College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Oklahoma 34, UL Monroe 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, August 31, 2013
Where: Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Temperature: 100°
Head Official: Scott Novak
Attendance: 84911

No. 16 Oklahoma 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0: Freshman Trevor Knight threw three touchdown passes and the Sooners' stout defense did the rest in a one-sided season-opening win over the visiting Warhawks.

Knight, taking over for NFL draftee Landry Jones, completed just 11-of-28 passes for 86 yards and also threw an interception but was sensational in the red zone while adding 103 rushing yards. Jalen Saunders had a pair of TD catches while Trey Metoyer added a 13-yard scoring grab late in the third quarter as the Sooners recorded their first shutout since blanking Iowa State 52-0 on Oct. 16, 2010.

Kolton Browning went 20-for-39 for 128 yards and an interception for Louisiana-Monroe, which was outgained 305-38 on the ground in its first shutout loss since falling 34-0 to then-No. 6 Florida State on Sept. 3, 2011.

Knight struggled early in his Sooners debut - drawing boos at the end of a scoreless first quarter - but recovered to cap a 14-play, 78-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring strike to Saunders early in the second. Michael Hunnicutt added field goals from 41 and 33 yards to send Oklahoma into the break with a 13-0 lead.

Knight used his legs to help extend the advantage, racking up 32 rushing yards on the Sooners' first drive of the half to set up Brennan Clay's 8-yard TD run. The Warhawks botched a fake-punt attempt later in the quarter and Knight needed just one play to take advantage, connecting with Saunders on an 18-yard touchdown pass for a 27-0 edge.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Louisiana-Monroe converted just 2-of-16 third-down attempts against a Sooners team that allowed opponents to convert nearly 41 percent of their third-down chances last season. ... Knight joined Jason White (117 yards vs. Kansas in 2001) as the only Oklahoma quarterbacks to surpass 100 rushing yards in a game under head coach Bob Stoops. ... Oklahoma RB Damien Williams became the 69th player in school history to record 1,000 career rushing yards.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
UL Monroe   Oklahoma
Jyruss Edwards Player Trevor Knight
3 Attempts 13
9 Yards 103
3.0 Avg Yards 7.9
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
UL Monroe   Oklahoma
Rashon Ceaser Player Jalen Saunders
5 Receptions 3
39 Yards 30
7.8 Avg Yards 10.0
0 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
UL Monroe 166 38 128 0 0 1 2.0 1
Oklahoma 429 305 124 4 2 1 1.0 0