Oklahoma-Kansas: One Big Thing

What’s bigger this week than quarterback play?

If Dillon Gabriel can go for Oklahoma — Brent Venables said he’d know by Thursday — then the Sooner offense has a chance to get back to what it was, and OU has a chance to win the game. If Gabriel had a setback this week and can’t go, do the Sooners have any shot?

Having to watch from the sideline in his first OU-Texas game, Gabriel said, was awful.

“It’s not the easiest,” he said. “That’s an environment I’d love to play in and one that I really wanted to. So that was tough. But I’m trusting God’s plan and know that he’s got a path for me and I just got to continue to trust it. Most importantly, super grateful and thankful to be out here this week.”

On the Kansas side, the Jayhawks definitely have top backup Jason Bean available, but could they even have the services of Jalon Daniels? Snicker if you want, but Daniels was playing at a level the national pundits were including him in early Heisman talk. His QBR a month into the season was the highest of all time, and he was among the top 3-5 nationally in yards, offense and touchdowns.

But Daniels took a hit to his shoulder last week and left the TCU game. It was reported earlier this week that his season was done, to which Daniels posted it was “news to me” and later turned up in coach Lance Leipold’s office with noticeable mobility in the joint.

Bean is good. He completed 14 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Horned Frogs, and last year against OU, Bean threw for 246 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards as KU led 10-0 at halftime and 17-7 in the third quarter. He’s good, and he’s fast, a valuable asset in the ground game.

Gabriel, on the other hand, assuming he successfully completed concussion protocol, shouldn’t run at all. Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby will want to avoid using him in the running game — that’s what last week’s wildcat packages were for — and may want to assign a max-protect security detail when it’s time to throw.

“I think everybody understands (when) Dillon’s playing, we’re a little bit different, for sure,” Lebby said.

If Gabriel can’t go, or if he suffers a setback during the game, what’s the next option? Back to the wildcat? Will Davis Beville resume his spot as the top backup? Or will General Booty — who Lebby said was repped and ready to go last week before a “minor deal pregame” that kept him off the field — step in? Or might freshman Nick Evers get the call this time? And as everyone has been asking all week: where the heck is Micah Bowens?

Whoever takes snaps, Lebby wants to see the offense play cleaner across the board.

“We’ve seen us be capable,” Lebby said. “It wasn't too long ago that we were playing a heck of a lot better.”