Brent Venables provides injury update to trio of Sooners starters

The Oklahoma Sooners are dealing with a rash of injuries to key personnel on the offensive side of the ball.

Wide receiver Nic Anderson and offensive tackle Jake Taylor missed Friday’s win over Temple. Starting center Branson Hickman was lost due to an ankle sprain in the first quarter.

Well, all three have a chance to be back for week two against the Houston Cougars.

On his weekly coach’s show, Sooners head coach Brent Venables shared that Branson Hickman looked good at practice Monday evening but is questionable for this week’s showdown with Houston. If he were unable to go, Oklahoma could go with Geirean Hatchett, the Washington transfer who slid over to center in the first half after Hickman went down. Or, they could roll with Joshua Bates, who made a lot of noise in fall camp for his work and his improvement. He was banged up towards the end of the August and didn’t play until the second half last week against Temple.

The Oklahoma Sooners need Nic Anderson back. The Sooners were already down Jayden Gibson, who was ruled out for the year during fall camp. Then, they lost Jalil Farooq for 6 to 8 weeks with a broken foot. The Sooners’ wide receiver depth is pretty thin at this point. Getting Anderson back would provide a huge boost to the passing attack. He had nearly 800 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in 2023 and was expected to be a significant part of the offense this year, but has been hobbled since fall camp.

The projected starter most likely to return this week, and one the Sooners need to get in the mix, is right tackle Jake Taylor. Taylor had a strong offseason and beat out Spencer Brown to earn the starting role along Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line. His unavailability was noticeable against Temple, as the Sooners had a hard time blocking on the right side of the formation.

At some point, the Oklahoma Sooners need to begin building continuity and cohesion with their offensive line. But the injuries they’re dealing with makes that difficult. If Taylor and Hickman can go this week and next against Tulane, it will give the Sooners an opportunity to see their starting five together for a couple of weeks before the Tennessee Volunteers roll into town.

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