Last summer, Sooner fans had no idea what to expect from the team’s offensive line. This year, Oklahoma fans can be cautiously optimistic about the unit heading into the fall.

Late in the 2025 season, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh utilized a six-man rotation that featured Febechi Nwaiwu, Derek Simmons, Ryan Fodje, Michael Fasusi, Eddy Pierre-Louis and Jake Maikkula.

Nwaiwu was the only veteran in the position group, as Simmons and Maikkula transferred in and Fodje, Fasusi and Pierre-Louis were freshmen. (Pierre-Louis was a redshirt freshman).

The new-look group produced mixed results.

Oklahoma allowed 29 sacks, which ranked 93rd out of 134 FBS teams — so not great. But according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), OU quarterback John Mateer was pressured 26 times, which ranked 26th among signal callers at the Power Four level.

In 2024, OU allowed 50 sacks, which tied for last in the nation. Though there were still pass-blocking lapses in 2025, the performance from the line in those situations was far better than the year before.

OU’s linemen, however, still struggled to open up running lanes. The Sooners ranked 13th in the SEC and 112th nationally in rushing, averaging only 118.5 yards per game.

Oklahoma’s offensive line didn’t suddenly become the best in the SEC last year, but Bedenbaugh’s group did show that it’s on the right trajectory.

Fodje, Fasusi and Pierre-Louis will all be sophomores in 2026, while Maikkula and Arkansas transfer E’Marion Harris are entering their senior seasons. Those five are OU’s likely Week 1 starters, and the combination of youth and experience should give the Sooners a strong foundation on the line.

That said, the Sooners will be without Nwaiwu — their “glue guy” — in the fall.

Nwaiwu started 26 games over two seasons at Oklahoma. He earned Second Team All-SEC honors in 2025 and was a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, given annually to college football’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. Nwaiwu began his collegiate career at North Texas and appeared in 26 games for the Mean Green.

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Nwaiwu was OU’s most effective pass blocker, finishing 2025 with a remarkable 91.6 PFF grade in that category. His former OU teammates and coaches regularly raved about his leadership traits, saying they were just as vital to the line’s improvement as his skills.

The Houston Texans selected Nwaiwu in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. So now that he’s gone, who will step up?

Maikkula and Harris are certainly the “old guys” on the line. Maikkula spent three seasons at Stanford before coming to Norman, while Harris played 1,694 offensive snaps over his four years at Arkansas.

The young trio of Fodje, Fasusi and Pierre-Louis doesn’t have as much college football experience as those two, but they’ve been in Norman for just as long — or longer — than Maikkula and Harris.

Though it’s hard to replicate the impact Nwaiwu made, OU coach Brent Venables feels confident that others will step into leadership roles in the fall.

“Lots of different personalities, same mentality,” Venables said after OU’s spring game on April 18. “It might be the best that we’ve had since we’ve been here when it comes to that — the continuity, the chemistry, the togetherness. It’s a very real thing. It jumps out at you.”

The talent is there for OU’s offensive line to improve again in the fall. But someone — or several linemen — must step up for the unit to avoid a 2026 regression.

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – Horry County Fire Rescue crews contained three separate fires totaling roughly 13 acres overnight and into early morning, capping a busy Fourth of July for firefighters across the county.

Silvercrest Drive

Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the first fire at 10:32 p.m. Saturday at Silvercrest Drive in the Carolina Forest community.

The grass fire, estimated at one acre, threatened nearby structures, but crews contained it and protected the structures.

Smoke may still linger in the area Sunday.

Sunny Heights Road

Shortly after, around 11:10 p.m., firefighters responded to Sunny Heights Road in the Longs community for a woods fire.

The slow-moving fire grew to roughly 10 acres. No structures were threatened. The South Carolina Forestry Commission assisted crews on scene.

People in the area will continue to see smoke and possible flare-ups for an extended period. The fire was contained around 1:15 a.m.

Hardwick Road

At 3:32 a.m., Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the 10000 block of Hardwick Road in Nichols for a brush fire estimated at two acres.

The fire threatened nearby structures, but crews announced at 6:05 a.m. that the fire was contained and all structures were protected. The South Carolina Forestry Commission also assisted at this scene.

People in the area may continue to see smoke and possible flare-ups. Crews will continue to monitor the area.

Fireworks and Drought

In addition to the fires, Horry County Fire Rescue said crews kept busy throughout the evening with multiple calls, including outside fires reportedly started by the discharging of fireworks.

Ahead of the holiday weekend, HCFR had advised the community to skip personal-use fireworks and leave holiday shows to the professionals, citing dangerous dry conditions across the county.

Nearly all of Horry County, 99.3%, is currently under an extreme drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data. Our First Alert Weather team has more on the expanding drought conditions here.

It is unclear if any of the three fires above were caused by fireworks.

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Anyone who’s ever needed something locked behind a glass door (or some other security measure that makes it hard to just grab an item off the shelf) knows the drill. You try to click the button to call an employee, wait for an employee to show up, hope the employee isn’t busy with someone else first, and maybe even leave without your item because you’re tired of waiting or just frustrated at the friction of the shopping experience.

One Tennessee electrician went to grab wire for a job and expected the usual wait. Instead, he found Lowe’s had quietly changed the system to seemingly give customers more autonomy in the store.

Lowe’s Gets a Security Upgrade

In a trending video with more than 55,000 views, content creator and contractor Tim, of Tri Cities Electric (@tricities.electric), stopped at a Lowe’s in Tennessee to pick up some wiring for a job. 

“One of my least favorite things about coming to Lowe’s was that I’ve obviously got to buy wire, and they keep it behind these cages,” he says, showing what look like wire doors on the retailer’s shelves.

This time, though, there was a touchscreen mounted right on the metal doors, so Tim tried it out.

“We simply click ‘use your cell phone,’ agree to whatever that is, put your phone number in,” he said.

A code landed on his phone seconds later, and he typed it back into the screen.

The screen accepted it, and two electromagnets holding the cage shut released on their own. No waiting for an associate required.

“Case is now unlocked. Got two electromagnets up here; they release. Now, I have all the access in the world to this. How neat. Good job, Lowe’s,” he said. 

“No need to wait for wire at @Lowe’s anymore!” he wrote in the caption.

Why Stores Are Locking Everything

The National Retail Federation says that retail theft costs the industry about $95 billion across sectors, and stores have responded by locking down anything with resale value, Business Insider reported. 

Visits by an Insider reporter to Walmart, Target, and Home Depot found the same pattern everywhere: power tools sealed in cages, spider-wrap alarms clipped onto smaller items, and security cameras trained on entire aisles. 

Lowe’s specifically has cages on power tools, alarms on display units, and—as of last year—some tools that won’t even power on until they’re activated at checkout. 

Retail Theft: Is It That Bad?

The “retail theft crisis” narrative is a lot messier than it sounds. Retail executives spent a solid year sounding alarms about “shrink”—inventory loss from theft, employee error, and accounting mistakes combined—but by 2024, several major chains were quietly walking those claims back, according to NPR. 

Walgreens’ own finance chief admitted the company might have “cried too much” about theft the year before. And the industry’s go-to shrink figure, sourced from a National Retail Federation survey, has barely moved over the past decade—hovering around 1.4% to 1.6% of sales for years. 

That hasn’t stopped the security theater, though: Nearly a third of shoppers say locked-up products make them think worse of a store, and more than a quarter say it’s enough to make them walk out without buying anything.

‘Better Than Home Depot’

The comments filled up with a mix of impressions about the tech.

“So then what’s the point of the cage….” a top comment read.

“Bout time because finding one of them associates isn’t easy,” a person said.

“Until someone leaves it open….” another wrote.

“And now you will be all kinds of marketing text or in that permissions agreement you gave them access to your contacts and to install software,” a commenter added.

Motor1 reached out to Tim via email and Instagram direct message for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.