Venables focused on here and now

One week closer to the season opener for Oklahoma, but first-year head coach Brent Venables doesn’t want to turn that calendar too quickly.

Venables said the team will have one last ‘practice game’ Friday, and it’s going to be about maximizing the final nine days before UTEP comes to town.

“This game will punish you for trying to cheat the game and cut corners,” said Venables on Thursday after practice. “Not being detailed and precise in everything you do. The practice field needs to become a competitive advantage for the Oklahoma Sooners. How we approach it, how we attack it and how we respond to heat, to soreness, to the mundane, we have to embrace it.

“That’s how we’re going to get ready for next week. We’ve been working on that for the last several months. Help our guys mature and grow up and understand champions behave like champions before they ever become champions. Your habits matter. How you think matters. How you respond matters.”

There are a lot of questions about how Venables is going to handle his first game as a head coach. He wonders about it, too. He’s had incredible mentors along the way in Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops and Dabo Swinney, but the only way he’s going to know is to go through it himself.

His message since returning to OU has been that everything matters. Nothing has changed in that regard, and it gets ramped up even more as we get closer and closer to kickoff.

Depth chart next week

Venables said last week the goal was for the backup quarterback be revealed this week but that wasn’t the case.

He said the initial depth chart will come out Monday, and it’s still a battle between Davis Beville, General Booty and Nick Evers for the backup spot.

Whoever it ends up being, Venables made it clear that person has earned the spot.

“They’ve had some great moments in camp and some not-so great moments,” Venables said. “We’re definitely in a better position now than when we finished spring ball. Excited about that group of guys and what they’ve brought to the table from a leadership stand point and ability to execute and manage the offense in the right way. Here in a couple of days, that will all work itself out.”

Venables stressed there is a lot of flexibility and versatility with the teams, saying he can see guys start at multiple positions and players who can act as co-starters because they’re both playing at that type of level.

Harrington chatter not going away

He was the talk of the first week of camp, and it sounds like absolutely nothing has changed regarding defensive back Justin Harrington.

A good story that gets even better for Harrington who entered the transfer portal last fall and decided to return to OU. He’s still in a walk-on role, but he’s playing as if he’s going to be among that top 11 next weekend.

“Justin’s had a really good camp. Finished up the spring well and then put a lot of work in this summer,” Venables said. “We’re looking at him both at our Cheetah position and then at free safety both. And he’s done a great job.

“And he is competing to be a starter. We don’t know that yet, but I do feel like we’re gonna have really competitive depth at several positions where we feel like we have co-starters. And I love that. Because I feel like that brings out the best in everyone, creates good practice habits, everything counts.”

What is the Cheetah?

You hear it a lot with a Venables defense. The Cheetah position, and Harrington is one of several names who have been linked to the spot.

“You are looking for guys who can cover, play in space, play some man-to-man, can blitz, they can do a variety of things,” Venables said. “Sometimes the skill set is outside where that's located, it's a different skill set when you are playing inside and behind the ball.

“What I love about the group of guys that we have here is I see guys who can play multiple positions, not just that position. It's one of the easier positions to learn, but it's hard to play because of the skill set required.”

It’s not always a defensive back, either. With David Ugwoegbu and Danny Stutsman seemingly locking down inside linebacker spots, DaShaun White could have a new home at Cheetah.

“DaShaun can play multiple positions. He can play all three positions and actually has,” Venables said.

Walker staying on as student assistant

Another week and unfortunately, another season-ending injury for the Sooners. In the case of Brynden Walker, it’s career-ending.

Walker announced last Saturday he was walking away from football because of a back injury, but he’s staying around as a student assistant.

Linebacker T.D. Roof had his season come to an end last week because of a biceps issue. At this point, though, there is nothing OU can do about the scholarship spots.

“Well, you can't because of the timing of it,” Venables said. “There's nothing you can do with it. You push it forward for the next recruiting class. I hate that for Brynden. I hate it for T.D. (Roof). It's just awful that it comes to an end, but at some point, it's got to come to an end.

“We've got to help them with the 'What's next?' He's an excellent student who has an incredibly bright future in the medical field. But in the meantime, he wants to be around the team.”