Oklahoma Sooners will be without key player when Tennessee Vols visit Norman

The Oklahoma Sooners will be without a key player on September 21 when the Tennessee Vols visit Norman.

Sooners head coach Brent Venables announced on Friday night after Oklahoma's season-opening win against Temple that senior wide receiver Jalil Farooq will miss six-to-eight weeks after suffering a broken foot in the first half of OU's 51-3 win.

"Jalil’s gonna have surgery,” said Venables on Friday night. “He ended up breaking his foot, so he’ll get a screw put in that. That’s a six-to-eight week recovery for him. Hate it for him. Had a great, great camp, but hopefully we’ll get him back in a month and a half or so."

Farooq is a former four-star recruit who signed with Oklahoma during the 2021 recruiting cycle.

The Maryland native caught 45 passes for 694 yards and two touchdowns as a junior in 2022.

Before his injury against Temple on Friday night, Farooq caught a 47-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold.

While the Sooners will be without Farooq in an important game against the Vols, they won't be completely depleted at wide receiver.

Purdue transfer wide receiver Deion Burks had a solid night for Oklahoma in the season-opener, catching six passes for 36 yards and three touchdowns.

Burks is a former three-star recruit who transferred to Oklahoma earlier this offseason after catching 47 passes for 629 yards and seven touchdowns at Purdue last year.

Related: Rutgers HC Greg Schiano started the 2024 season off by angering former Tennessee Vols assistant coach