Oklahoma LB Owen Heinecke 'Played Out of His Mind' in First Career Start

KNOXVILLE — Game planning for Brent Venables’ Oklahoma defense has turned into a game of Whac-A-Mole.

Linebacker Kobie McKinzie was ruled out of OU’s contest against Tennessee during pre-game warmups due to a groin injury that McKinzie suffered against Ole Miss.

In his place, the Sooners started Owen Heinecke.

Previously, the redshirt junior led the team in tackles in OU’s win over Michigan. He was even better against the Volunteers.

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Heinecke already had 12 tackles by the time the Sooners trotted back to the locker room at halftime at Neyland Stadium. He finished with 13 tackles, including one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, and Heinecke forced the fumble that R Mason Thomas returned for a touchdown to tie the game up in the first quarter.

“He played out of his mind,” Venables said after the 33-27 win. “… Really proud of him and thankful. He’s really become a leader and player. He was fantastic tonight.”

Heinecke wore the “green dot” helmet equipped with the communications system for Venables to call plays, and he prepared all week as if he’d have to fill McKinzie’s shoes.

“Losing Kobie is not an easy thing for this defense,” Heinecke said. “We call him the field general. He does a great job of getting everybody ready each play, especially versus a team that uses a lot ot tempo like Tennessee.

“All week we weren’t sure if he was going to be playing or not and I got to fill the role, so the preparation throughout the week was intense. It was a position I hadn’t been playing a whole bunch of, so I had to make the learning curve pretty steep. But we got out here, we executed.”

McKinzie still rallied the sideline throughout the game, even though he was unable to work his way into the lineup.

“He's just a natural leader,” linebacker Kip Lewis said. “So he's just putting his input in, putting courage into us, pouring his all, what he can do, so just love him for that.”

Lewis himself had 10 tackles, and he enjoyed playing alongside Heinecke.

“That kid is a ball player,” he said. “I love Owen. I just try to pour my all into him, because the only thing you can do is just love Owen, man. He's an amazing guy.”

OU held the Vols to their second-lowest scoring output of the season, a feat that Heinecke credited all his teammates with.

“The whole defense played really well and had each other’s backs out there,” he said. “So it’s pretty awesome to get a start in an atmosphere like this. It’s what you dream about as a kid.”