Oklahoma
Brent Venables Expects Oklahoma to be Healthier at WR ‘In a Few Weeks’
For once this season, the Sooners seem to be getting healthier rather than suffering more injuries.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables on Monday during his coach’s show said that he expects OU to start getting some receivers back in action soon; however, it might not be in time for the Red River Showdown against top-ranked Texas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Venables specifically mentioned Deion Burks, Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony.
“I feel good, for sure, from a receiver standpoint, we’ll have some guys back in a few weeks,” Venables said. “Jalil and Burks, you know, we’ll see where Burks is here in the next couple of days.”
Burks seems to be the only receiver the Sooners could get back for their matchup against the Longhorns, but he also might be the biggest addition. He missed OU’s last game against Auburn after getting injured in the loss to Tennessee.
Even after sitting out a game, Burks is still the Sooners’ leading receiver this season. He has 26 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns in four games. He hasn’t caught a TD since catching all three in Week 1 against Temple, though.
Burks transferred from Purdue this past offseason. He led the Boilermakers with 47 receptions, 629 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
Farooq has been sidelined since breaking his foot in OU’s season opener. Venables announced after that game Farooq would miss 6-8 weeks. It will be exactly six weeks from then on Friday. Venables also noted that Farooq will be out of a boot in “a couple of days” and can start getting back into shape after that.
Last season, Farooq caught 45 passes for 694 yards and a pair of TDs while starting all 133 games for the Sooners.
Anthony also hasn’t caught a pass since that season-opener against Temple in late August, but also like Farooq, could return soon. After transferring from Michigan, Farooq suffered a season-ending injury last season during his first year in Norman.
“We’ll get a couple of those guys back pending there’s no setbacks along the way,” Venables said. “And that’s great, you know? And they’re excited. It’s good to have those guys back around. Andrel had another little clean-up surgery. He feels really, really good. He had that sometime here recently, and he feels really good, but so we’ll see where that is here in the few weeks, as well.
“We’ve had some other guys that have been banged up. They’ve just kind of been fighting through it, so that helped these guys get your normal bumps and bruises – that’s going to happen. But hard to believe that here, in just a few days, we’ll be halfway through the regular season just like that. But it’s exciting.”
All these receiver injuries came as sophomore Jackson Arnold struggled at quarterback, ultimately leading freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. to make his first career start against Auburn in OU’s last outing. Hawkins is also expected to start against Texas on Saturday.
Even of the three updates Venables gave, he didn’t mention Nic Anderson, who put together one of the best seasons ever by an OU freshman receiver last year. Anderson finally made his season debut against Tennessee in Week 4, but was then immediately injured again and hasn’t been on the field since.
The Sooners also lost wideout Jayden Gibson for the season because of a knee injury suffered during fall camp.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
For more local news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter by clicking here.
NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.
Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Follow
NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.
Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
Follow
-
New York2 hours agoGunman Who Killed Baby in Brooklyn Was Targeting Her Father, Police Say
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoHow these Detroit farmers are fighting for neighborhood food security
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoS.F. hospital stabbing analysis confirms Mission Local reporting on security lapses
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoIt’s a big week for restaurant openings and closings in Dallas
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoCain, Kushner launch South Florida JV with plans for Edgewater rental tower
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoMBTA Green Line trains out from Kenmore to Boston College on B branch through April 30
-
Denver, CO3 hours agoNuggets vs. Timberwolves | 3 keys to a Denver win in Game 3
-
Seattle, WA3 hours agoThe Honorable Brandon Lee Gowton Picks for Seattle at #32 | Field Gulls