The Oklahoma Sooners have been on the wrong side when it comes to injury luck early in the 2024 season. OU has been down multiple starters at key positions, most notably offensive line and wide receiver. It’s been a major talking point around the early portion of the year, as the Sooners have struggled on offense for the first three games.
But Oklahoma may finally be getting a break regarding the injury bug, as it’ll be affecting their opponent this week at a key spot.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Tennessee Volunteers will be without starting left tackle Lance Heard when they face the Sooners. Thamel’s report is confirmed by the updated injury report from the SEC that lists Heard as out.
It’ll be backup Dayne Davis making the start in Heard’s place as one of Tennessee’s best offensive linemen battles a leg injury. Davis is experienced and will be making his eighth start.
Sources: Tennessee starting left tackle Lance Heard will be out against Oklahoma on Saturday night. It’s the second-straight game he’ll miss with a leg injury. Dayne Davis will again start in his place, which will be his eighth career start. pic.twitter.com/UbY9Xdj5ng
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 20, 2024
As the Sooners try to pull the upset at home, they look like they’ll be getting back some key players of their own. OU hopes to have Nic Anderson, Branson Hickman, and Troy Everett, among others, on the field against the Vols.
The chess match between Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley gets a little bit more interesting with Heard not in the game.
The biggest beneficiary might be defensive end R Mason Thomas, who took over late in OU’s victory last week over Tulane. He’s become the best pass rusher the Sooners have, and he’ll look to gain an edge on the blind side of Nico Iamaleava.
The Sooners and the Volunteers will kick things off at 6:30 p.m., a primetime audience for a highly-anticipated contest on ABC.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66ee31e7f265491b9643886a5ff7bb2c&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsoonerswire.usatoday.com%2F2024%2F09%2F20%2Foklahoma-sooners-football-sec-tennessee-volunteers-lance-heard-injury-report%2F&c=12455812841226611199&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-20 15:19:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.