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Notebook: OU finds its run game

LINCOLN, Neb. – A lot of buts came to mind when describing Oklahoma’s rushing attack during the first two weeks of the season.

It was OK, but it wasn’t consistent. Good enough for the first two opponents, but not good enough for the rest of the way.

That unit heard the gripes and silenced the doubters, at least for a week, helping OU to a 49-14 throttling of Nebraska on Saturday afternoon.

“We did some good things,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “We'll watch the tape. Again, it's never as good as you think or as bad as you think. We did some really good things to be able to come up here in front of 90,000 people.”

OU rushed for 312 yards on 54 carries, averaging 6.1 yards per rush and had three guys find the end zone.

It’s not as simple as saying the return of Wanya Morris at right tackle was the reason, but you can feel the OU faithful getting some swagger back with the way he played.

Morris didn’t start, but he came in during the third drive of the game. The next seven drives after that? Six touchdowns and a missed field goal.

Morris was suspended the first two games of the season for off the field reasons. Head coach Brent Venables stressed Morris had been practicing with the team and jitters would be the only reason, if any, for an uneven performance.

No jitters. It was fine and welcome back, Morris.

“It was good. Wanya did some really good things today,” Lebby said. “Tyler (Guyton) did some good things. We'll watch the tape and go from there with both of those guys. They create such great depth for us at that position, which is a huge deal as we move into league play.”

Eric Gray rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while Marcus Major added one and Dillon Gabriel got the scoring barrage started with a planned QB run that turned into a 61-yard touchdown. Jovantae Barnes didn’t find the end zone but had 77 yards on 13 carries in the second half.

Kanak seizes the opportunity

Look, that’s not how linebacker Jaren Kanak wanted to get into a pivotal role for the Sooners. But his response is what Venables was looking for.

Late in the second quarter, DaShaun White was ejected for targeting, putting Kanak into the lineup. His first series he almost ended up with a sack and was a sign of things to come.

“I'm super proud of Jaren,” Venables said. “He’s one of the most unassuming guys in our locker room and then he also had the first… again what we call the swift sooner award… goes to whoever gets the first turnover. And he did that as well. Punched the ball out. Great job.

“He's just learning how to play linebacker. He has no idea what he's doing yet. 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.”

Kanak finished with a team-high 10 tackles and also forced and recovered a fumble on the first drive of the second half.

White will return for OU against Kansas State and had six tackles and a sack in the first half.

Marvelous gets some help

It’s pretty clear that Gabriel could target Marvin Mims all day, and the offense would be pretty successful.

For it to make that leap, though, others have to get involved. That happened against Nebraska with Jalil Farooq and Theo Wease both catching their first touchdown passes of the season.

“Absolutely. I have the most belief in them,” quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “Sometimes your opportunity doesn’t come for a little bit, but they were ready for it. They knew their time was coming and when the time presented itself, they took advantage of the opportunity.”

For Wease, it’s his first since 2020. And for Farooq, his first ever.

Farooq had three receptions for 58 yards. Wease finished with two grabs for 46 yards.

A little trickeration

It was time to open the playbook a bit on both sides of the ball. The defense was blitzing a lot more and effectively used a three-man defensive front to confuse Nebraska most of the game.

The offense? Let Brayden Willis relive his high school days for just a play and throw a touchdown pass.

“We did it in fall camp. I didn't get the ball out in time, and I thought was fired for it,” Willis said. “We had tryouts and I won the tryouts again, so it's good to get out there and get a good look and actually be able to throw that pass.”

Willis connected with Marcus Major for the 24-yard strike to give OU a 28-7 lead early in the second quarter. If the Nebraska crowd wasn’t deflated before, you could hear it pop after that one.

You saw the quarterback run game with Gabriel. The trick play with Willis. Lebby was rolling in this one.

“No doubt. I think he always is up there having a blast,” Willis said. “I'd love to hear him through the headset sometime, but he's having a blast especially when we're running the ball well. That's exactly what he wants to do, and then open it up to pass after that, so I know he was having fun with it.”

Willis also had two catches for 19 yards.

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