OU football player Jake Taylor returns from injury vs. Houston

Taylor, who was listed as the starting right tackle on OU’s initial depth chart for the season, did not play in the season opener against Temple due to a minor injury.

Venables also said injured starting center Branson Hickman “looked good today, but I don’t know if he’ll be back this week or not, but he looked remarkably good today.”

Hickman, a transfer from SMU, suffered a sprained ankle in the first quarter against Temple and did not return.

When he went out, OU had to change almost its entire offensive line, with Geirean Hatchett moving from left guard to center, Jacob Sexton moving from left tackle to guard, plus Michael Tarquin moving from right guard to left tackle and Spencer Brown coming in at right tackle. Only Febechi Nwaiwu at right guard remained unchanged.

Given the situation, what does Venables think of the line’s performance?

“There were some good moments,” Venables said. “I think we averaged — not counting the three sacks, and it’s not all on the offensive line when that happens, contrary to popular belief. Sometimes it’s the quarterback and sometimes it’s the fullback. But without those three sacks, we averaged over seven yards per carry.”

“So it was a pretty efficient day, but we left a lot of material on the bone. In the end, we left a lot of material on the bone. We could have easily run over 300 meters. Just need to clean up some basics and finish some blocks.”

Venables again lamented the injury to starting receiver Jalil Farooq, who broke his foot against Temple, needs surgery to insert a screw and will be out six to eight weeks.

“You hate that for someone who’s invested so much and is going into his senior year. He’s been the best version of himself as far as his leadership and his overall accountability and he’s just had a great offseason,” Venables said.

“So the good thing for him is he’ll be back and it won’t affect him long term. It could have been a lot worse, and for us it just gives him another opportunity. It’s not just a man thing, but we think it’s a good position to replace him.”

Venables said he expects someone among freshmen Zion Ragins, Zion Kearney, Ivan Carreon, KJ Daniels and Jacob Jordan, along with freshman Jaquaize Pettaway, to step in in Farooq’s absence.

He also noted that OU has the option to play starter Deion Burks outside. And he was pleased with what he saw from Andrel Anthony in his first game back from an ACL injury.

“It’s good to have him back, it’s really good for the confidence,” Venables said. “And again, for anyone coming back from an ACL injury, it’s never easy. They give you a recovery timetable based on all the footage and all that. You’ve seen players come back in four months, you’ve seen them come back in six months, and sometimes it takes them a little over a year to get their confidence back and their explosiveness and things of that nature.

“But it was a big step for him and we expect him to be more and more ready. And of course he’s ‘released’ and we have no limits on him, but to get back to his old form, I don’t think we’re that far from it.”

It would be a huge positive if Nic Anderson were to return to full strength. The Sooners’ top receiver in 2023 missed the season opener with a minor injury. Will he be back against Houston?

“We’re hoping to have him back this week,” Venables said.