Oklahoma coach Brent Venables announced senior offensive tackle Wanya Morris will return from an off-field issue for the Sooners’ game against Nebraska on Saturday.
Venables also noted he’s hopeful junior safety Key Lawrence, who missed OU’s game against Kent State with a hamstring injury last Saturday, can return, along with banged up redshirt senior offensive lineman Robert Congel and freshman receiver Nic Anderson.
Morris, a second-year transfer from Tennessee, was listed as the starting right tackle in the preseason and has been working with the scout team in practice as he prepares to make his 2022 debut.
“He (has) shown good spirit about it,” Venables said of Morris practicing with the reserves. “All things considered. … If he’s rusty, it’s because he's got the jitters. Otherwise, there should be no excuse. He has been working at a high pace against good players for the last couple weeks.”
Lawrence made three tackles as a starting safety in the Sooners’ opener against UTEP, and Congel has rotated in at center and guard in OU’s first two games.
“We’re as healthy as we’ve been all fall camp right now,” Venables said. “... Comes at a good time, being healthy. And hopefully we get into a good rhythm.”
Thompson receives rematch with Sooners
Oklahoma will take on a familiar face at quarterback when it rolls into Lincoln on Saturday.
Casey Thompson, who transferred from Texas to Nebraska on Jan. 7, completed 20-of-34 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns against the Sooners in the Red River Showdown last season. The son of former Sooners quarterback Charles Thompson even considered transferring to OU before ultimately deciding on the Huskers.
“Casey's doing a great job,” Venables said. “We tried to get him here in the offseason and thought that we might have an opportunity and I know he considered us, but I think he saw a great opportunity there. I’m happy for him. He has a wonderful family. Casey’s an amazing young man and I’m really pulling for him, except for this week.”
To start the season, Thompson has thrown for 866 yards and four touchdowns along with three interceptions in three games. The Oklahoma City native will have to lead the Huskers Saturday with a new coach, Mickey Joseph, after Nebraska fired Scott Frost on Sunday following its 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern.
“Casey's done a great job,” Venables said. “He can improvise and extend plays. He made some plays down the field where it looked like he was dead to rights. He's been a winner his whole life… but he’s very talented. And it comes from the heritage of that family, they’re competitive, tough, instinctive, winners, leaders and he's talented on top of that.
“But he's very confident and he's in a system (with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple), he's a really confident guy too, a really good coach fundamentally and puts him in a position to be successful.”
Redshirt junior quaerterback Dillon Gabriel during game two against Kent State on Sep. 10.
Gabriel knows little fixes can spark offense
Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a Hawaii native, said he has never been to Nebraska and it’s not exactly his preferred vacation destination.
Nevertheless, he’s excited to play his first road game with OU and is ready to get the offense rolling after a slow first half last week against Kent State.
“I feel like we did a good job of flushing it and making sure we make changes, and the necessary changes on everyone's part,” Gabriel said. “And to be quite honest, I think there's just so much to learn from, so much to grow from. And that's the beauty of it, too, is they’re fixable and they’re things that we can definitely get better at.”
OU didn’t score against the Golden Flashes until Gabriel’s touchdown pass to Marvin Mims with 18 seconds left until halftime. Yet, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said he believes his offense is in a better position currently than where it was comparatively during his stops at Central Florida and Mississippi.
Around this time in 2019, Gabriel was just a UCF freshman coming off his first career start. Now he’s a mature veteran who knows his coordinator’s system well.
“I think the biggest thing really is just how we attacked it in January, and the preparation even going into fall camp or that summer we had,” Gabriel said. “We had never had a summer like that partially because I knew we're gonna have to have a summer like that to do what we wanted to do and put in everything we wanted to put in.
“So I'm just I'm proud of the way we prepared and the summer we had, because it's coming into fruition and there's so many things we can fix, and I think that's the exciting part for us.”
Head coach Brent Venables and freshman linebaker Jaren Kanak during Sooners' fall open practice on Aug 23.
Venables’ energy grabbed Kanak
Former Clemson commit Jaren Kanak was thrown for a loop when Venables left the Tigers for Oklahoma, but now the duo has happily reunited in Norman.
The freshman linebacker from Hays, Kansas, quickly bonded with the then-Clemson defensive coordinator and Salina native over the toughness embodied in the west side of their home state.
When Venables departed Clemson for OU, he promised coach Dabo Swinney he wouldn’t poach any recruits. Kanak wanted to decommit from the Tigers and follow Venables, but Venables didn’t want Kanak to follow unless Swinney allowed.
“I think decommitting from any type of school that you’ve committed to… isn't an easy process,” Kanak said. “But especially with something like that and the situation, the way it took place, it was a little bit more difficult than usual.
“I guess that might have made it a little more difficult, just trying to convince Swinney that this is what I want to do, what was best for me, but once Swinney gave the OK, obviously Coach Venables was more than happy to take me.”
Having received Swinney’s permission, Kanak is enjoying playing for Venables in front of 85,000 roaring fans in Norman.
Through two games he has made seven tackles as a backup middle linebacker. He has also developed chemistry with star sophomore Danny Stutsman, who nicknamed him “Ivan Drago,” the antagonist from “Rocky IV.”
A four-star recruit and the No. 1 2022 player in Kansas, per 247Sports, Kanak played running back and ran track in high school. He said he hasn’t asked to take any wildcat snaps on offense, after his high school coaches advised him to be “seen and not heard,” as a freshman.
While he could possibly contribute on both sides of the ball in the future, Kanak is just happy to be learning defensive techniques from the coach he always wanted to play for.
“I loved the kind of guy Coach Venables was and the energy he brings,” Kanak said. “In the end, that's the guy I wanted to play for, and there's a lot of other reasons I don't really need to get into, but for the most part, just to keep it simple, that was my decision and that's what my family and what I thought was best for me.”
Parker returns from sniffles
Senior tight end Daniel Parker made his Oklahoma debut last Saturday against Kent State in Norman.
The Kansas City native caught two passes for 21 yards against the Golden Flashes. Parker, who transferred from Missouri on Dec. 22, missed OU’s season opener against UTEP due to illness.
“It was exciting,” Parker said about playing his first game in Norman. “I mean, the palace was packed, I got to do it with my brothers and a coaching staff that I love to play with, so it was fun.”
At 6-foot-2, 239-pounds, Parker is known primarily for his blocking prowess. He also provides depth at tight end behind redshirt senior Brayden Willis and alongside freshmen Jason Llewellyn and Kaden Helms.
“I'm brand new here,” Parker said. “Everything is new to me, so it’s like ‘follow Brayden.’ Wherever he goes, I go. He took me under his wing, just watching him evolve even from where he was last year and watching what he's done to my game and being able to bring it to a different level. It's just been big for me.
