September 13, 2014 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Oklahoma defends the belt, 34–10, at home over Tennessee.

Home · Defending Holder

OklahomaAP No. 4 34

Away · Challenger

Tennessee 10

AP poll, week 3: Tennessee 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 280 days into reign #287, which began with a win over Oklahoma State, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. Oklahoma went on to defend it 1 more time before TCU took it on October 4, 2014, 301 days after the reign began.

For Tennessee this was its 21st shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before.

It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, the series stood 1–1; all-time Oklahoma leads 2–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Oklahoma's defense proved stifling in this belt defense, holding Tennessee to just 10 points while the Sooners controlled the game from start to finish. Trevor Knight orchestrated the Oklahoma offense with precision, connecting with Sterling Shepard for a 45-yard gain in the first quarter and later finding Keith Ford for a touchdown to build an early lead. Tennessee managed only a 40-yard touchdown pass to Josh Smith in the second quarter as Oklahoma built a commanding lead through multiple field goals and touchdowns, including Knight's own 5-yard rushing TD in the third quarter. The turning point came in the fourth quarter when Julian Wilson returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, effectively putting the game out of reach. Oklahoma's defense forced three turnovers and held Tennessee to just 313 total yards, keeping the lineal championship belt firmly around the Sooners' waist.

Trevor Knight's 45-yard completion to Sterling Shepard in Q1 set the tone for Oklahoma's offensive dominance
Keith Ford's 23-yard TD reception in Q1 gave Oklahoma an early 10-0 lead that Tennessee could never overcome
Julian Wilson's 100-yard interception return for a TD in Q4 sealed the belt defense and put the game completely out of reach
Oklahoma's three forced turnovers compared to Tennessee's two critical mistakes highlighted the defensive difference

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

OklahomaTennessee

Total yards454313

Rushing yards146112

Passing yards308201

First downs2118

3rd down conv.3/126/17

Turnovers23

Penalties–yards5–411–10

Time of possession38:1231:19

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 9:48	Oklahoma	+29 yd	Michael Hunnicutt 29 yd FG GOOD
Q1 5:52	Oklahoma	+23 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Keith Ford for 23 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q1 1:49	Oklahoma	+45 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Sterling Shepard for 45 yds to the Tenn 15 for a 1ST down
Q1 0:04	Oklahoma	+27 yd	Michael Hunnicutt 27 yd FG GOOD
Q1 0:04	Oklahoma	+20 yd	Nick Hodgson kickoff for 65 yds , Devrin Young return for 20 yds to the OKLAHOMA 45 TENNESSEE Penalty, Tripping (10 Yards) to the Tenn 10
Q2 9:46	Tennessee	+40 yd	Justin Worley pass complete to Josh Smith for 40 yds for a TD, (Aaron Medley KICK)
Q2 11:41	Tennessee	+30 yd	Justin Worley pass complete to Jalen Hurd for 30 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Q2 5:17	Oklahoma	+32 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Sterling Shepard for 32 yds to the Tenn 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:33	Oklahoma	+11 yd	Keith Ford 11 Yd Run (Michael Hunnicutt Kick)
Q2 0:28	Tennessee	+37 yd	Matt Darr punt for 37 yds , Sterling Shepard returns for a loss of 1 yard to the Okla 30
Q2 0:03	Oklahoma	+0 yd	Trevor Knight pass intercepted LaDarrell McNeil return for no gain to the Tenn 16
Q2 0:12	Oklahoma	+20 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Blake Bell for 20 yds to the Tenn 34 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:30	Oklahoma	+43 yd	Trevor Knight pass complete to Durron Neal for 43 yds to the Tenn 9 for a 1ST down
Q3 12:25	Oklahoma	+5 yd	Trevor Knight run for 5 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q3 15:00	Tennessee	+25 yd	George Bullock kickoff for 65 yds , Alex Ross return for 25 yds to the Okla 25
Q3 12:25	Oklahoma	+24 yd	Nick Hodgson kickoff for 65 yds , Devrin Young return for 24 yds to the Tenn 24
Q3 2:29	Tennessee	+31 yd	Aaron Medley 31 yd FG GOOD
Q3 0:16	Tennessee	+0 yd	Justin Worley pass intercepted, touchback. Zack Sanchez return for no gain
Q3 1:08	Tennessee	+43 yd	Jalen Hurd run for 43 yds to the Okla 26 for a 1ST down
Q4 10:57	Tennessee	-100 yd	Justin Worley pass intercepted for a TD Julian Wilson return for 100 yds for a TD, (Michael Hunnicutt KICK)
Q4 12:47	Tennessee	+29 yd	Jalen Hurd run for 29 yds to the Okla 12 for a 1ST down
Q4 10:12	Tennessee	+23 yd	Justin Worley pass complete to Marquez North for 23 yds to the Okla 49 for a 1ST down
Q4 6:34	Oklahoma	+31 yd	Samaje Perine run for 31 yds to the Tenn 35 for a 1ST down
Q4 4:01	Oklahoma	+45 yd	Michael Hunnicutt 45 yd FG BLOCKED blocked by TEAM

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	20/33	308	9.3	1	1	73.9

Tennessee

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Justin Worley	21/44	201	4.6	1	2	9.6

Rushing

Oklahoma

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Samaje Perine	9	67	7.4	0	31
Keith Ford	15	56	3.7	1	13
Trevor Knight	5	17	3.4	1	9
Alex Ross	5	6	1.2	0	3

Tennessee

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jalen Hurd	14	97	6.9	43
Marlin Lane	10	42	4.2	8
Justus Pickett	1	1	1.0	1
Josh Walker Smith	1	-3	-3.0	0
Justin Worley	6	-23	-3.8	10

Receiving

Oklahoma

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Sterling Shepard	5	109	21.8	0	45
Durron Neal	7	71	10.1	0	43
Blake Bell	3	52	17.3	0	20
Keith Ford	2	35	17.5	1	23
K.J. Young	2	28	14.0	0	18
Samaje Perine	1	13	13.0	0	13

Tennessee

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Marquez North	6	67	11.2	0	23
Josh Walker Smith	5	58	11.6	1	40
Jalen Hurd	2	24	12.0	0	30
Josh Malone	2	23	11.5	0	13
Alton Howard	4	22	5.5	0	19
Marlin Lane	2	7	3.5	0	4

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Oklahoma

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Julian Wilson	1	100	1
Zack Sanchez	1	0	0

Tennessee

Player	INT	YDS	TD
LaDarrell McNeil	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Alex Ross	2	40	20.0	25	0
Durron Neal	1	12	12.0	12	0

Tennessee

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Devrin Young	3	60	20.0	24	0

Kicking

Oklahoma

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael Hunnicutt	2/3	66.7	29	4/4	10

Tennessee

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Aaron Medley	1/1	100.0	31	1/1	4

Punt Returns

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Sterling Shepard	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0

Tennessee

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Cameron Sutton	1	3	3.0	3	0

Punting

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jed Barnett	5	190	38.0	0	0	45

Tennessee

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Matt Darr	8	278	34.8	0	2	39

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 400547850) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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