Week 1 is around the corner and Oklahoma football is already injury-riddled. The Sooners’ wide receiver room has been particularly affected ahead of their contest against Temple on Saturday.
Top wideout Nic Anderson will be out, via On3’s George Stoia.
“Unfortunately for Oklahoma…junior receiver Nic Anderson will not be available Friday,” head coach Brent Venables said Wednesday. “Anderson has been battling an injury since the first week of fall camp. While the injury is not considered serious, it’s unclear what his injury is exactly.”
Anderson caught 31 balls for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns last season after barely playing in 2022. The freshman All-American was a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award and received All-Big 12 honorable mention acclaim.
However, fellow receiver Andrel Anthony will be active.
“He’s doing good,” Venables said of Anthony on Aug. 20. “He looked great today… He won’t be required to wear (the brace). We’re obviously trying to be careful with him. He doesn’t have any limits right now.”
Anthony is a senior who transferred to Oklahoma from Michigan last season. The 6-foot-1, 186-pounder caught 27 passes for 429 yards and one touchdown before going down with a season-ending injury against Texas on October 7. He led the squad in receiving yards at the time.
Sooners wideout Jayden Gibson is also out for the year after getting hurt his knee in fall camp. How will the squad perform without two of its top receivers?
Oklahoma football will be fine against Temple
© SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Regardless, the Sooners are a 42.5-point favorite over the Owls, via BetMGM Sportsbook.
Temple, of course, is a part of the American Athletic Conference outside of the Power Four. The Owls would be hard-pressed to beat an SEC team like Oklahoma, even when the squad has injuries.
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However, another headache for the Sooners to deal with is running back coach DeMarco Murray’s impending one-game suspension due to recruiting violations, via The New York Post’s Christian Arnold.
“The University discovered the violations through its monitoring systems and investigated, reported, and addressed the matters promptly and appropriately,” a spokesperson for OU’s athletic department said in a statement. “The violations in question were limited to the actions of a coach who is no longer employed by the University and a current assistant coach. OU worked with the NCAA to manage the review and reach a conclusion, and penalties imposed by the University are already in effect.”
It’s yet not known when Murray will serve the suspension, but the program will serve one year of probation and pay a $5,000 fine. Oklahoma will also serve a three-week ban on recruiting phone and electronic correspondence between December 8, 2024, and March 31, 2025.
The Sooners will be fine before conference play starts, but they’d benefit from a healthy team and no more coaching suspensions once their September 21 contest against No. 15 Tennessee rolls around.
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Publish date : 2024-08-28 08:37:00
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