Tag: Trevor Knight

What happened the last time Oklahoma Sooners played the Alabama Crimson Tide?

Oklahoma Sooners welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to Norman for just the second time in the history of the two illustrious programs.

There isn’t a much better helmet matchup in college football than the Oklahoma Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Two of the top five programs in the history of college football are now in the same conference, and they’ll meet for just the seventh time ever on Saturday.

Two teams used to winning, and winning a lot are on opposite trajectories right now. OU started 4-1, but they are now just 5-5 with two games left. Bama lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee on the road earlier this season, but they’ve righted the ship with some key wins over the last few weeks against Missouri and LSU.

The all-time series between the two teams sits at 3-2-1 in favor of the Sooners. They first met in the Orange Bowl at the conclusion of the 1962 season. Alabama shut out Oklahoma that day, en route to a 17-0 victory. At the end of the 1970 season, they faced off in the Bluebonnet Bowl, with the game ending in a 24-24 tie.

There have been three matchups in the 21st century, beginning with a home game for the Sooners in 2002. Oklahoma won 37-27, highlighted by a couple of remarkable runs by Renaldo Works and a fumble return for a touchdown to seal the deal by Eric Bassey.

The next year, the teams met in Tuscaloosa, with OU winning, this time by a score of 20-13. Of course, the 2003 Sooners would end up in the BCS National Championship Game that year.

Eventual Heisman Trophy winner [autotag]Jason White[/autotag] (who was lost to a season-ending injury in the previous year’s game) hit Brandon Jones for a 47-yard touchdown in the third quarter on the game’s most series of plays. That throw immediately followed a gutsy successful fake punt call by Bob Stoops deep in his own territory.

But perhaps the matchup Sooner fans remember the most fondly happened in the Sugar Bowl after the 2013 season. The two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide were heavy favorites that night in New Orleans, but Oklahoma pulled off a huge 45-31 upset win.

Quarterback [autotag]Trevor Knight[/autotag] had the finest game of his career, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns against the vaunted Tide defense. OU’s defense harassed Bama QB A.J. McCarron all night, with Eric Striker and Geneo Grissom teaming up for a scoop and score touchdown to end a potential game-tying drive. It was one of the best wins of the late-Stoops era in Norman, as the Sooners took down the No. 3 team in the country on a truly magical and unforgettable night.

However, Alabama currently has bragging rights in this series, as the two programs met in the 2018 [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] Orange Bowl semifinal six years ago. Heisman Trophy winner [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag] and runner-up Tua Tagovailoa were primed for an offensive shootout in Miami, as Lincoln Riley and Nick Saban met for the first time.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, this game was essentially over thirteen and a half minutes in, as Alabama rolled to a 21-0 lead, stifling Murray in the process. It was 28-0 Bama before the Sooners finally scored in the second quarter, and the Crimson Tide kept OU at arms length for the rest of the night. Alabama won 45-34, showing off a complete, star-studded team.

Murray and the Oklahoma offense got the Sooners as close as 11 points on multiple occasions, but OU didn’t have a good enough defense to handle Tagovailoa and an excellent Tide offense. Riley was outcoached by Saban, who knew that Oklahoma couldn’t stop his team.

It wasn’t Murray’s finest hour in his final collegiate game before being selected No. 1 overall in the next April’s NFL Draft. Riley would coach the Sooners for three more seasons before bolting to USC. Tagovailoa, Saban and the Crimson Tide were defeated by Clemson in the national championship game, as [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ defense put on a clinic against one of the best offenses in college football.

As the Sooners and the Crimson Tide prepare to meet again, Oklahoma is looking to get their fourth win in the series and improve to 4-1 this century. A performance like Knight’s at the quarterback position, coupled with a vintage 2018 Clemson performance from Alley and the defense would go a long way towards getting Oklahoma to bowl eligibility.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

Oklahoma vs. Tennessee through the years in fantastic photos

A look back at the Oklahoma Sooners and Tennessee Volunteers 2014 and 2015 matchups in incredible photos.

The Oklahoma Sooners and Tennessee Volunteers have a long history in college football. As good as the two programs have been through the years, they’ve only played each other four times.

The Sooners rank fifth all-time in winning percentage and sixth in most wins in college football history. The Volunteers are 12th in all-time win percentage and 10th in total wins.

The Sooners hold a 3-1 all-time series lead, picking up wins in a home-and-home series in 2014 and 2015 to break the tie.

In 2014, the Sooners won by a score of 34-10, holding the Volunteers to 313 yards, and OU’s defense forced three turnovers. The Sooners recorded five sacks, led by a pair from Quentin Hayes. Julian Wilson provided a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. On offense, Trevor Knight threw for 301 yards and had two total touchdowns. Keith Ford had a pair of touchdowns to help spark the Sooners.

The 2015 affair was a much closer game. But it was the moment Baker Mayfield introduced himself to the college football world.

In week two of the season, Mayfield and the Sooners trailed Tennessee 17-3 entering the fourth quarter. The Sooners quarterback threw touchdown passes to Samaje Perine and Sterling Shepard over the final eight minutes. Shepard’s touchdown catch is one of the iconic moments of the Stoops era, as the wide receiver caught the ball at the 10-yard line and looked like he was going to get stopped short of the end zone. However, Shepard leaped over a Tennessee defender and battled his way beyond the goalline for the score.

Mayfield then ran for a touchdown in the first overtime before hitting Shepard again for the game-winning score in the second overtime to pull out the remarkable comeback win.

Do the Sooners have another standout defensive performance ahead of them? Can they find a little more magic on Saturday night as they host the Volunteers?

Here’s a look at some fantastic images from the 2014 and 2015 home and home series.

Top 20 Oklahoma Sooners all-time in career passing yards

A look at the top 20 passers in Oklahoma Sooners history in career passing yards.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had their fair share of quality quarterback play over the years. That play has earned numerous All-American awards and four Heisman trophies.

Oklahoma has had success with a variety of offensive styles and quarterback play. That shows up when you look at the Sooners’ all-time leaders in career passing yards. Sure you have [autotag]Landry Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag], who threw for more than 10,000 yards in their career with the Sooners. Then you have a player [autotag]Jamelle Holieway[/autotag] who is top 20 in both career passing yards and career rushing yards. Holieway and [autotag]Jack Mildren[/autotag] had more rushing touchdowns in their career than they did passing touchdowns.

There is one quarterback inside the top 10 all-time in career passing yards that didn’t play in the last 20 years and that guy is still with the Oklahoma Sooners: wide receivers coach [autotag]Cale Gundy[/autotag]. Gundy is No. 6 in career passing yards. Makes you wonder what kind of damage he could have done in a modern spread offense.

After two seasons in Norman, Dillon Gabriel was productive enough to enter the top 10 in career passing yards at the University of Oklahoma. His 55 passing touchdowns ranks fifth all-time and he finished tied for 17 in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Gabriel had a prolific career with Oklahoma and now will hope to have continued success with the Oregon Ducks.

Here’s a look at the top 20 Oklahoma Sooners in career passing yards.

A look back at No. 8 Texas A&M’ s thrilling victory over the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers in 2016

Take a quick look back at former Texas A&M QB Trevor Knight’s big day in the 2OT victory over Tennessee in 2016

This Saturday will mark just the fifth time these two teams have met, with the Aggies winning the last two contests. In 2016, Texas A&M hosted Tennessee at Kyle Field for a top-ten matchup that became one of the most anxiety-inducing wins in the previous decade.

Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight had the Aggies rolling, entering the game undefeated, and looked poised to have one of the best seasons since the departure of Johnny Manziel. Early in the game, the Maroon and White built a 14-point lead going into the 2nd quarter behind the arm and legs of Knight before the Vols defense settled in. The Aggies took a 21-7 lead into halftime with three takeaways and three Trevor Knight touchdowns.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

After an exchange of touchdowns in the third quarter, Tennessee exploded in the 4th quarter, outscoring Texas A&M 21-7, locking up the score at 35 apiece to send the game into overtime with the lone Aggie touchdown coming on a 62-yard dash on a third down play.

Tennessee scored first in the OT with a field goal that Daniel LaCamera matched. Fittingly, Knight scored his third rushing TD of the night, putting the Aggies up 45-38, putting the pressure back on the Vols. In what turned out to be the seventh turnover for the game, defensive back Armani Watts intercepted Joshua Dobb’s, ending the game and moving the Aggies to 6-0 and 4-0 in the SEC.

Here is what Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin had to say about the win.

“The big takeaway from this was we were able to withstand some things, not play great but make enough plays to win the game without some of our better players being 100 percent”

Knight ended the day with nearly 350 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in the victory.

Texas A&M and Tennessee will kick off from inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 2:30 p.m. CT, and will air on CBS.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

How each Oklahoma Sooners quarterback fared in the season opener since 2000

With a new starting quarterback at the helm for the Oklahoma Sooners, let’s look back at how each starting signal-caller has fared in the season opener since 2000.

When Dillon Gabriel takes his first snap under center for the Oklahoma Sooners on Sept. 3, he’ll be the fifth season-opening starting quarterback for the Sooners in six seasons.

Spencer Rattler opened the season as the starter each of the last two years. Before that the Sooners had a single season out of Jalen Hurts and Kyler Murray after Baker Mayfield’s three-year run of dominance.

This year, it’s Dillon Gabriel’s turn to lead the Oklahoma Sooners. By all accounts his debut for the Sooners in September will go swimmingly, but not all season openers have been hot starts.

Let’s take a look at how each starting quarterback fared in their season opener since the year 2000.

Former players react to the return of Strength and Conditioning Coach Jerry Schmidt

How did former players react to the news that the Sooners were bringing back strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt?

The Oklahoma Sooners are beginning to fill out their staff. Last night it was reported that they had a “done deal” with Jeff Lebby to be the next offensive coordinator for OU. The bigger news on the night, however, appeared to be the return of former strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt.

As Brent Venables begins to fill out his staff, it appears he’s turning to guys that helped make the Bob Stoops era of Sooners football so successful. Schmidt, affectionately referred to as Smitty, was with the Sooners from 1999-2017.

Players who worked with the former Sooners coach went to Twitter to share their “fond” memories of the brutal workouts Schmidt put them through. We’ve collated some of the best reactions for you to enjoy.

Lincoln Riley doesn’t plan to name a starter for TCU, doesn’t like playing 2 quarterbacks

With the quarterback conversation taking the headlines, Lincoln Riley won’t name a starter ahead of the Sooners matchup with TCU.

The most intriguing storyline to come out of the Red River Showdown will continue to carry us to 6:30 p.m. Saturday when the Oklahoma Sooners host the TCU Horned Frogs at Owen Field.

At every opportunity, when presented the chance to name a starting quarterback for the week seven clash, Sooners’ head coach Lincoln Riley has declined to do so. Today was no different when he met with the media for his weekly press conference.

Per Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World, Riley doesn’t plan on naming a starting quarterback this week ahead of the matchup with TCU.

That’s not surprising, given what we know about Lincoln Riley. He’s a head coach that likes to hold onto as much information as possible week to week to keep an advantage. If not naming a starting quarterback means Gary Patterson has to plan for two quarterbacks, then Lincoln Riley will hang onto that advantage.

And while Patterson may have to plan for two quarterbacks, just one of them sees a starter’s share of the snaps. Per Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman, Lincoln Riley mentioned that he would prefer not to have a two-quarterback system as it can mess with the rhythm of the offense.

As the old football adage goes, “if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.” On the flip side, generally, two-quarterback systems come about because a team doesn’t have a good or great option, and that’s not the case at Oklahoma.

With Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler, the Sooners have two good options at quarterback. Say what you want about Rattler. He’s still a good player. It’s just not working out in 2021 for a variety of reasons.

Based on what we saw Saturday at Texas, it would be hard to imagine the Oklahoma Sooners trotting out anyone other than Caleb Williams at quarterback this Saturday. Of course, Lincoln Riley could have a surprise up his sleeve, but there was a stark contrast in the effectiveness of the offense between the two starting quarterbacks.

With Caleb Williams in the lineup, it looked more explosive, composed, and his running threat gave the Longhorns one more thing to think about. With Rattler in at quarterback, it looked disjointed and erratic.

For the first time since maybe the 2013 season when Blake Bell and Trevor Knight split time at quarterback, the Oklahoma Sooners have a question at the game’s most crucial position. The difference between 2013 and 2021 is that the Sooners have two good options to look to when they line up to play the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday night.

Could that matchup at home be the beginning of the Caleb Williams era at Oklahoma, or will Lincoln Riley give Spencer Rattler another chance to lead the Sooners?

Replay of 2014 Sugar Bowl between Oklahoma, Alabama to be aired Saturday

Oklahoma football has provided its fans something to do during the final weekend of the stay-at-home orders across many states. 

Oklahoma football has provided its fans something to do during the final weekend of the stay-at-home orders across many states.

The Sooners have played replays of the alumni games of the teams from the 1950s and 60s, the 2000 national championship game and most, if not all of the OU-Texas wins since 1999. There have been plenty of memorable games since, but Oklahoma has gotten around to one of the most memorable and impactful wins in program history.

On Saturday at 6:00 CT, a replay of the 2014 Sugar Bowl between Oklahoma and Alabama will take place on SoonerSports.tv, which is free through the end of May.

Trevor Knight threw, Eric Striker sacked and the 2013 Oklahoma football team found a way against Alabama in New Orleans. It kept the Sooners amongst relevancy from average years in 2011 and 2012 in relative terms to Oklahoma football. The Sugar Bowl win was also the catalyst to the new renovations to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium which bowled in the south end zone and became much more fan friendly.

Oklahoma would go on and have one of the three less than 10-win seasons since 2000 in 2014. Trevor Knight went from Heisman hopeful to backup to Baker Mayfield. Offensive coordinator Josh Heupel and wide receivers coach Jay Norvell would eventually be fired and paved the way for Lincoln Riley and Dennis Simmons to come to Norman, Oklahoma.

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NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah does not think Jalen Hurts ‘will get out of second round’

Daniel Jeremiah mentioned that one of his colleagues, Bucky Brooks compares Hurts to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Is Jalen Hurts’ draft stock rising? One NFL Network analyst thinks so.

Daniel Jeremiah mentioned that one of his colleagues, Bucky Brooks compares Hurts to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

“When it’s all said and done,” Jeremiah said. “people have been talking about him as a third or fourth-round pick, I don’t think he’ll get out of the second-round because of what he can do as a playmaker.”

Hurts ran a 4.54 40-yard dash earlier tonight which at the time was the fastest out of this year’s QB class and was tied for the tenth fastest QB 40-yard time in NFL Combine history.

Jeremiah went on to say that he does have things to work on but there is enough upside as Hurts is a coach’s son, has a high competitive motor, and other things NFL executives and coaches love to see in quarterbacks, especially quarterbacks they plan on handing the keys to the franchise to.

The NFL Draft is set for April 23-25.

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Jalen Hurts runs one of 10 fastest 40-yard dashes in NFL Combine history

With plenty to prove,  former Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts turned on the burners at the NFL Combine.

With plenty to prove,  former Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts turned on the burners at the NFL Combine.

Hurts ran a 4.64 in his first go-around at the 40-yard dash and followed it up with a 4.59. Hurts’ second run was made four one-hundredths of a second quicker on the official count for an official time of 4.54.

Hurts tied former Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight who ran a 4.54 in 2017. The fastest quarterbacks at the combine of all time are Robert Griffin III (2012) and Michael Vick (2001) who both ran 4.33 in their respective combines.

A rumored possible landing spot for Hurts, current Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is just a hair slower than Hurts as Newton ran a 4.56 in the 2011 combine.

Tyrod Taylor who is now the No. 1 guy for the Los Angeles Chargers ran a 4.47 in 2011. The Chargers have also been mentioned as a team who could take Hurts in the middle rounds after they mutually parted ways with the longtime face of the franchise, Philip Rivers.

The NFL Draft is set for April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

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