Oklahoma's Young OL Showed 'Zero Fear' to Pass Massive Road Test in Knoxville

The Sooners started three freshmen up front and still took the fight to Tennessee's defensive line on Saturday night.

Oklahoma's offensive line poses with Brent Venables after the Sooners' 33-27 win over Tennessee. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KNOXVILLE — Moments before Oklahoma’s final touchdown against Tennessee, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis delivered a viral moment. 

Before the Sooners broke the huddle to take the field on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Pierre-Louis head-butted true freshman left tackle Michael Fasusi.

Fasusi, clearly fired up, returned the favor with a head-first charge of his own, then Pierre-Louis sprinted off the sideline and led his team onto the field. 

Never change EPL. Never change pic.twitter.com/UIR5xAUjOk

— D (@The_Ham_Berglar) November 2, 2025

Pierre-Louis is far from a finished product, but he’s brought another level of intensity and physicality to OU’s offensive line over the last seven quarters, and on Saturday night, he was one of three freshmen on an Oklahoma offensive line that grew throughout the game and helped the Sooners knock off the Volunteers 33-27 at Neyland Stadium.

“In this day and age we better take care of them. Everybody in the planet going to be coming for them guys,” OU coach Brent Venables said of Pierre-Louis, Fasusi and true freshman right tackle Ryan Fodje after the win. “But no man, they’ve — we bragged about those three guys last week. What they’re doing is not normal.”

Fodje was thrust into a starting role last week against Ole Miss after Derek Simmons went down during the week. 

He bounced from playing guard to tackle on two days’ notice and filled in admirably against the Rebels. 

Pierre-Louis was inserted into the lineup early in the first half at left guard against the Rebels, and he retained that role and started against Tennessee. 

The Sooners, led by sophomore running back Xavier Robinson, rushed for 137 yards in the second half against Ole Miss as the young o-line grew into the game. 

Oklahoma replicated that feat in Knoxville. 

OU shook off a slow first half and rallied in the second half against Tennessee. The work by the offensive line helped the Sooners win the time of possession battle after halftime by more than eight minutes, allowing Venables’ team to play complementary football and assert themselves early in the fourth quarter. 

"There's zero fear in any of those guys,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “They had an unbelievable week of practice, great preparation, those three young freshmen did. I'm proud of how they came out here and they operated, they executed. 

“They played physical. The moment wasn't too big for them. No moment was too big for them. So, a lot that we can build on with those young guys, but proud of the way they prepared and the way they played."

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Read More Oklahoma 33, Tennessee 27

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OU finished with 351 total yards, including 192 rushing yards. 

Robinson finished with 115 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries, and quarterback John Mateer added another 16 carries for 80 yards and a score. 

Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line leaned on Tennessee late, and they parted the Black Sea multiple times on the goal line.

put it away 🔟@John_Mateer4 pic.twitter.com/AVoJdFCcQs

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 2, 2025

Pierre-Louis’ impact on the mentality of the offensive line hasn’t been a major surprise. 

Center Troy Everett praised the effort Pierre-Louis brings every day at the end of spring practice. 

“Eddy will be the reason that the o-line goes where they go,” Everett said in April. “He’s young. He freaking plays hard. He’s physical. It’s going to motivate the older guys.”

And now they’ll have an entire bye week to improve before the Sooners head to Tuscaloosa to battle the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

“What Ryan and Mike and Eddy and the rest of the guys up front, what they’ve been able to do the last couple of weeks, what they were able to do tonight, nothing short of amazing,” Venables said. “I don’t want to gas ‘em, I’m not really into gassing, but they deserve the credit, man. They didn’t play like true freshmen.”