Oklahoma Has the WR Talent to Replace Trell Harris, but Its QB Must Deliver

NORMAN — Oklahoma's bad day in Ann Arbor last Saturday keeps getting worse.

Sooners On SI reported prior to the Sooners' Tuesday press conferences of Ben Arbuckle and Brent Venables that Trell Harris suffered a serious injury in the form of a lacerated internal organ during the second quarter in the loss to Michigan. Venables would later confirm that Harris was "still being evaluated" and that he would be "out for the foreseeable future."

As the offense looks to regroup and rebound against a good New Mexico team this Saturday, one of the new goals will be for another pass catcher — or a group of them — to step up.

The question is who will it be? Then specifically, can John Mateer make the improvements neccesary to find them downfield?

One bright spot from the loss was Mackenzie Alleyne's lone catch — a 22-yard score that put the Sooners on the board in the third quarter. Parker Livingstone has two catches on the year, with his last one resulting in a critical first-half fumble against the Wolverines.

Venables even vowed to get Elijah Thomas, the talented second-year player, the ball more, describing him as one of their more "explosive players." Thus far, Thomas has only one catch for 24 yards in the win over UTEP.

Isaiah Sategna and even Rocky Beers after two games as a Sooner are proven commodities within this offense. The pressure falls upon Mateer to see his talented group of receivers find space downfield and deliver an accurate ball to them.

"John's play was totally uneven," Arbuckle said. "And I say that with, he made some really awesome throws and really good decisions. At the end of the day, it starts with me as the coach. If his play is uneven, then there's something I'm doing as a coach that there's a disconnect there."

It appears that Oklahoma will have the talent for someone to step up without Harris. Considering the explosiveness that Thomas possesses, Sategna could still be complemented well to keep defenses from constantly keying on him.

It will simply come down to the quarterback making sure the ball finds the open man and that there is balance within the passing game.

"It's not all his fault, and I have to continue to be better whenever we get in those moments, we get in those situations in the game and especially if there's easy layups that we're executing those, because that helps keep the offense on rhythm," Arbuckle said.

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