Brent Venables: R Mason Thomas Remained Engaged, Ready for Return vs. Alabama in CFP

The Sooners' star defensive end has been out since suffering an injury Nov. 1 at Tennessee but will be back on the field in the CFP on Friday.

Oklahoma defensive end R Mason Thomas | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — R Mason Thomas has been dominant this season when he's been on the field.

But even with the star defensive end out of the final four games of the regular season, Oklahoma's defensive line has thrived.

But now, the Sooners will get their tone-setter back.

"Guys are excited to have him back," Sooners coach Brent Venables said Wednesday on a pre-CFP Zoom call. "And certainly he cares deeply about his opportunity here and everything he's gone through. ...

"We're excited for him."

Thomas was not listed on the initial availability report Tuesday ahead of Friday's College Football Playoff opener and will be available against Alabama after missing the last three games.

The eighth-ranked Sooners (10-2) will take on the No. 9 Crimson Tide (10-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in the first round.

The winner will take on top-ranked Indiana on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

Thomas suffered a quadriceps injury early in the Nov. 1 win over Tennessee, returning a fumble 71 yards for a touchdown.

During his time off the field, Thomas has remained engaged with his team, Venables said.

"Just be who he's been," Venables said. "He's got great relationships and respect from everybody in the locker room. He's not a big talker, just generally speaking, but he stays very engaged. I don't think you can come back, however long it was ago, without doing a lot of work and staying mentally a part of everything that we're doing. We've traveled him and he's been at every meeting, every walkthrough, every team setting, things like that too."

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Thomas still leads the Sooners with 6.5 sacks, and has 9.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, a safety, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and 23 tackles. He earned first-team All-SEC honors this season

With Thomas out, OU has leaned heavily on Taylor Wein and Marvin Jones Jr. at the defensive end slots. Danny Okoye and Adepoju Adebawore also have seen more action.

Wein in particular has thrived in recent weeks as the Sooners reeled off four consecutive victories to reach their first CFP since 2019.

"For us, it speaks to our coaching," Wein said this week. "All the guys, it doesn't matter who it is, you can look top to bottom, those guys can play at a high level. And the standard here is that if you're going to play, you're going to play like a starter and you're going to play at a high level and produce and do your job. R Mason's done a great job leading. Even though he's not been on the field, he does a good job just verbally leading and keeping our mind right, too."

Published 3 hours ago

Ryan Aber

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.