Oklahoma Sooners vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Match Player Stats On Sep 28, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 28, 2013

No. 12 Oklahoma 35, No. 22 Notre Dame 21: Blake Bell threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Sooners took advantage of turnovers to take down the Fighting Irish.

Damien Williams ran for a score and Corey Nelson took an interception back 24 yards for a touchdown as Oklahoma (4-0) got some revenge for a home loss to Notre Dame (3-2) last season. Sterling Shepard led the receiving corps with five catches for 83 yards and a score for the Sooners.

Tommy Rees was intercepted three times in the first half and went 9-for-24 for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, who had a 10-game home winning streak come to an end.

Rees’ second pass of the afternoon was picked off and returned to the end zone by Nelson, and his next throw was intercepted by Frank Shannon and turned into Williams’ touchdown and a 14-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest. Julian Wilson intercepted Rees deep in Oklahoma territory in the second quarter, and Bell found Lacoltan Bester for a 26-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive to make it 21-7 at the break.

George Atkinson III broke for an 80-yard touchdown run — the longest rush of his career — in the third quarter to cut it to 21-14, and Rees hit Troy Niklas with a 30-yard touchdown pass after a pair of Sooners field goals to make it 27-21 with 14:10 left. Bell’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Shepard less than two minutes later put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bell left the game late in the third quarter with cramping but returned to throw the touchdown pass and two-point conversion to Shepard in the fourth. … Atkinson finished with a game-high 148 yards on 14 carries and T.J. Jones added a receiving TD for the Irish. … Oklahoma rushed for 212 yards on 42 carries among five rushers.