First-time QB does job as Oklahoma beats Tulsa
NO. 14 OKLAHOMA 51, TULSA 20
NORMAN, Okla. — Just in time for a showdown at Notre Dame, No. 14 Oklahoma has found itself a quarterback.
In his first career start, Blake Bell — who lost the starting job during the preseason — passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns for Oklahoma and the Sooners beat Tulsa 51-20 on Saturday.
“It was awesome,” Bell said. “I had a great time first of all, just getting out there and playing ball, there’s nothing better. The only thing I wanted to do was be ready. I didn’t want to not be ready for this game. I felt like I did that. I felt like I played well out there.”
Sterling Shepard caught 8 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns — all career highs — and Jaz Reynolds had 109 yards receiving and one score for Oklahoma (3-0). The Sooners scored on their first five possessions against Tulsa (1-2) to continue their dominance in the series, having won 12 of the last 13 games between the in-state rivals.
The Sooners are 13-0 against Tulsa as a ranked team and 7-0 against the Golden Hurricane since Bob Stoops became Oklahoma’s coach in 1999.
Bell, a junior, lost a preseason competition to redshirt freshman Trevor Knight, but Knight struggled in the passing game in victories over Louisiana-Monroe and West Virginia. Knight bruised a knee against West Virginia, opening the door for Bell to start against Tulsa.
In other Big 12 Conference games, redshirt freshman Ford Childress threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns in his college debut, leading West Virginia (2-1) to a 41-7 victory over Georgia State (0-3) in Morgantown, W.Va. Charles Sims rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown for the Mountaineers. ... Jake Rudock threw two touchdown passes and ran for another touchdown, Mark Weisman added 145 yards rushing and Iowa (2-1) hung on to beat rival Iowa State (0-2) 27-21 in Iowa City, Iowa. … John Hubert ran for 118 yards, Kip Daily returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and
Kansas State (2-1) rolled to a 37-7 victory over Massachusetts (0-3)in Manhattan, Kan. … Jeremy Smith rushed for three first-half touchdowns as No. 12 Oklahoma
State (3-0) routed Lamar 59-3 in Stillwater, Okla.
CONFERENCE USA Pirates lose at home GREENVILLE, N.C. — Logan Thomas threw two touchdown passes and Virginia Tech turned in a dominating defensive performance to beat East Carolina 15-10.
Thomas’ second touchdown toss, a 3-yard score to D.J. Coles with 4:09 left in the third quarter, put the Hokies (2-1) ahead to stay.
The Pirates (2-1) had their own chance for a go-ahead drive, getting the ball back at their own 10 with 2:04 left. But the Hokies sacked Shane Carden on first down, then James Gayle stripped Carden from behind in the end zone for a safety that essentially sealed the victory.
Virginia Tech had 7 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. The Hokies also held the Pirates to a 3-for-11 third-down conversion rate.
Virginia Tech needed every bit of that production, too. Its offense had to grind out tough yards all day, while Cody Journell missed two field goals and an extra point.
Virginia Tech allowed just 204 total yards and hasn’t allowed more than 206 in a game this season.
East Carolina was going for its first 3-0 start since 2008, when the Pirates opened with a victory against the Hokies in Charlotte followed by an upset of West Virginia the following week. But the Pirates had lost three consecutive to the Hokies and 9 of 10 regular-season meetings with Atlantic Coast Conference opponents since that start.
In other games involving Conference USA teams, Derek Thompson threw for 274 yards and rushed for 72 yards to lead North Texas (1-1) to a 34-27 comefrom-behind victory over Ball State (2-1) in Denton, Texas. ... Anthony Jordan ran for 150 yards and a touchdown to lead
Bethune-Cookman (3-0) to its first-ever victory over an FBS opponent, defeating Florida International (0-3) 34-13 in Miami. … Cody Clark hit a 40-yard field goal with 1:49 left to lift Middle Tennessee (2-1) over Memphis (0-2) 17-15 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. … Chris Boswell kicked a 56-yard, go-ahead field goal with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and Charles Ross added an 8-yard touchdown run as Rice (1-1) beat Kansas (11) 23-14 in Houston.