start in the opener Aug. 30 against North Texas.

Stoops said he's looking to see which player emerges as a leader during offseason workouts, the player who does the little things throughout the summer. Naming a starter now just to avoid all the talk about the position isn't an option, he said.

"If there was team turmoil or problems in that regard, that might be something where I felt we need to get this done," Stoops said. "But our team's strong around those guys regardless.

"I'll bet most of the time our guys in the huddle on offense, they could care less who's in there."

Stoops said he expects to Sooners to be solid at running back and receiver, and that the offensive line should be the best in his five seasons at Oklahoma.

The defense, among the best in the country in recent years, could be even better in 2003.

"We felt like we were going to be pretty good (last year) and we were pretty decent," Stoops said. "But we felt like we were a year away from being really good and really special, and hopefully that'll be the case."

Oklahoma went 12-2 last season and won the Big 12 title and the Rose Bowl.

"We have a chance to have another really special year," Stoops said.