It appears the Blake Bell era is upon us, albeit a couple of games later than what most thought.
Following up on rumors that began to grow over the weekend, head coach Bob Stoops confirmed that Trevor Knight suffered what’s only being called a bruised knee in Oklahoma’s win over West Virginia Saturday. The injury is severe enough that it will keep the redshirt freshman out of the home opener against Tulsa this Saturday.
It also means that Bell, Landry Jones’ primary backup the past two seasons, will make his first start at the collegiate level.
Bell was thought to be the heir apparent to Jones, but lost out on the starting job to Knight in a battle that began in the spring and continued into summer camp. Playing sparingly in both games this season, Bell has attempted six passes. Entering 2013, he had more rushing touchdowns (24) than pass attempts (20).
Stoops allowed that Knight’s performance -- 10-of-20 for 119 yards and two interceptions -- played as much of a role in the move to Bell in the fourth quarter of the WVU game as the injury did.
“It’s both,” Stoops said of the Saturday switch. “It doesn’t matter. I said I didn’t feel things were what they needed to be.
“The bottom line was we had to do something different.”