NORMAN — Brent Venables announced Tuesday that Oklahoma star defensive lineman David Stone‘s X-rays had a positive outlook after he dislocated his knee cap during Monday’s practice. However, Stone’s status for the Sooners‘ road game against Georgia this weekend remains unclear.
“We’ll see where he’s at,” Venables said.
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The first SEC availability report ahead of the game releases Wednesday night. Until then, the question becomes who will OU turn to if Stone is forced to miss time?
Fellow starter Jayden Jackson has been one of the Sooners’ best players through three games and they’ll certainly continue to rely heavily on him. It’s likely Nigel Smith II, Bishop Thomas and Trent Wilson will see more action. Another option OU has is moving Kenny Ozowalu inside, where he played some at UTSA.
Out of the reserve tackles, Wilson has shown the most upside, at least so far.
“He jumped offside once and can’t do that,” Venables said Monday night during his coach’s show. “But he had a couple of plays in there where I’m like, ‘Holy cow, man.’ He shot out of a cannon. He’s been practicing really well.”
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Two other tackles Venables has at his disposal are Boise State transfer Braxton Fely and Arkansas transfer Danny Saili, who received temporary restraining orders earlier this month. While they’ve only been with the team for a couple of weeks, Venables has been pleased with what he’s seen from them.
Fely made 40 starts in four seasons with the Broncos and earned multiple All-Mountain West honors.
“They’re practicing with real reps right now, and they’ve been doing well,” Venables said. “Credit to them, putting in a lot of time. They’ve spent a lot of time in the building, and credit Todd Bates and (defensive analyst) DeShawn Williams for the time they’re spending with the guys and meeting them where they’re at and helping them learn.”
Here are a couple of other takeaways from Tuesday’s press conferences:
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OL play, turnovers holding OU football’s offense back
Venables was asked point blank Tuesday what is holding back an offense that brought back so much experience and was thought to be vastly improved.
“Probably just the inconsistent offensive line and then not taking care of the ball,” Venables said succinctly. “Those two things, bad recipe.”
While Venables acknowledged star left tackle Michael Fasusi being out and starting center Jake Maikkula and Ryan Fodje missing time during training camp has contributed to the line struggles, it doesn’t excuse messing up the fundamentals.
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He used the first drive from last Saturday as an example when a New Mexico safety went unblocked, setting up a third down in which quarterback John Mateer throws an interception.
“Those are the basics when I say get better at the basics and nobody likes that because that’s not sexy enough and that’s not firing anybody,” Venables said. “Again, there’s accountability. It can’t continue to happen over and over and over. The definition of insanity, right? So I get all of that, too. But I also know it’s football. Things happen fast.”
The Sooners lost the turnover battle against the Lobos 3-0. Venables is grateful for victory but knows OU won’t win very many more games losing the turnover margin.
“It’s like, ‘Get out of our own way,'” Venables said.
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) throws an interception during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the New Mexico Lobos at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Oklahoma won 14-6.
‘Great admiration and respect’ between Brent Venables, Kirby Smart
While much of the focus leading up the Georgia game is on the Sooners’ offensive struggles, Saturday’s game will pit two of the sport’s best defensive minds against each other.
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Venables remembers first getting to know Georgia coach Kirby Smart in the mid-2000s when legendary coach Nick Saban had both of the defensive gurus get together and pick their brains during clinics.
“We’ve always had great admiration and respect,” Venables said.
Smart shares the same sentiment, calling Venables “one of the premier defensive coaches in all of college football” during his Monday press conference.
“You see it on tape, and he’s always been that way,” Smart said, “there’s not a guy on their defense that comes in, and they rotate guys, but that comes in and doesn’t play with great pad level and great effort.”
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OU vs. Georgia
KICKOFF: 2:30 p.m. CT at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia (ESPN)
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Order “BOOM TIMES: The Oklahoma Sooners‘ Epic Charge to the 2026 College World Series Title” at Sooners.ChampsBook.com. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: With OU football DL David Stone injured, which Sooners might replace him on field?
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