Oklahoma
Oklahoma-Houston Preview: One Big Thing
NORMAN — One game into the 2024 college football season, No. 15-ranked Oklahoma is struggling with the one thing no team wants to endure.
Injuries.
And it’s not a lot of injuries all over the place. It’s a handful injuries at two positions: offensive line and wide receiver.
The Sooners have enough players to beat Houston this week. The Cougars were routed at home last week by UNLV, 27-7 and are 28-point underdogs against Oklahoma.
But what of OU’s game next week against Tulane? The jury is still out on the Green Wave this year. With a new coach, new quarterback and new vision, Tulane beat FCS opponent Southeastern Louisiana 52-0 last week. There will be more clarity this week as Kansas State visits New Orleans on Saturday ahead of Tulane’s Sept. 14 trip to Norman.
After that, of course, No. 14 Tennessee comes to town.
So Oklahoma needs to get to work right away on fixing its problems — in this case, that means getting healthy at wideout and o-line, or at least getting better production from the replacements.
As always, the discussion begins up front.
Coach Brent Venables has already said he expects right tackle Jake Taylor to be back Saturday night. That alleviates some consternation over the blocking, as Taylor, a third-year player, won the starting job over Michigan State transfer Spencer Brown in the preseason. Brown, a two-year starter in East Lansing, is a good player, but clearly is still getting comfortable at OU and last week posted an overall offensive grade of 58.1, according to Pro Football Focus, which included a pass-blocking grade of 49.4 and a run-blocking grade of 60.1. Those both need to be closer to 70.
Taylor’s return would mean USC transfer Michael Tarquin can stay at left tackle this week, which means third-year player Jacob Sexton can stay at left guard. Sources have indicated that was the Sooners’ best combination on the left side during training camp.
Venables offered a little less insight on the center position, where he said Monday that starter and SMU transfer Branson Hickman “looked remarkably good” without confirming that Hickman was actually back at practice fighting through an ankle sprain.
Hickman’s first-quarter injury last week wasn’t a massive setback. If there was a championship or playoff berth on the line, maybe Hickman could have stayed in the game. And his replacements weren’t bad. But there was no reason to push the envelope against a team like Temple.
If Hickman is back, that means backup guard and Washington transfer Geirean Hatchett won’t be pressed into emergency action with his own arm injury to deal with. It also means maybe second-year center Joshua Bates can get some more quality snaps this week (he played 16 snaps there last week, per PFF).
And maybe it means another week “closer,” as Venables put it, for senior Troy Everett, who played 311 offensive snaps at center and guard last season and gave up just one quarterback hit, two hurries, three pressures and no sacks. Everett is working his way back from a knee injury sustained during spring practice.
Good play at center, Venables said, is a priority.
“Having somebody available there is really important,” he said. “So we’re working through that. I like where we’re at from that standpoint and I expect us to only get better there.”
Hard as it may be to believe, things are actually quite a bit darker at the wideout position.
Purdue transfer Deion Burks caught three short touchdown passes last week against Temple and tends to make it look easy. As such, he papers over a lot of problems.
Once considered the Sooners’ deepest and probably most talented position on the team, the new reality is stark — and has only gotten worse since the start of training camp.
Former Michigan transfer Andrel Anthony was WR1 early last year but is still coming back from a 2023 midseason knee injury. He made just one catch last week for 4 yards, and his contributions this season will be limited until probably October or even November.
Then big-play junior Jayden Gibson went down early in camp with a knee injury that will cost him the entire season. He averaged 27 yards per catch last year and scored five touchdowns.
Then last week, after hauling in a 47-yard deep ball on the second play of the game, senior Jalil Farooq suffered a broken foot — a re-break of the injury that knocked him out of spring practice. Farooq’s career numbers have been impactful: 87 catches, 1,276 yards and seven scores.
Third-year sophomore Nic Anderson also missed last week’s game with an undisclosed injury that limited him in preseason camp, and Venables said Monday he was “hopeful” that Anderson could be back this week (although it would seem wise to bring him back slowly, if at all, against Houston). Anderson led the nation in yards per catch for most of last season and hauled in 10 touchdowns. His health and big-play presence against the rest of the Southeastern Conference is paramount.
Replacements J.J. Hester and Brenen Thompson committed three drops last week and need to show coaches that they’re ready for the moment.
Oklahoma struggled to run the football early against Temple, averaging just 4.1 yards in the first half and getting stuffed eight times for gains of 2 yards or less. Only a 30-yard run by Tennessee-Martin transfer Sam Franklin and runs of 19 and 35 by freshman Taylor Tatum late in the game skewed the yards-per-carry to an acceptable 6.2.
And with quarterback Jackson Arnold enduring three sacks, he only averaged 8.1 yards per completion. Other than Farooq’s catch, Arnold’s longest completion was just 14 yards.
If Taylor and Hickman return this week, both the pass blocking and run blocking will improve, and then the Sooners can work on developing consistency and chemistry up front with their best starting five.
And when that happens, if Anderson comes back and Anthony continues to heal, Arnold and the OU passing game will get better, too.
Assuming no one else on the o-line or at receiver gets hurt.
Oklahoma
Two arrested in Oklahoma City human trafficking investigation
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. (KOKH) — Two people are facing a human trafficking charge after Oklahoma City Police received a 911 call in reference to a possible kidnapping.
According to the affidavit, the suspect, identified as Danasia Turner, met with a victim and the two became acquaintances.
The two moved in together, and Turner told the victim she was a prostitute and an escort.
According to the affidavit, Turner explained the rules, like no scrolling on her phone unless she’s making money, and that she would suffer physical abuse if she wasn’t making money or wasn’t willing to work and obey orders from the second suspect, identified as Alaze Grant.
One day, Turner showed up with a black eye and broken fingernails, telling the victim this is what happens when the rules are broken, according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 5, 2026, Turner told the victim to get into a car. The two drove to the Super Inn near I-240 and S Western Avenue. Turner is accused of making the victim rent a room and telling her to participate in prostitution dates.
The victim reportedly saw Turner hand all the money to Grant. The victim said she felt like she could not leave based on the injuries Grant had given Turner.
Turner is also accused of being very aggressive with the victim, controlling every aspect of the prostitution dates.
The victim was able to send several texts to a friend, saying she felt like she needed help, could not leave, and thought she was being sex trafficked.
Turner and Grant were arrested and booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center for human trafficking and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Their bond is set at $1 million.
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Oklahoma
‘I’m not a monster:’ Oklahoma Death Row inmate denied Clemency; family of victim speaks out
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied a recommendation for clemency for death row inmate Kendrick Simpson, clearing the way for his execution. Simpson was convicted in a 2006 drive-by shooting that killed two men in Oklahoma City.
Allison Crystal’s brother, Glen Palmer, was one of the men killed in the shooting. She said the journey for justice has been 20 years long, but after Wednesday’s clemency hearing, justice feels closer than ever.
“My brother is resting in peace now,” she said. “The soil will sit on his grave because it’s been rocky. It’s been shifty for us as a family and for his friends.”
Glen Palmer and his friend Anthony Jones were shot following a fight at an Oklahoma City nightclub.
“He was literally a monster in that nightclub looking for somebody’s life to take,” Crystal said. “My brothers meant the world to me, they were the stars of the family, they were the center of our family. Our family has been so broken into pieces since this tragedy has happened”
Prosecutors said Simpson followed the men three miles from the club and fired roughly 20 rounds from an AK-style rifle into their car. London Johnson survived the shooting. He spoke before the board recalling the trauma he suffered.
“A part of me died in that car as well,” he said. “Those were my best friends, my brothers. So many endless tears and sleepless nights of images of my friends laying there bleeding out, suffering from his careless thoughts and selfishness. My heart will forever be broken.”
Simpson addressed the board via live video, expressing remorse for his actions, apologizing to the victims’ families for killing their loved ones and for terrorizing Johnson. He said while he doesn’t deserve it, he asked the board for mercy.
“I’m not the worst of the worst, I’m not a monster,” Simpson said. “I’m ashamed of my actions. I’m ashamed of the destruction my actions caused. I’m ashamed of being a murderer. I’ve dedicated myself to nonviolence by traveling the road to redemption.”
His attorneys said his traumatic childhood, surviving Hurricane Katrina, and untreated PTSD contributed to his actions that night. While in prison, they says he worked to better himself, gaining his GED, taking college courses and even becoming an award winning poet. However, Simpson admits he is solely to blame.
“I’m responsible for their deaths,” he said. “I don’t make any excuses. I don’t blame others, and they didn’t deserve what happened to them. I’m ashamed of causing much pain and hurt, the type of pain and hurt that lives forever.”
Simpson’s sons also gave recorded video statements to the board saying even though he was in prison, he stayed a part of their lives and they were close. Despite Simpson’s plea and his family’s testimonies, the board ultimately denied to recommend clemency. For Crystal, she says after two decades without her brother, she finally feels relief.
“He (Simpson) has gotten to see his kids grow, to build a bond with them, something my brothers would never get to do. Their daughters would never get to know them,” she said. “This has really been tragic for our family. We are just excited that this is over with.”
Simpson is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Feb. 12 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Statement from AG Gentner Drummond:
“This ruthless and violent killer hunted and executed his victims without remorse,” Drummond said. “I commend the Pardon and Parole Board for rejecting clemency today. The victims’ families will finally see justice when the death sentence is carried out on Feb. 12.”
Statement from the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP):
“Is the State of Oklahoma capable of “extending grace to the man who Kendrick Simpson is today” or “reducing him to a one-dimensional character” punished for what happened on the worst day of his life? Ignoring the deep remorse that Kendrick Simpson expresses for the families of those whose lives were taken, the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole Board just showed that it is not fully capable of recognizing the positive impact of transformative rehabilitation and showed no mercy for Kendrick Simpson. This is a sad day for Oklahoma.”
Oklahoma
Absentee Shawnee tribal leadership responds after citizens report harassment by ICE
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma is responding after citizens reported incidents of harassment from federal agents, according to tribal leadership.
In a statement from Gov. John R. Johnson, Johnson says amid the federal government’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, federal officers have “begun to approach, question and even detain Tribal Members in Oklahoma.”
Johnson’s statement says Tribal Members were accosted by officers using unconstitutional racial profiling techniques, and also says there is no reasonable basis, suspicion, or probable cause to restrict the liberties of Native Americans based on skin color, hair color, eye color or a lack of identification.
“Just because a Native American may resemble, superficially, a migrant from Central or South America, that does not mean that federal officers have the right to approach,” Johnson’s statement says. “These prejudicial activities are being carried out by Immigration Customs and Enforcement, but our Members should expect either cooperation from state and local law enforcement agencies with ICE; and/or a complete adoption of these policies and procedures.”
Johnson’s statement also included recommendations for Tribal members who do encounter ICE or other law enforcement, including their rights under the U.S. Constitution, and also calling upon Tribal Members to contact Tribal leadership to report encounters with federal officers.
“This is an ongoing predicament for Indian Country, which will continue to evolve,” Johnson’s statement said. “If you or someone you know has been forced to interact with a federal officer and/or agent regarding your citizenship, immediately contact my office or the offices of any other Executive Committee Members.”
Griffin Media has reached out to ICE for comment, but has not yet received a response.
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