No. 16 Oklahoma 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0: Freshman Trevor Knight threw three touchdown passes and the Sooners' stout defense did the rest in a one-sided season-opening win over the visiting Warhawks.

Knight, taking over for NFL draftee Landry Jones, completed just 11-of-28 passes for 86 yards and also threw an interception but was sensational in the red zone while adding 103 rushing yards. Jalen Saunders had a pair of TD catches while Trey Metoyer added a 13-yard scoring grab late in the third quarter as the Sooners recorded their first shutout since blanking Iowa State 52-0 on Oct. 16, 2010.

Kolton Browning went 20-for-39 for 128 yards and an interception for Louisiana-Monroe, which was outgained 305-38 on the ground in its first shutout loss since falling 34-0 to then-No. 6 Florida State on Sept. 3, 2011.

Knight struggled early in his Sooners debut - drawing boos at the end of a scoreless first quarter - but recovered to cap a 14-play, 78-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring strike to Saunders early in the second. Michael Hunnicutt added field goals from 41 and 33 yards to send Oklahoma into the break with a 13-0 lead.

Knight used his legs to help extend the advantage, racking up 32 rushing yards on the Sooners' first drive of the half to set up Brennan Clay's 8-yard TD run. The Warhawks botched a fake-punt attempt later in the quarter and Knight needed just one play to take advantage, connecting with Saunders on an 18-yard touchdown pass for a 27-0 edge.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisiana-Monroe converted just 2-of-16 third-down attempts against a Sooners team that allowed opponents to convert nearly 41 percent of their third-down chances last season. ... Knight joined Jason White (117 yards vs. Kansas in 2001) as the only Oklahoma quarterbacks to surpass 100 rushing yards in a game under head coach Bob Stoops. ... Oklahoma RB Damien Williams became the 69th player in school history to record 1,000 career rushing yards.