Oklahoma’s injury crisis is deepening. Running back Jovantae Barnes is questionable, defensive lineman R Mason Thomas also hasn’t seen recent games, and Gentry Williams’ injury in the secondary didn’t make things easy in Norman in Week 13. Despite that, Brent Venables is using those injuries as leverage, giving an important revealtion ahead of the LSU game in Week 14th.

Georgia Stoia III, an Oklahoma insider for On3, relayed how, for Brent Venables, injuries haven’t been a concern now. Stoia asked Venables about the availability of running backs for the team apart from “Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock.” The OU head coach relayed optimism and announced RBs Taylor Tatum and Jaydn Ott to be injury-free. In the process, the head coach didn’t hesitate to acknowledge the quality of his team despite injuries.

“We’ve been fortunate to win despite that,” said Brent Venables. The roles of both Taylor Tatum and Jaydn Ott have been greatly reduced this season. Ott has just 68 yards to his name while Tatum has done a single carry in the whole season. Ott in particular was dealing with a shoulder injury when he started the season against Illinois State and finished with just one carry.

That raised major concerns in the OU camp, and even Venables acknowledged that the RB missed “a lot of practice.” This was entirely in contrast to the expectations that were set for the RB. The workload then became intense for the other RBs.

“Jaydn missed a lot of time during fall camp, so did the rest of the room. We went two weeks plus with Barnes and Blaylock as the only two running backs carrying the ball. Shoutout to Major Melson, who was running third-team running back and the slot receiver. But (Barnes and Blaylock), I can’t say enough about the workload those guys put in during fall camp. So they deserve it,” said OU GM Jim Nagy.

The 5’11” and 208 lbs running back is a standout athlete for the Sooners and came to OU after transferring from Cal in 2024. The senior brought significant experience and had rushed for 1,305 yards alone in the 2023 season. In the 2024 season, he was limited due to injuries and rushed for 385 yards.

Still, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables trusted Ott to do the job and expected him to remain healthy, which hasn’t been the case. But now that he is fit, Oklahoma will have a new and experienced weapon against LSU and in the postseason, bolstering OU’s hopes. The same can be said for Taylor Tatum.

Taylor Tatum’s injury crisis is finally over? Or is it another calm before the storm?

The sophomore RB is a five-star recruit from the 2024 class and has had several injury issues down the line. This year in the fall camp, Tatum had a hamstring issue and was listed as unavailable for the opening game. Even going into Week 1, Tatum was touted to be “dealing with an injury” by Venables. That made him unavailable most of the time. Even going into the South Carolina game, Tatum was injured again.

“We think it will be short-term, but don’t really have any other information. He didn’t practice yesterday. And then Taylor [Tatum, RB] has had one thing after another. Between stingers, ankle, hamstring, he has kind of been snakebit. In pregame, something, we thought initially was a hamstring, but it was something else,” said Venables. The verdict?

By all means, Tatum’s return will be a breath of fresh air to an already elite offence for Venables. In his true freshman season, Tatum rushed for 278 yards and also had 41 receiving yards. Oklahoma’s rushing offence does need the two players, since it is ranked 99th nationally. A return from the two players can pay dividends in the postseason. Currently, Oklahoma is listed as a 73% favourite to win the next LSU game, which would almost guarantee Brent Venables’ first playoff qualification with OU.