The Oklahoma Sooners will look to win their second straight game on Saturday, as they’ll visit the Missouri Tigers. OU defeated Maine last week, with several true freshmen getting plenty of snaps in a blowout win over an FCS foe.

This week, it’s back to the SEC grind for Brent Venables’ squad, as Oklahoma looks to reach bowl eligibility. With plenty of injuries still hampering the Sooners, it could be another opportunity for some young players to step into the spotlight on the road.

Here are three freshmen to keep your eye on when Oklahoma takes on Missouri.

1. Xavier Robinson, RB

Running back Xavier Robinson was impressive last week against the Black Bears. He was playing in mop-up duty against lesser competition, but his physicality and burst has some clamoring to see what he can do at the highest level.

Robinson is a local talent from Carl Albert High School in Oklahoma, and he’s been buried on the depth chart behind Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, and others. No one is saying he should surpass Barnes or Tatum, but it’d be interesting to see what he can do if given the chance to get more work.

2. Reggie Powers III, DB

Each of the past two weeks, I’ve included one of OU’s freshmen trio of defensive backs in this piece. This week, Reggie Powers III gets the nod. He, along with Jaydan Hardy and Michael Boganowski make up an exciting future at safety for Oklahoma’s defense. They’re all playing more and more as the season moves along.

Powers had a beautiful interception in the fourth quarter last week that was wiped off the board due to a roughing the passer penalty. He’s been solid on special teams, and could certainly see more snaps as the Sooners try to cover up some of their deficiencies at cornerback.

3. Ivan Carreon, WR

We’ll go a little out of the box for this third one. Everyone knows about OU’s wide receiver injuries in 2024. And everyone knows about the various levels of impact true freshmen wideouts like Jacob Jordan, Zion Kearney, and Zion Ragins have had in their place.

But another guy who has gotten a bit of playing time is Ivan Carreon. He’s got the most size of the group at 6-foot-6, and is a good blocker on the outside. He’s caught a couple of passes this season, but could be in line for some more targets if the Sooners have bad injury luck at wideout again this week. He followed Emmett Jones from Texas Tech, decommitting from the Red Raiders to come to Norman.

Oklahoma vs. Missouri will kick off on SEC Network at 6:45 p.m. from Columbia, Missouri.

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The No. 24 Missouri Tigers shared positive injury updates in the first availability report of the week ahead of their Week 11 matchup with Oklahoma.

This article will be updated with the new reports leading up to game day.

Missouri Wednesday Availability Report:

• QB Brady Cook – Questionable
• RB Nate Noel – Questionable
• OL Logan Reichert – Questionable
• LG Cayden Green – Probable
• WR Mookie Cooper – Doubtful
• LB Brayshawn Littlejohn – Doubtful

Starting quarterback Brady Cook was listed as doubtful the Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Missouri’s Week 9 battle with Alabama, but starts this week off with a better designation. He’s dealing with an ankle injury he suffered against Auburn and a upper body injury he suffered against Alabama.

Starting running back Nate Noel and wide receiver Mookie Cooper fully missed the game against Alabama, with Noel because of a foot injury suffered against Auburn and an unknown injury for Cooper.

Oklahoma Wednesday Availability Report:

Here’s the information without bolding:

• WR Jayden Gibson – Out
• WR Nic Anderson – Out
• WR Andrel Anthony – Out
• DB Gentry Williams – Out
• DB Kendel Dolby – Out
• OL Geirean Hatchett – Out
• OL Jacob Sexton – Out
• OL Jake Taylor – Out
• RB Jovantae Barnes – Questionable
• WR Jalil Farooq – Questionable
• WR Deion Burks – Questionable
• RB Gavin Sawchuk – Questionable
• DL Adepoju Adebawore – Questionable
• OL Joshua Bates – Questionable
• OL Michael Tarquin – Questionable
• DL Ethan Downs – Probable

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy posted an apology to social media late Tuesday night for comments he made during his Monday news conference about Oklahoma State fans who have been critical of the way the season has unfolded.

“I apologize to those who my comments during Monday’s media call offended,” the longtime Oklahoma State coach said. “My intent was not to offend any of our fans who have supported us and this program through the years.”

Oklahoma State is 3-6 and 0-6 in the Big 12 a season after making it to the Big 12 championship game. After starting the season with three straight non-conference wins, the Cowboys are in a tailspin. Four of the six losses have been by double digits.

The team’s performance amidst its losing streak was a prominent theme in Monday’s news conference. And after he was asked about fan criticism earlier in the availability, the topic came up again. Gundy said that “most people are weak” when things don’t go well and that those people then find someone to point the finger at.

He then went on from there.

The former Oklahoma State quarterback has been the Cowboys’ head coach since 2005 and the team’s 18-year bowl streak will be snapped if Oklahoma State doesn’t win each of its final three games of the season.

That looks like a very tough task. Oklahoma State plays at TCU on Saturday before games against Texas Tech and No. 20 Colorado to finish the season. If Oklahoma State loses at least one more game, it will be the first time the school hasn’t won at least seven games in a single season since the Cowboys went 4-7 in Gundy’s first season.

Two big reasons for the team’s struggles are the lack of a run game and a porous defense. Ollie Gordon was an All-American in 2023 with 1,732 yards and finished seventh in the Heisman voting. This season, he has 146 carries for 593 yards and the team is averaging just 3.7 yards a carry. The defense, meanwhile, is allowing 6.9 yards per play and the 31.2 points per game OSU is allowing ranks 109th out of 134 teams at the top level of college football.