Oklahoma OT Michael Fasusi Channels Frustration Into Production

NORMAN — No one took Oklahoma’s 42-25 loss to South Carolina on Oct. 31 harder than offensive tackle Michael Fasusi.

During his postgame interview following that loss, Fasusi was clearly agitated at his own play.

That frustration lingered.

“That Sunday I was pretty pissed too, that Monday I was pretty pissed,” Fasusi said after this Monday’s practice in the wake of his dominant performance at Florida in last week’s 23-7 victory. “But just being at Oklahoma, there are people around you who can talk to you, who are family, who can be like, ‘Hey Mike, it’s good to be pissed but at the end of the day, we’ve got to channel it into, let’s have a good good practice, recovery, preparation and good time watching film over and over.’ That’s how I channeled that energy, tried to put it in the right place for me to go execute.”

Fasusi cited a mantra Brent Venables drills into his team’s heads — look through the windshield and not the rearview mirror.

Going through those very obvious struggles against South Carolina, where he drew a total of six penalties, and bouncing back with the performance at Florida stood out to Venables.

“That’s part of the maturation process,” Venables said. “Progress isn’t this linear thing like everybody wants it to be. … And in our space, when a guy like Mike fails, he falls in front of the world. … But a guy like Mike has great, great pide, and he also has a sensibility to him that knows this is part of my process. So his ability to fight right back is very natural, and so not surprised. He’s got great self-awareness. He has really high standards. He’s got impeccable work ethic. Just his mentality is very inspirational, even for a guy like me. He fuels me. His passion, his energy, his humility, his love for his teammates, his love for just playing, those are things that field me. But has has a unique ability to make everybody better, including himself.”

Fasusi, still just a sophomore, is searching for consistency. He'll look to continue his surge when the Sooners take on Ole Miss at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

He believes he has a model in offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.

“It’s an everyday type of thing for him,” Fasusi said. “He’s not just like, ‘Oh, Saturday’s gonna come and I’m gonna try to be all rah-rah.’ It’s something he does from freaking Sunday and Monday. Today, he’s going to come into the meeting with, ‘we did some good stuff, but at the end of the day, just like every single game, we’ve got this to fix.’ …

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“He specifically said it, ‘When you watch the film you’ve got to ask yourself personally what can I do better?’ Having a coach like that, we go to practice and he’s starting all over again, picking everything up. … His passion is really what does the job for us. He brings it every day in meetings and practice.”

For much of the season, with Fasusi injured and then again in that South Carolina loss when Fasusi struggled, the offensive line has been a weakness, particularly at left tackle.

That limited the scope of Oklahoma’s offense. It narrowed the time John Mateer had to find open receivers, failed to create holes in the run game and forced the Sooners to use other players who could be utilized elsewhere in a variety of ways to help with blocking schemes.

Venables was careful with his answer when asked about how Fasusi’s presence opens up the offense, particularly the play calling, saying the tackle needed to be consistent to make that difference felt in a bigger way.

But if Fasusi can maintain that high level of play, it could make a significant different over the closing stretch of the season.

“The level of consistency that Mike is capable of playing with eliminates some of the disaster kind of plays that get you beat, and allows you to play in a ore consistent space,” Venables said. “And maybe you don’t have to rob Peter to pay Paul when it comes to getting somebody some help. Although verybody needs some help. …

“He’s (not) perfect by any stretch, but the more he plays, the more he practices, the better Mike’s going to get. There’s no limits on what Mike Fasusi can do. He’s got it all when it comes to the talent, the toughness, the humility. He’s skilled. He’s still just a baby. He really is. All of his best days are sitting right in front of him but his best quality — he loves to come into the building every day, loves to go practice, he’s very passionate, very detailed and super, super coachable.”

And, Venables said, Fasusi ran toward the issue after struggling against South Carolina instead of hiding himself from the problems.

“Just give it to me,” Venables said of Fasusi’s attitude. “He wants it real. He wants it raw. Unfiltered. He wants the truth. A lot of guys don’t want it. They say they do until they do and then they don’t.”

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