It was an interesting way for Oklahoma offensive tackle Wanya Morris to describe his season debut last week at Nebraska.

He said he had a lot to release, and boy did he ever do just that against the Huskers to help the Sooners to the dominant 49-14 victory.

Whether that was frustration with himself or his situation, it was all pent up for a couple of weeks. Morris let it all out immediately against the Huskers and never looked back.

He entered the game for the third series and on a third down screen pass, just absolutely buried a defender. The pass was incomplete, but Morris was back. Message sent.

Head coach Brent Venables said the only reason Morris wouldn’t be playing at a high level would have been because of first-game jitters. Nope, none of that.

“I was just out there having fun,” said Morris on Monday night. “Good to be back out there with my guys and competing with my guys. I love this team. It’s fun to compete with them. As you can see, we’re going to do a lot this year.”

You can add Morris to the ever-growing list of OU players trying to prove 2021 wasn’t the real version of who they are and who they can be.

He sounded like a different guy throughout spring practice, someone who was finally connecting with what was asked of him on and off the field.

That’s why it was surprising, maybe even disappointing, to hear Morris was going to miss the first two games of the season because of academic reasons.

It wasn’t a fun initial couple of Saturdays for Morris, but he’s determined to put it behind him and just move forward.

“A little bit, but you know, you have consequences in life,” said Morris about accepting the suspension. “You have to accept consequences in life, both good and bad. No matter what they are. That’s what I did. Take what you’re given and try to make the best of it.”

Even in a rather negative situation, Morris and OU were able to find some sort of positive. Morris never missed a meeting, never looked checked out. He was engaged fully, even though his role went from starting right tackle to working on the scout team.

There was a feeling of work through this, figure it all out and be ready to dominate, exactly what Morris and the offensive line did in Lincoln.

“You know Wanya’s a — he’s a guy that’s gone through some stuff,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “He’s lived it. He’s got some great experience. And so I think being an older guy, being a more mature guy gave him the ability to help us down there on the other and give the defense a great look while he was getting ready to get to Lincoln and get on the field. So he handled it in a very mature way.”

And handled scout team in a mature way. No other choice because when you’re going against Reggie Grimes and Ethan Downs and R Mason Thomas and the rest of them every day of practice for a good 2-3 weeks, you have to be ready to compete.

Morris treated it like an extra couple of weeks of fall camp, but he was also able to find little nuances of his game that he needs to improve with.

“It was great, honestly,” Morris said. “As long as I continue to improve each week and think about the little things that they showed me. Being over there showed me I need to work on my little fundamental things more and more each day. Because the little things are what make you great.”

The first three games have seen a lot of transformation for a lot of Sooners. Discussing what went wrong in 2021 isn’t as much the focus as to what is going right in 2022.

Morris is seeing that with one of his fellow Tennessee transfers in running back Eric Gray. OU fans were probably a little confused about the hoopla of the duo, coming off an underwhelming 2021 season.

Now Gray has rushed for back-to-back 100-yard games and scored his first two touchdowns of the season last week.

He’s happy and thrilled to see Morris back in action.

“Wanya is my best – one of my good friends, coming to Tennessee with me,” Gray said. “We were there together as freshmen. See him back on the field was so great for me. He’s a great guy. He loves to play the game. Seeing him back out there was so great for me.”

Morris credits the leadership of Venables for helping Morris bounce back. Calling Venables a ‘leader of men,’ Morris was able to take a look in the mirror. He hopes he can now see it all come together.

“Maturity. Those two weeks I had off, definitely helped me see a lot and learn about myself,” Morris said. “How you respond to things is how you are as a man. I took that as how am I going to respond and build my character, build something? Always finding something. How am I going to get better?”

Morris said he spent the first two games taking vicarious reps through the television. He approached watching those games as if he was a coach, and he knew he could help the guys come Sunday morning.

Maybe coaching will be in his future one day, said Morris, but for now? It’s time to be one of the anchors in the trenches and show everybody the positives about what giving a second chance is all about.