The next Quintin Griffin will play for Oklahoma on Saturday.
Or so says the coaches and teammates of freshman running back Roy Finch.
Finch will finally make his debut on Saturday against Iowa State.
Finch sat out the first five games of the season because of a hairline fracture of his ankle suffered during two-a-days.
“You are going to enjoy watching him play,” said freshman safety Tony Jefferson. “His moves are Reggie Bush-like.”
“In two-a-days early, I said, ‘Man, that’s Quentin Griffin,'” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “The response from (assistants Cale Gundy and Josh Heupel) was, ‘That’s Quentin Griffin, but faster.’
“He’s got a lot of speed and change of direction and suddenness in space. We’ll see how he comes back. But he looked awfully good in preseason.”
It’s unclear just how big an impact Finch will make the rest of the season, considering he just returned to practice last week.
Bell-cow back DeMarco Murray has been commanding close to two-thirds of the carries, while Mossis Madu has sparkled as the No. 2 back.
But the Sooners have a couple of reasons to get Finch involved in the offense.
One, Finch can help this season. The Sooners haven’t had a run go for more than 20 yards since the opener against Utah State. By all accounts, Finch is capable of going the distance every time he touches the ball.
Two, Murray and Madu are seniors, which means OU will have a new starting running back next season. Presuming he can stay healthy, Finch appears to be the favorite to assume that role, and will benefit next year from game experience this year.
“He’s a guy we think can help,” coach Bob Stoops said. “And we do have two senior running backs, and it will help him for next year. All of it together.”
So far, this freshman class has been something else. With Finch, it’s about to get even better.
“That dude is going to be something special,” Colvin said. “I can’t really explain his game.
“I’ll just let him show you.”
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