UPDATE: Coach Bob Stoops announced Monday that Trevor Knight’s knee injury will sideline him and Blake Bell will start against Tulsa.
The office water cooler discussion on Monday morning will be all about the quarterback situation in Norman.
After Trevor Knight’s slow start, but fast finish, against Louisiana-Monroe, there were plenty of fans who had anointed Knight the next star (at least in the making) to shine wins on Sooner football. I actually got criticized for my reluctance to join the Knight bandwagon.
We all knew after Knight was named the starter a week before the season started that this was a work in progress. We all knew he would throw some interceptions, make some bad reads, might get sacked or fumble in situations where a seasoned player would not. This is going to be a season of depending on the Sooners defense to carry the team.
Boy, what a difference a week makes. Knight again started slow against West Virginia on Saturday night. But instead of getting better, he got worse — throwing two interceptions and giving up another fumble in a close match with the Mountaineers that placed the game outcome squarely in the hands of the Sooner defense. Oklahoma held on to a 16-7 win, thanks in large measure to a stellar run game (Brennan Clay for 170 yards) and stingy defense lead by Gabe Lynn (one interception and one fumble recovery) that stepped up for the second straight week.
Knight was pulled at the end of the third quarter. Blake Bell came into the game then, but throw only one pass — a slippery screen pass that fell incomplete. At that point in the game the Sooner coaches knew they needed to only run the football to end the game (“The clock is your enemy then,” Coach Bob Stoops said.)
Bell’s hand offs weren’t any better or worse than Knight’s hand offs.
Stoops refused to speculate after the game whether Oklahoma now had a QB controversy. Obviously, Knight’s performance was disappointing. An MRI of Knight’s knee (disclosed Sunday on Twitter by Knight’s mom, who apparently hasn’t gotten the lecture about staying off social media to prevent mass fan hysteria) revealed no serious injury, but his condition may be enough to factor in the decision whether to play him against Tulsa on Owen Field at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
If Knight can play, he should start. Sure, his play was worse than high schoolish against West Virginia. But, we all knew after Knight was named the starter a week before the season started that this was a work in progress. We all knew he would throw some interceptions, make some bad reads, might get sacked or fumble in situations where a seasoned player would not. This is going to be a season of depending on the Sooners defense to carry the team. Knight is a red shirt freshman, after all. Even with Bell we should not expect the NFL-like play of Landry Jones of Sam Bradford.
More worrisome to me is that offensive coordinator Josh Heupel seemed oblivious to both the game situation and the fact Knight was making beginner’s mistakes against the Mountaineers. Oklahoma was running the ball successfully. The solution to a close game in the third quarter was to hand the ball off to Clay or Damien Williams on off tackle plays. But, despite Knight’s shaky passing, Heupel put Knight in the position of failure by calling pass plays — including one that resulted in a West Virginia interception in the end zone.
Heupel’s play calling wasn’t particularly popular among fans. At one point the boo birds came out when he had Knight throwing the ball instead of handing the ball off to the hot-handed Clay.
The Oklahoma run game has been a very pleasant surprise this season. It helps the Sooners defense by keeping them off the field longer. It denies the opponent the opportunity to score.
It also gives Knight a chance to develop. I’m all for Knight throwing the football early in the game or when the Sooners have a cushion of a lead. But when the game is in jeopardy, let’s put Knight in the position to be successful and win ball games.
That means a hand off and not a pass.
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