The older players know it. It’s something they can recognize immediately. They know when a true freshman is ready for the moment.

Even if it’s an unplanned moment.

That was the case for Oklahoma last weekend at Nebraska. A targeting penalty ejected CHEETAH DaShaun White in the second quarter. Out went White and in went Jaren Kanak.

All the Kansas native did was lead the team with 10 tackles, with a forced fumble and recovery. It wasn’t all pretty, but you get an idea of what Kanak can do the rest of this season and beyond for the Sooners.

“C’mon, I told Jaren he needs to win the Butkus before he leaves this place,” White said. “I think Coach V hit it on the nose. He’s made that many plays and he really doesn’t understand what he’s doing yet. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to be a great player. I just hope I do my part showing him right from wrong and kind of be a big brother for him.”

There’s the old saying that if you’re always ready, then you don’t have to get ready when your number is called. That was Kanak last weekend vs. the Huskers.

After playing limited snaps in the first two weeks, it was his time to shine. He actually fared well in the fourth quarter against UTEP and Kent State, but Nebraska allowed others to see the full scope of his potential.

“He's just learning how to play linebacker. He has no idea what he's doing yet,” head coach Brent Venables said. “But he's made a lot of improvement from fundamentals and the language and I know things are going a million miles an hour for him. But he did a nice job.

“The tape’s gonna be great for him to learn from. He's really hard on himself. He is an easy guy to coach because he's really demanding on himself as opposed to being a young, immature freshman that doesn't want to be told when he's terrible.”

Kanak has been described as unassuming by coaches and teammates. A true freshman willing to just put his head down and work. Listen, observe and get better.

And just about everybody knows that if it wasn’t for Venables coming to OU, then Kanak would be doing the same thing he’s doing now, except at Clemson.

Kanak’s recruitment was definitely a story of the 2022 class. He had committed to Venables and Dabo Swinney back last summer. But everybody pointed toward Kanak as someone who would come to OU when Venables took over as head coach.

Venables was adamant he wouldn’t recruit Clemson players to OU, but Kanak turned out to be just a special case. After Swinney gave the a-OK, it was full steam ahead for Kanak to quietly arrive and be a mid-year enrollee.

“I'd say one of the biggest pulling factors was Coach Venables and the energy and the connection that I had with him,” Kanak said. “One of the bigger reasons why I came here, along with the other staff like Coach (Miguel) Chavis and Coach (Todd) Bates, I really had a great connection with those guys. Coming here with them, it's been super comfortable and a great transition. I've had a great time.”

His head might be spinning, but the strides Kanak has made since January allowed his Nebraska performance to be easier to believe.

He’s not someone who is going to get too high or too low. Kanak fully understands he’s learning on the go, but he’s doing his best to be prepared for every step along the way.

“You can try and recreate the game as much as you can in practice,” Kanak said. “But you know there’s certain things that once you get on the field you kind of have to learn as you go. The coaches do their best to try and simulate it out here and get that level of strain so when we get to game day, we’ve already had that level of preparation.”

A principle from Venables is simply do your job. That doesn’t always mean making the highlight tackle or forcing a turnover. Do the basics correctly, and the team is going to succeed.

Do that consistently, then chances will come to make a game-changing play like Kanak was able to do on the first possession of the second half where he stripped the ball making a tackle and recovered the fumble.

“He’s played that game already in practice a thousand times, I knew,” linebacker Danny Stutsman said. “He stuck to his technique, his fundamentals and it paid off. He didn’t have to do anything crazy, he just had to do his job and he made some plays.”

You don’t even have to play the linebacker position to get an idea of what Kanak has been able to do and what’s possible.

Again, the older guys, they know these things.

“We call him Kanaks out there from Kansas making plays,” defensive end Jonah Laulu said. “I’m happy for him. It’s crazy because like I stayed in Headington with all the younger guys. I was 21 when I first got here and everybody else was like 17 or 18. Going over there and talking to them in regular conversations and they’re like, ‘yeah I’m 17’ or ‘I’m 18’. I’m like dang bro.

“And he’s got a bright future ahead of him as well as our other freshmen. I’ll tell you Coach Venables is establishing that dominant defense here again. So I’m excited to watch.”