Trevor Knight was sharp in the Sooners' first win of the season. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight showed some consistency and maturity and the No. 4 Sooners opened their season with a convincing 48-16 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in front of 85,063 fans.
Knight, who capped the 2013 season with four touchdown passes in the Sooners’ Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, threw for 253 yards and a touchdown in his first start of 2014.
The performance certainly can’t be considered a surprise, considering Louisiana Tech was completely overmatched by the deeper, more talented Sooners, but Knight doesn’t have an established track record of success. He beat Alabama, but the redshirt sophomore finished just three games he started a season ago and was benched twice.
Unlike a season ago, when Knight struggled as the starter against Louisiana Monroe, scoring no points in the first quarter, Knight completed 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards on Saturday and led the Sooners to a 21-0 lead in the opening quarter. Oklahoma averaged 7.2 yards per play in the quarter while holding Tech to just 28 yards.
After forcing a punt on the Bulldogs’ first possession, OU needed just 3:36 to go ahead 7-0. The final 22 yards of the 70-yard drive came on a run from sophomore running back Keith Ford.
On the next possession, receiver Sterling Shepard caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Knight to conclude a five-play, 54-yard drive.
Ford added another touchdown, a 5-yard run with 33 seconds left in the first quarter, and running back Alex Ross scored a second-quarter touchdown, capping an 11-play, 72-yard drive that put the Sooners up 31-0.
Oklahoma gained 270 yards in the first half and Knight completed 11 of 16 passes for 142 yards. He finished 19 of 34.
Oklahoma needed just 1:29 to score in the second half as Ross went in from 8 yards out. The Sooners finished with 436 yards — 183 on the ground.
Louisiana Tech got its final score with 37 seconds left on a 22-yard pass from Cody Sokol to sophomore receiver Trent Taylor. Sokol was 22 of 36 for 191 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.
