Sooners Power Past West Virginia In Sloppy Affair

Oklahoma rushed for 323 yards and overcame four turnovers to beat West Virginia, 16-7 in a sloppy game in Norman.

Saturday, September 7th 2013, 10:54 pm

By: News 9


It wasn't pretty, but the Oklahoma Sooners managed to pull out a 16-7 win over West Virginia Saturday night in Norman.

A year after combining for 99 points, the two teams combined to score just two touchdowns, while turning the ball over four times each.

However, the biggest story resulting from OU's win over the Mountaineers is that a quarterback controversy appears to be brewing in Norman.

Trevor Knight was once again shaky for the Sooners, finishing the game 10-of-20 for 119 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Knight also lost a fumble when he was blindsided in the second quarter by WVU linebacker Brandon Golson. Knight added 49 yards on seven carries, but was out of sync with his receivers and missed on a couple easy throws.

Knight was replaced by Blake Bell at the start of the fourth quarter, much to the excitement of the Owen Field crowd, which greeted Bell with a rousing ovation. Bell finished the game without a completion, attempting just one pass, but had two carries for 21 yards.

With the aerial attack struggling, it was once again the OU ground game that carried the OU offense. The Sooners ran for 323 yards against the Mountaineers, the first time the Sooners have had back-to-back games with 300 rushing yards since 1997. Brennan Clay led the charge with 170 yards on 22 carries. Damien Williams finished with 21 carries for 95 yards.

The defense was also once again very good, limiting the Mountaineers to 387 yards and just a single touchdown—a 75-yard Dreamius Smith touchdown run in the first quarter. Gabe Lynn had a big night for the Sooners, picking off a Paul Millard pass and also recovering a fumble, two of the four turnovers the OU defense forced.

Michael Hunnicutt was a bright spot for the Sooners on offense, knocking in three of the four field goals he attempted, including a 44-yard field goal that made the score 7-3 in favor of the Mountaineers with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Knight engineered the Sooners' lone touchdown drive of the night, which began thanks to West Virginia's Mario Alford muffing Jed Barnett's punt. The punt was recovered by Trey Franks at the West Virginia 32-yard line. Four Williams runs and an offside penalty later, Knight hit Trey Millard for the one-yard touchdown pass.

Both teams had plenty of opportunities to put points up on the board, but turnovers and other miscues stalled every other drive besides two additional Hunnicutt field goals.

Last year, it didn't feel like an OU win thanks to the poor play of the defense. This year, the feeling is very similar, but for opposite reasons. The passing game wasn't good at all and now, there seems to be a full-scale quarterback controversy brewing.

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