When you saw Oklahoma’s 2021 football schedule, it was one of the first things everybody noticed in playing nine straight games before getting a bye week.

It wasn’t that big of a deal after the first two games or four, you get the picture. But after seven games and a rash of injuries, it’s starting to really catch up with the Sooners.

“We’ve got a couple guys nicked up. There will be a lot of maybes, kind of wait and see throughout this week to see who all’s available,” said head coach Lincoln Riley at his Tuesday press conference. “Hope to have a few guys that got nicked up during the game and hope to have a few guys back that haven’t been able to play for us for a while.”

It’s a little bit across the board. Wide receivers Cody Jackson and Theo Wease have been out and Mario Williams left last Saturday’s game. Offensive tackle Tyrese Robinson attempted to play last week after not having practiced in the days leading up to the game.

Defensive lineman Jalen Redmond continues to be out, and then there’s the secondary with cornerbacks D.J. Graham and Woodi Washington and nickelback Jeremiah Criddell and safety Delarrin Turner-Yell.

Riley said he hopes to get Washington and Turner-Yell back soon, but soon is a relative term, and it’s hard to know exactly who, if any, will be able to return for OU’s game at Kansas on Saturday.

It’s even altered the weekly preparation as Riley said the team didn’t do any on-field practicing Monday and would try to just maximize the rest of the week.

“Just health and just going through a long stretch like this, I mean, that's the plan,” Riley said. “A lot of people think the plan is just, you know, what plays or defenses or what special teams calls that you make during the game.

“I mean, it's doing everything you can to get the team as ready to play as possible. And so we've tried to try to be aware of that and there's always a fine line between the reps you need on the field, but also they need to be fresh and ready to go on Saturday, you know, especially this week with an early kick.”

Rolling with the DB punches

You can’t sit and cry about it when it comes to the secondary, but it’s also a statement of fact when you look at the last couple of weeks and inability to defend the pass.

Riley, though, is definitely trying to find the silver lining and the good parts about everything. Whether it’s the veteran presence of a Justin Broiles or a Pat Fields or youth trying to emerge like Bryson Washington or Jordan Mukes, it’s still coming together.

“We’ve been hit hard there. We just have,” Riley said. “Guys have stepped in and done a good job. There’s definitely been some silver lining. A guy like Key Lawrence has gotten so many more plays. You can tell he’s really starting to get more comfortable. Played his best game for us the other night. Broiles’ emergence has been really key. Pat’s been very steady for us which he typically is.

“We’ve had to make it work. We’ve had to develop depth. I think there’s been a couple guys behind the scenes that maybe haven’t maybe gotten reps during games, guys like Bryson Washington and Mukes and some of those guys that are definitely getting better.”

Tackling, tackling, tackling

Here’s one thing where Riley isn’t looking for a silver lining. He’s looking for results, and that’s with tackling.

OU hasn’t been a terrible tackling team in every game, but it has shown up in a major way in the last three games.

There is no bigger issue for OU to face right now.

“Tackling comes from a lot of things,” Riley said. “It's not just simply getting a guy to the ground. It’s being in position. It's guys being where they’re supposed to be. When you're on the calls correctly, when you don't bust stunts, when guys are in the right position. it's a lot easier to tackle. I mean, tackling can manifest itself so many different ways. Bad tackling can as well.

“The other night, I mean, we had some things physically and fundamentally that, do we need to do better? Absolutely. But a lot of times, we're just out of position and we're making the tackle way tougher than it needs to be because we're not running the defense the way it needs to be.”

OU didn’t have a sack against TCU last weekend, and it was easily the worst performance from OU’s incredibly talented defensive line this season.

Williams the runner

Let’s close with a little offensive positivity because there has been a lot to like in the last six quarters of OU football.

You can’t tip toe around it. One of the biggest differences between Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler is just the mere threat of Williams running the ball.

Riley never got to watch Williams in high school in a live setting, so maybe he didn’t quite know what he had with the true freshman in that regard.

But after what Williams has accomplished in the last two games, he has definitely answered a lot of questions and checked off a lot of boxes.

“Unless you get to see these guys play live, it's tough to gauge what they can do running the ball at this level against the other great athletes we play against,” Riley said. “And you see bits and pieces in practice, but our guys aren't live, they’re not getting hit.

“I knew he was a good athlete and I knew he was going to make some plays. It's been good to see him get loose a few times. One of the things that's probably the toughest to evaluate that’s been a nice thing to see is his ability to make some people miss, run through some tackles, which adds another dimension to the things that he can do, so I thought there was that potential, but it's obviously a lot different when you're able to see this thing live.”