Bob Stoops Names Trevor Knight New Sooners Starting Quarterback

It is no longer a rumor. Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops just named Trevor Knight the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback. Coming into the 2013 season, it was Blake Bell and many said it was his job to lose. Well, that really isn’t fair, because it was an open competition between Bell, Knight and Kendal Thompson. With Thompson injured, it came down to the two and Trevor Knight impressed Stoops enough to win the job.

"“Both Trevor and Blake (Bell) have competed hard and both will be ready to play against Louisiana-Monroe,” Stoops said. “Like every other position on our team, I expect them both to continue competing for the starting job.”"

I wrote an article yesterday that described what I thought could happen if Trevor Knight won the starting quarterback job, and it all boiled down to Blake Bell leaving Norman for another college where he has a chance to start. With the season starting one week from tomorrow against Louisiana-Monroe, Sooners fans will have a chance to learn Bell’s fate sooner rather than later.

What most fans hope is that Blake Bell accepts his defeat and sticks around to whip out the Belldozer Formation when needed. However, while that was an important tool in the days of statuesque Landry Jones, Trevor Knight has wheels too and might be a quicker runner than Bell. While they could use Bell on goal line stands or short yardage situations, Knight gives OU something they have not had since Paul Thompson played in Norman – a quarterback who could run.

Ironically, Thompson was also the last veteran quarterback to lose his starting role to a freshman, although he won it back one year later when Rhett Bomar tried to bring the Sooner Nation down around his car salesman feet. However, that wasn’t the last quarterback battle in Norman, as another freshman named Sam Bradford beat out Joey Halzle. Bradford won the Heisman Trophy and Halzle disappeared from most OU fan’s memories.

There is no way that Blake Bell disappears from the Sooner Nation’s memories, as his numerous touchdown runs over the last two seasons will stick in the conscious even after he is gone.

What Oklahoma Sooners fans have to look forward to now is a quarterback who ran with the scout team in 2012 as a redshirt freshman, and impressed just about everyone he practiced with. He threw for 2,092 yards with 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions in his senior season, while also running for 943 yards and 15 more touchdowns on the ground. This isn’t someone who came to OU to sit on the bench, and the fact that Bob Stoops named Trevor Knight the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback was not an upset pick.

This will be a different looking Oklahoma Sooners team. Gone is the three step drops, planting feet and throwing to taking a sack. Now, there is a quarterback who can take off if the pressure gets too tough. Plus, this is the third redshirt freshman quarterback that Bob Stoops has started in a row. The other two won the Heisman (Sam Bradford) and broke all the passing records (Landry Jones). In one week, Sooners fans will see what all the hype is about.

Basically, the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback is a Johnny Manziel clone – presumably without the off-the-field shenanigans. As Dusty Dvoracek said…