Regardless of whether Dillon Gabriel is healthy enough to return for Oklahoma against Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday, there are quarterback questions galore for the Sooners.

Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said there was no update to Gabriel (concussion protocol), saying head coach Brent Venables will address it Tuesday, as well as the status of running back Marcus Major.

Monday, though, was about what OU can do without Gabriel, and what Gabriel needs to do if he is indeed leading the troops at the Cotton Bowl.

Backup quarterback Davis Beville replaced Gabriel after Gabriel was knocked with under 10 minutes left in the second quarter in the loss at TCU.

“With Davis moving forward, it’s our job as coaches to put guys in position for success regardless of who’s out there,” Lebby said. “We’ve talked a bunch about that as a unit and as a staff. Regardless of who’s playing, man, our expectation is to play well and play cleaner and play better.”

Beville helped engineer two scoring drives, but he also only completed 7 of 16 passes for 50 yards and was sacked repeatedly. On the positive side, he didn’t turn the ball over.

“I think Davis, the thing is, more than anything, just having experience, man,” Lebby said. Being able to pull from some of the things he’s gone through that’s gotten him to this point. That’s playing in some big games prior to this.

“He had an opportunity a couple of times to let one go but didn't feel good about it. He takes care of it, which we're going to live on the right side of it. We're going to be aggressive but always want to be on the right side of that. Him getting reps and the more he plays, the better he'll be.”

There’s a thought that even though he might have felt ready in Fort Worth, the mindset could change this week for Beville if he knows he’s the guy against the Longhorns.

If his performance vs. the Frogs is the best he can do, a lot of OU fans are wondering what else is out there between General Booty and Nick Evers.

“With General, he’s done a good job,” Lebby said. “Obviously with both of those guys showing up at the same time, it’s been a crash course for them from a football standpoint, just knowledge and how we get it done. And then Nick’s done a good job, too. He’s a guy that’s gotten better every single week, and (coaches are) proud of his development as well.”

Gabriel cleaning things up

Again, even before Gabriel went down, he had his fair share of difficulties. He also only completed 7 of 16 passes, and OU was already trailing 34-10 in the second quarter.

Accuracy hasn’t been an issue for an OU quarterback dating back to Trevor Knight (2013-14), so it’s definitely been a cause for concern.

“Probably what I respect about him as much as anything is the fact that he’s harder on himself than anybody ever could be,” Lebby said. “So he feels that, sees that, knows that. He’s also got to do a good job of being able to cut loose and go play free and fast and not overthink it at the same time, create some confidence early on and not let one turn into two.

Freshmen rising

There’s a lot of bad, a lot to fix, but Lebby is proud of the way certain freshmen have answered the bell lately.

TCU saw a lot of snaps for wide receivers Jayden Gibson and Nic Anderson, and running back Jovantae Barnes was featured heavily.

Gibson had his first catch of his career and played more than he had in the previous four games, while Anderson’s injury issues seem to be done.

“Those guys have continued to work and do a good job,” Lebby said. “They’ve worked really well. They’ve created value and created opportunity for themselves. So gotta continue to get better every single day, and just the strain for young guys, just understanding as we’re getting into the meat of this thing, just what we have to do every single day to prepare ourselves.”

Barnes rushed 18 times for 100 yards and scored the first two touchdowns of his OU career.

“Jovantae has continued to do a really nice job,” Lebby said. “He's worked his butt off to put himself in position. He's created value because of who he's been in the building every single day. And then, I was proud of the way he played. He played tough. He played fast. Took care of the football. So he'll continue to get opportunities.”

Back to work

Something Lebby and defensive coordinator Ted Roof stressed was just about going back to work. The way to fix it is to work at it.

You might be stunned right now, but you pick yourself back up and try to figure it out. And there’s no panic because Brent Venables is running the show.

“I think there's real disappointment,” Lebby said. “But I also think that we've got a leader sitting in that chair that's not going to flinch. And we got a guy that's built for this with great toughness. Great edge. Unbelievable leadership ability. And that flows throughout this building. So nobody's gonna flinch.”

Kanak a bigger factor?

Roof said the plan won’t be to simplify things, and it will continue to be about the process. Fans are wondering if Jaren Kanak can be in the process just a bit more.

After leading the team in tackles at Nebraska, Kanak didn’t play a defensive snap vs. Kansas State and didn’t play until the fourth quarter vs. TCU.

“He played 15 snaps in the second half, so he got a lot of reps in the second half,” Roof said. “So from that standpoint, he’s just gotta keep working to get better. Again, this is Jaren’s first year of playing linebacker. So the familiarity, especially at linebacker at this level. So he’s done a good job.

“He’s earned that. We’re going to continue to play Jaren, and the more he plays, the better he’s going to get, because he’s a guy that cares a bunch and is very prideful in his work ethic, prideful in his performance.”