'Relief' Coming up for Oklahoma's Offense After Facing a String of the Nation's Top Defenses

NORMAN — Three days removed from his team's 27-24 upset of then-No. 1 Texas, Oklahoma's Brent Venables held his weekly press conference Tuesday.

Venables looked back at the win over the Longhorns, his team's progress on both sides of the ball. and looked ahead at Saturday's home matchup with No. 15 Kentucky (6:30 p.m., SEC Network).

Here are three takeaways from Venables' interview session:

Brent Venables on Michael Fasusi: 'Soon'

Left tackle Michael Fasusi hasn't played since the season opener, which he left after just 17 offensive snaps.

Fasusi has suited up for each of the last two games, which has been fairly normal for Oklahoma players under Venables who are working back from injuries.

Venables typically defers to the SEC availability reports once conference play begins, but Tuesday, he gave more of an answer when asked about Fasusi's status.

"He's just about ready," Venables said. "I'm excited — everybody's excited — to get another really good player back. He's worked relentlessly. He's in great shape."

Venables didn't definitively say whether or not Fasusi would play Saturday, but said there was a chance.

"He's got to clear another hurdle or so here in the next few days to be ready to go," Venables said.

Fasusi was noticeably amped up for the Red River Rivalry even if he wasn't available to play.

"Nobody misses being out there with his teammates more than Mike but proud of him how he's handled it," Venables said, before going back to Fasusi's status moving forward.

"Soon, is what I would say," Venables added.

'Relief' Coming up for Oklahoma's Offense

Venables laughed a bit when he was asked about the "relief" coming up for the Sooners' offense and how that might help the group show improvement.

But that relief is real.

Each of Oklahoma's last four opponents — Michigan, New Mexico, Georgia, and Texas — are ranked in the top 13 nationally in total defense.

The Wolverines are No. 3 (241.4 yards per game allowed), the Lobos are No. 10 (255.6), the Bulldogs No. 11 (261.5) and the Longhorns are No. 13 (264.4).

The Sooners' defense is No. 14 at 266.8.

"Relief? We've not talked about it in those terms," Venables said. "Every week presents a new set of challenges. As much as anything, we're focused on us getting better."

But Venables did acknowledge the difficult path the Oklahoma offense has faced so far.

"The margins have been very small," Venables said. "The people that we're going against have created its own set of challenges."

Kentucky comes into Saturday's game No. 100 in total defense, allowing 382.2 yards per game.

The Wildcats are allowing 135.8 yards per game on the ground and 246.3 yards per game through the air — No. 116 nationally.

Only one of the teams remaining on Oklahoma's schedule — Missouri — has a defense ranked in the top 40 nationally.

Brent Venables Talks Doug Deakin's Origin

Oklahoma's special teams have soared high for the most part over the past few years under Doug Deakin.

That was never more evident than in Saturday's Red River Rivalry win, when the Sooners scored a touchdown on a blocked punt, Jacob Ulrich had to punt eight times and Tate Sandell hit a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Venables was asked Tuesday how Deakin came on his radar.

"Just looked at who was doing well in college football," Venables said. "Our former special teams coordinator was able to kind of testify on behalf of Doug from a coach and character reference both."

Deakin replaced Jay Nunez as the Sooners' special teams analyst before the 2024 season, serving in that role for a season before being elevated to special teams coordinator after one season.

"We immediately hit it off," Venables said of Deakin. "His passion, his enthusiasm, he was as a teacher. The product that he put out there was fantastic."

Venables also said Deakin's awareness of how special teams fits into the overall picture has stood out.

"He impacts and influences everybody on the whole team," Venables said. "He knows how to blend it all into a team mindset. He's been great."

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