OU spent the offseason building an offensive line around continuity. Now, just weeks before the season opener, the Sooners will have to test the depth behind it.
Fifth-year senior and projected starting center Jake Maikkula will miss an extended period with a knee injury, according to SoonerScoop. Maikkula, who started at center in all 10 of OU’s games last season, avoided a season-ending knee injury but is still expected to miss time.
Maikkula’s likely replacement is redshirt junior Caleb Nitta, a two-time transfer who arrived in Norman this offseason. Nitta began his career at Virginia Tech before transferring to Western Kentucky, where he started each of the Hilltoppers’ final nine regular-season games at center last season. He played 653 snaps and allowed just two sacks across 394 pass-blocking snaps, giving the Sooners an experienced option in Maikkula’s absence.
Senior offensive lineman Heath Ozaeta spoke during Tuesday’s availability about Nitta’s transition from the transfer portal and how quickly he has adapted to the Sooners’ offensive line.
“He's a super smart kid,” Ozaeta said. “He picked it up super fast. Always asking questions. Always learning.”
Another candidate for the now-open center job is freshman Noah Best, a former three-star recruit who could push Nitta for the starting role in Maikkula’s absence. Ozaeta has been impressed with Best’s willingness to compete.
“He’s an animal, super smart kid, great with his hands,” Ozaeta said. “I think (I’m) just seeing him out there getting better. I mean, he's a freshman; he's going to mess up. And we all do. But he's going to correct it the next day. I think that's super encouraging.”
Maikkula’s loss disrupts an offensive line that has built its identity around continuity and chemistry throughout the offseason. Freshman Michael Fasusi said in the spring that the cohesion of the unit was something special.
“The time that was put in … feels like magic,” Fasusi said. “(We’re) a coordinator with each other, commenting on every single play.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Eddy Pierre-Louis echoed that sentiment in the spring, pointing to the chemistry already developing within the group.
“We already have a correlation,” Pierre-Louis said. “Now, we're all together, and we're bringing in a lot of other guys as well.”
Now one of those “other guys,” Nitta or Best, will be thrust into a room that spent the offseason building continuity. With little time for a learning curve, he’ll be expected to step up immediately as the Sooners prepare for an early test on the road against No. 16 Michigan in Week 2.
This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
