To no one’s surprise, Blake Bell’s big game against Tulsa has resulted in the junior quarterback being named the starter for Oklahoma’s game against Notre Dame in South Bend two weekends from now.
Bell started against the Golden Hurricane in place of an injured Trevor Knight and he responded with the best-ever debut (statistically, at least) by a Sooners quarterback. Bell completed 27 of 37 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns as OU beat Tulsa, 51-20.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops refused to go into detail about the shift at QB.
“I’m not going back to all of that,” Stoops said after the Tulsa game. “There’s no sense in rehashing all of that. (Bell) played really well today. He showed poise, consistency. He threw the ball great and was on the money. I didn’t detail it all when Trevor was the guy, either.”
Though he is known primarily as a runner, Bell didn’t get a chance to show it much against Tulsa. He gained just 24 yards on 10 carries against the Golden Hurricane. He rushed for 24 touchdowns, mostly in goal line situations, the past two seasons. Coming into the game, he had just 153 career passing yards, a total he surpassed by halftime of Saturday’s game.
If Bell starts clicking again as a runner while maintaining his prolific passing numbers, he could be on his way to a big season.