August 30, 2014 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

Oklahoma defends the belt, 48–16, at home over Louisiana Tech.

Home · Defending Holder

OklahomaAP No. 4 48

Away · Challenger

Louisiana Tech 16

AP poll, week 1: Louisiana Tech unranked at Oklahoma No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Oklahoma came in 266 days into reign #287, which began with a win over Oklahoma State, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. Oklahoma went on to defend it 3 more times before TCU took it on October 4, 2014, 301 days after the reign began.

For Louisiana Tech this was its 5th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 5 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

This is the only time Louisiana Tech and Oklahoma have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Oklahoma dominated Louisiana Tech from the opening kickoff, with Trevor Knight and the Sooner offense establishing early control through efficient passing and rushing. Keith Ford scored twice in the first quarter alone, including a 22-yard touchdown run and a 5-yard score, while Knight connected with Sterling Shepard for an 18-yard touchdown pass to build a commanding early lead. Though Louisiana Tech managed to stay competitive with a field goal and a late fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Cody Sokol to Kenneth Dixon, Oklahoma's superior execution and field position control proved decisive. The Sooners added three more touchdowns in the second and third quarters through Alex Ross and additional field goals to cruise to a 48-16 victory and retain the belt.

Keith Ford's two first-quarter touchdown runs established Oklahoma's dominance immediately and set the tone for the entire game
Trevor Knight's efficient passing attack, including the 18-yard touchdown to Sterling Shepard late in Q1, kept Oklahoma's offense rolling despite Louisiana Tech's time of possession advantage
Alex Ross's two rushing touchdowns in the second and third quarters extended Oklahoma's lead to insurmountable levels and put the game out of reach

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

OklahomaLouisiana Tech

Total yards436245

Rushing yards18354

Passing yards253191

First downs2615

3rd down conv.5/135/15

Turnovers21

Penalties–yards3–345–32

Time of possession28:5431:02

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 10:22	Oklahoma	+22 yd	Keith Ford run for 22 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q1 6:18	Oklahoma	+16 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Sterling Shepard for 16 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q1 3:04	Louisiana Tech	+51 yd	Jonathan Barnes 51 yd FG BLOCKED blocked by Zack Sanchez Eric Striker return for 20 yds to the LaTch 42
Q1 6:00	Louisiana Tech	+22 yd	Kenneth Dixon run for 22 yds to the LaTch 47 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:01	Louisiana Tech	-3 yd	TEAM run for a loss of 3 yards to the Okla 39 TEAM fumbled, recovered by LaTch
Q1 5:00	Louisiana Tech	+17 yd	Cody Sokol run for 2 yds to the Okla 36 Cody Sokol fumbled, forced by Jordan Evans, recovered by LaTch Cody Sokol for a 1ST down OKLAHOMA Penalty, Personal Foul (Jordan Evans) to the Okla 36 for a 1ST down
Q1 0:53	Oklahoma	+24 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Sterling Shepard for 18 yds to the LaTch 11 for a 1ST down LOUISIANA TECH Penalty, Face Mask (6 yards) (Adairius Barnes) to the LaTch 5 for a 1ST down
Q1 0:33	Oklahoma	+5 yd	Keith Ford run for 5 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q2 14:54	Louisiana Tech	+0 yd	Cody Sokol pass intercepted Zack Sanchez return for no gain to the LaTch 46
Q2 12:24	Oklahoma	+39 yd	Michael Hunnicutt 39 yd FG GOOD
Q2 10:23	Oklahoma	+21 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to K.J. Young for 21 yds to the LaTch 41 for a 1ST down
Q2 8:46	Oklahoma	-3 yd	Trevor Knight run for a loss of 3 yards to the LaTch 32 Trevor Knight fumbled, recovered by LaTch Vontarrius Dora
Q2 2:19	Oklahoma	+1 yd	Alex Ross run for 1 yd for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q2 0:49	Louisiana Tech	+23 yd	Cody Sokol pass complete to Trent Taylor for 23 yds to the Okla 44 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:04	Louisiana Tech	+36 yd	Jonathan Barnes 36 yd FG GOOD
Q3 14:00	Oklahoma	+30 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Durron Neal for 30 yds to the LaTch 14 for a 1ST down
Q3 14:20	Oklahoma	+28 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Keith Ford for 28 yds to the LaTch 44 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:31	Oklahoma	+8 yd	Alex Ross run for 8 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q3 9:41	Oklahoma	+37 yd	Michael Hunnicutt 37 yd FG GOOD
Q3 2:40	Louisiana Tech	+22 yd	Cody Sokol pass complete to Sterling Griffin for 22 yds to the Okla 21 for a 1ST down
Q4 14:49	Louisiana Tech	+6 yd	Cody Sokol pass complete to Kenneth Dixon for 6 yds for a TD, (Jonathan Barnes KICK)
Q4 14:00	Oklahoma	+7 yd	Samaje Perine run for 7 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q4 14:49	Louisiana Tech	+80 yd	Jonathan Barnes kickoff for 59 yds , Alex Ross return for 80 yds to the LaTch 14
Q4 14:00	Oklahoma	+23 yd	Nick Hodgson kickoff for 65 yds , Tevin King return for 23 yds to the LaTch 23
Q4 7:21	Oklahoma	-19 yd	Trevor Knight pass intercepted Houston Bates return for 19 yds to the LaTch 34 Houston Bates fumbled, recovered by LaTch Le'Vander Liggins
Q4 0:37	Louisiana Tech	+22 yd	Cody Sokol pass complete to Trent Taylor for 22 yds for a TD, (Jonathan Barnes BLOCKED)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Oklahoma

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Trevor Knight	19/34	253	7.4	1	1	88.7

Louisiana Tech

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Cody Sokol	22/36	191	5.3	2	1	17.6

Rushing

Oklahoma

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Samaje Perine	13	77	5.9	1	14
Keith Ford	9	51	5.7	2	22
Alex Ross	11	36	3.3	2	8
Trevor Knight	4	17	4.3	0	14
Sterling Shepard	1	2	2.0	0	2
Daniel Brooks	1	2	2.0	0	2

Louisiana Tech

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Kenneth Dixon	16	42	2.6	22
Blake Martin	8	19	2.4	8
Cody Sokol	4	-4	-1.0	3

Receiving

Oklahoma

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Keith Ford	4	65	16.3	0	28
Sterling Shepard	4	49	12.3	1	18
Durron Neal	2	42	21.0	0	30
K.J. Young	3	41	13.7	0	21
Alex Ross	2	31	15.5	0	16
Dimitri Flowers	3	24	8.0	0	13
Jordan Smallwood	1	1	1.0	0	1

Louisiana Tech

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Sterling Griffin	7	74	10.6	0	22
Trent Taylor	4	68	17.0	1	23
Kenneth Dixon	3	14	4.7	1	7
Conner Smith	2	12	6.0	0	6
Blake Martin	3	11	3.7	0	6
Hunter Lee	1	7	7.0	0	7
Paul Turner	2	5	2.5	0	6

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Oklahoma

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Zack Sanchez	1	0	0

Louisiana Tech

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Houston Bates	1	19	0

Kick Returns

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Alex Ross	1	80	80.0	80
Michiah Quick	1	13	13.0	13
Dimitri Flowers	1	7	7.0	7

Louisiana Tech

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tevin King	2	36	18.0	23	0

Kicking

Oklahoma

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael Hunnicutt	2/2	100.0	39	6/6	12

Louisiana Tech

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jonathan Barnes	1/2	50.0	36	1/2	4

Punt Returns

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Sterling Shepard	2	35	17.5	18	0

Louisiana Tech

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jed Barnett	1	43	43.0	0	0	43

Louisiana Tech

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Logan McPherson	7	275	39.3	0	1	50

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400547834) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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