1. BSPORTSFRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM
AHL
BARONS’
SCHEDULE
RELEASED
The Barons open at
home Oct. 4-5
against the Char-
lotte Checkers. The
second home game
is the first of 14 car
giveaways. Okla-
homa City will play
44 of its 76 games
against West Divi-
sion rivals, including
12 games against
the Texas Stars.
PAGE 2B
HIGH SCHOOLS
CLASS 6A
DIVISION I
DISTRICTS
REVEALED
The 16 football pro-
grams of the future
Class 6A Division I
came together
Thursday morning
with three key goals
in deciding the two
eight-team districts:
I Find an equitable
balance of power.
I Maintain traditional
nondistrict rivalries.
I Minimize travel.
PAGE 5B
CONTACT US
The Oklahoman
Sports Department
P.O. Box 25125
Oklahoma City, OK
73125
I Phone:
(405) 475-3313
(800) 375-6397
ext. 3313
I Fax:
(405) 475-3315
I Website:
NewsOK.com
I Email:
sportsdesk@
oklahoman.com
Mike
Sherman,
Sports
Editor
(405) 475-3164
msherman@
opubco.com
ON NEWSOK
TALK SOONER
FOOTBALL IN
THE POWER
LUNCH CHAT
Want to talk about
Oklahoma’s new
quarterback or any-
thing else Sooner-
related? Join Jason
Kersey at 11 a.m. on
NewsOK.com/sports
for the Power Lunch
chat.
SCAN IT
Scan the QR code
below to see stories
in this section along
with related photos
and videos.
N
ORMAN — Trevor
Knight is the new
face of Oklahoma
football.
Which is problematic,
since we’ve seen about as
much of his face as we have
his game.
But the shroud is lifted, the
dark Knight rises, against
Louisiana-Monroe on Aug.
31, when Knight debuts as the
Sooner quarterback.
Will the Knight era last
four years, ala Landry Jones’?
Will the Knight era last a
game, which the Paul
Thompson era would have
had Rhett Bomar kept his
nose clean?
Can’t say. But this we
know from Bob Stoops’ an-
nouncement Thursday that
Knight has won the QB job:
the mobile quarterback era
has arrived in Soonerville.
After seven straight sea-
sons of stoic statues Sam
Bradford and Landry Jones,
the Sooners are forging new
ground. A quarterback who
can make plays with his feet.
And for Stoops to pick a
Quarterback Trevor Knight made a name for himself on the scout team last year, playing the
role of Johnny Manziel as the Sooners prepared to face Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Mobile QB
Era arrives
in Norman
looked much like the one
staged down the stretch of
2012 — with Chelf starting
andWalshperiodicallyen-
tering the game to run a
specialty package in short-
yardage and goal-line sit-
uations.
But Gundy’s comments
clearly suggested a more
platoon approach. In fact,
he said he felt “obligated”
to play both, even though
STILLWATER — Mike
Gundy did not reveal if
Clint Chelf or J.W. Walsh
would take the first snap
against Mississippi State
next Saturday.
But he did, essentially,
name two starting quar-
terbacks.
“I don’t feel like either
oneofthemwillbeaback-
up in the first game,” Gun-
dy said at his preseason
press conference Thursday
afternoon.
The fact that both will
play against the Bulldogs is
nohugesurprise.Thegen-
eral belief throughout the
offseason was that the
most likely quarterback
scenario would be one that
he has previously ex-
pressed his dislike for full-
blown two-quarterback
systems.
“I don’t like two-quar-
terback systems if we have
one that’s better than the
other or one that’s more
experienced,” Gundy said.
“Each year is different.
Now we have two quarter-
backs who are right there
with the same amount of
experience.
“We’re obligated to give
both of them an opportu-
nity to play in the game.
We feel like they can each
provide something for the
team to give us a chance to
KNIGHT TIMESTOOPS NAMES REDSHIRT FRESHMAN THE STARTER FOR SOONERS’ OPENER
NORMAN — Each and
every spare moment the
past week, Trevor
Knight’s father was glued
to a computer inside his
San Antonio dentist’s of-
fice.
George Knight would
visit patients, then hustle
back into his office, listen
to Oklahoma sports radio,
and constantly check OU
message boards and
newspaper websites for
any scrap of information
he could find regarding
the Sooners’ quarterback
battle between his son
and junior Blake Bell.
“I just didn’t let my pa-
tients know that I was
thinking more about Tre-
vor’s situation than I was
their teeth all week,”
George Knight said with a
laugh Thursday evening.
Following Thursday’s
official announcement
that Knight, a redshirt
freshman, will start the
Sooners’ 2013 season
opener Aug. 31 against
Louisiana-Monroe on
Owen Field, Oklahoma
COMMENTARY
Berry
Tramel
btramel@
opubco.com
Trevor Knight
OU’s starting
quarterback
PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY
THE OKLAHOMAN
OU FOOTBALL
Jason
Kersey
jkersey@
opubco.com
Coming Sunday: SEC-opoly
The Southeastern Conference has developed a stranglehold on college
football. Find out how that happened and see how OU, OSU and the
rest of the Big 12 are fighting back in The Oklahoman’s 2013 football
preview section.
Long-awaited news thrills Knight family
SEE KNIGHT, PAGE 4B
OSU FOOTBALL
Gina
Mizell
gmizell@
opubco.com
Gundy says Cowboys
have two starting QBs
OSU OFFENSE | COACH FEELS ‘OBLIGATED’ TO GIVE BOTH A SHOT
SEE OSU, PAGE 5B
SEE TRAMEL, PAGE 4B
ONLINE
Want more high
school coverage?
›Read the blogs at
NewsOK.com/
Varsity
›Our high school
writers will be out at
scrimmages
throughout the area
Friday night. Follow
them on Twitter for
the latest news and
updates:
@ScottWrightOK
@JacobUnruh
@StephKuzy
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS SCHOELEN,
THE OKLAHOMAN
EDMOND — Edmond
Santa Fe quarterback Jus-
tice Hansen had been
downplaying the battle
against Norman North’s
David Cornwell on Thurs-
daynightatEdmondSanta
Fe.
But when the half-game
scrimmage actually start-
ed, the two top recruits
duked it out in grand style,
matching touchdown for
touchdown — until inju-
ries struck both.
Hansen, an Oklahoma
commitment and No. 4 on
The Oklahoman’s Super
30, orchestrated three
Edmond Santa Fe’s Justice Hansen left Thursday’s
scrimmage early for precautionary reasons.
PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Jacob
Unruh
junruh@
opubco.com
HIGH SCHOOLS
Hansen, Cornwell suffer
minor injuries in showdown
SEE SCRIMMAGE, PAGE 3B