Moments after the final gun, Oklahoma center Gabe Ikard summed up the status of his teammate who lead the Sooners to their 35-21 win over Notre Dame.
“The tale of the ‘Belldozer’ keeps growing,” Ikard said.
He was referring to quarterback Blake Bell, who shrugged off cramping muscles to return to the helm in the fourth quarter to put the end to the Irish with a strike to WR Sterling Shepard — who streaked 54 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.
Earlier, Bell, with great protection from Ikard and the rest of the offensive line, found Lacoltan “Scuba” Bester for a 26 yard touchdown to answer Notre Dame’s only first half score.
Bell finished the day by completing 22 of 30 passes, for 232 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 62 yards against an Irish defense that stymied the Sooners last year by holding them to only 15 yards rushing the entire game.
Bell was making only his second start at QB for the Sooners.
The tale of the Bell Dozer keeps growing.
“He was really sharp. He put the ball where it needed to be, finding the right guys, going through his reads,” Coach Bob Stoops said. “And give credit to the line to give them the opportunity to find those guys, so I thought he played great.”
It was only the second time Oklahoma had beaten Notre Dame in 11 tries – the last time at the same stadium in South Bend in 1956.
But besides getting the historical Notre Dame monkey off Oklahoma’s back, the win was the national stage for Oklahoma’s next star to take his place among a legacy of quarterbacks to wear crimson in Norman.
Bell was the man who already had the confidence of coaches and players. After Saturday he also has the confidence of fans to give the Sooners a chance to make this season special.
Now, it’s back to the Big 12 conference schedule, where it will be determined whether a special season can get Oklahoma into the national title hunt.
“No doubt in my mind,” Clay said, “that we’re a national championship-type of team.”
Whoa. Before we go there, let’s take this one game at a time.
Next up: TCU.
Follow
