NORMAN, Okla. -- — Oklahoma backup Michael Hawkins Jr. passed for three touchdowns and ran for another, and the fifth-ranked Sooners rolled past Kent State 44-0 on Saturday.

Hawkins led the Sooners (5-0) to points on their first five possessions. He passed for 162 yards and ran for 33 as a fill-in for John Mateer, who sat out with an injured right hand.

Isaiah Sategna caught two touchdown passes, and Tory Blaylock had 78 yards on 15 carries.

Oklahoma held the Golden Flashes (1-4) to 135 total yards and registered its first shutout since a 73-0 win over Arkansas State on Sept. 2, 2023. The Sooners had five sacks and 13 tackles for loss and held Kent State to 17 yards on 33 rushing attempts.

Now, the Sooners can focus on their game next Saturday against rival Texas.

“Big game like it always is,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “Has been for 100 years. The emotion that goes into that game, the intensity of the environment -- it’s a great setting, one of the coolest environments you can have an opportunity to play and compete in. This year will be no different."

Hawkins completed 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to help the Sooners take a 23-0 lead.

The Sooners finally forced their first turnover of the season and made the most of it. R Mason Thomas forced a fumble on a sack and Gracen Halton recovered and ran 4 yards for the touchdown to give the Sooners a 30-0 lead in the third quarter.

“Thanks to my man R Mason Thomas — he made a great move, one of like, the quickest moves I’ve ever seen," Halton said. “He made a move, made the play and got the ball out.”

Venables liked his team's energy against what has been one of the worst teams in FBS this season.

“Show up and play to and compete to a standard, regardless of who we’re playing or how the game’s going,” he said. “And I just really appreciate that about our guys. It certainly wasn’t perfect. ... but I thought that we did what we needed to do handle business.”

All didn’t go well for the Sooners. Oklahoma receiver Keontez Lewis was carted off in the first quarter after going headfirst into a brick wall. An update from OU Sports Medicine during the game said Lewis was sent offsite for additional testing and the outlook was promising.

Taking it back

Oklahoma honored its 1985 national championship team at halftime. Coach Barry Switzer, who turns 88 on Sunday, was present along with many players.

Oklahoma also wore throwback uniforms with white helmets and a single crimson stripe down the middle, crimson with Northwestern stripes on the sleeves and two red stripes on white pants resembling those the Sooners wore from 1946 to 1956 under coach Bud Wilkinson.

Turnover time

Oklahoma won the turnover battle for the first time this season.

The Sooners had lost it in all four previous games and was among the nation's worst teams in turnover margin at minus 6. The defense forced two turnovers on Saturday, and for the first time this season, Oklahoma did not turn it over.

Sategna's day

Sategna added 97 punt returns to his 75 yards receiving for 192 all-purpose yards. He had the most punt return yards for an Oklahoma player since the 2012 season.

The takeaway

Kent State: The game went about as well as could be expected for a team that lost 62-14 to Texas Tech and 66-10 to Florida State.

Oklahoma: The Sooners entered the day averaging just 125.3 yards rushing per game. They gained 185 on 41 carries against Kent State — an improvement, but likely not quite what they were looking for against a squad that allowed 498 yards rushing against Florida State.

Up next

Kent State: Hosts Massachusetts on Saturday.

Oklahoma: Plays No. 9 Texas in Dallas on Saturday.