LAWRENCE, Kan. – That’s the type of luxury few schools have like Oklahoma. Where you can willingly sit a running back like Kennedy Brooks because you know you have someone like Rhamondre Stevenson waiting in the wings.

Stevenson made the most of his moment in rushing for 109 yards in OU’s 45-20 victory at Kansas on Saturday afternoon.

With each game, you can sense Stevenson getting more and more comfortable and confident in his role with the Sooners. Only five carries, but he made them count.

“Very, very powerful. It's a different kind of contact when he's down there on the field,” Riley said. “It just sounds different. Obviously, he's breaking a lot of tackles, so he did a great job. Then the play I was probably the most proud of is he comes downhill on that kickoff and erases that guy pretty quick. It's fun to see our guys making plays and then going over and doing it on the special teams side as well.”

OU was already up 35-7, but Stevenson put the punctuation mark on it with a 61-yard touchdown where he ran through a KU defender and used his speed the rest of the way.

Trey Sermon added 71 yards and a touchdown.

As for Brooks, again, Riley stresses there’s nothing to really worry about. He’ll be ready for next week against Texas.

“Again, this was ... I'm not gonna say ... we were probably a little conservative with him,” Riley said. “There's nothing structurally there. He's sore like you're gonna be after you take a shot like that, but he's good to go. He'll be ready to go. We'll get some of that soreness out and should have him.”

Patchwork OL continues

Five games, five different offensive line starting lineups. Doesn’t sound like a recipe to success, but it’s what the Sooners have done so far.

This time around, both tackles in Adrian Ealy and Erik Swenson were out, making the quintet R.J. Proctor, Marquis Hayes, Creed Humphrey, Brey Walker and Tyrese Robinson.

“Not ideal. That’s something if you get through it, it pays dividends on the back end,” Riley said. “And so far we’ve been able to get through it, we’ve been able to make it work. Our guys, give them credit. They get everybody’s best every single week. They’ve done a good job. Hopefully we can get some of these guys back and start to get some depth and continuity back.”

The Sooners struggled in the running game with only 24 yards in the first half but finished with 268 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

“Really the mentality coming out of halftime. We saw how many rushing yards we had,” center Creed Humphrey said. “I think we had 24 in the first half. I think that got everybody mad about that. Just wanted to prove a point after that. I thought we ran the ball a lot better in the second half.”

Ugwoegbu makes first start

You can stop wondering about whether David Ugwoegbu is going to be one of those four-game redshirt players. Not only is he not, the true freshman made his first start as the SAM linebacker position.

The Sooners have used this rotation before where they want a bigger presence on run downs and then a quicker defensive back on passing situations.

Guys like Will Johnson and Caleb Kelly have been utilized in this role before. Now it looks like it’s going to be Ugwoegbu to go with Brendan Radley-Hiles.

Ugwoegbu had one tackle, while Radley-Hiles had two stops.

Turner-Yell the real MVP?

Each week you’re seeing the development of depth for Alex Grinch’s defense. Redshirt freshmen like Brian Asamoah and Nik Bonitto are starting to play crucial downs and make plays.

Safety, however, remains an issue. So much so that even with the Sooners up 42-7 in the fourth quarter, it’s just tough to get someone like Delarrin Turner-Yell a breather.

“He's become one of those guys I don't want to take out of the game,” Grinch said. “I trust him to make the communications, which is a critical part of it. I trust that he's going to make the play. He's playing fast and I've been very pleased with him.”

Turner-Yell led the team with seven tackles but had a penalty that negated a Justin Broiles interception and would have been OU’s sole takeaway in the game. The more reps he gets, the easier it’s getting to recognize how crucial he is to the defense.

Hurts is ready for Red River Showdown

He’s Jalen Hurts. He’s seen it all. Except for an OU-Texas game. That all changes next week with Hurts making his first appearance in the Red River Showdown.

First appearance of any kind. Never went to it as a kid. Never went to it as a recruit. But if you think he’s worried or concerned about the atmosphere, c’mon now.

“I played in the Iron Bowl,” Hurts said. “I played in big games before. I’ll be alright.”