Going Into Michigan, Oklahoma RB Jaydn Ott 'In a Great Head Space' and 'Close to 100 Percent'

Oklahoma may or may not use Cal transfer running back Jaydn Ott on Saturday when the Michigan Wolverines come to Norman.

“He’s missed a lot of practice," head coach Brent Venables said Monday on his coach’s show. "But you’re going to see a lot more of him.”

Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle on Tuesday, without giving away any team secrets, sounded a little less committal.

“Jaydn Ott’s in a great head space,” Arbuckle said when asked if he expects Ott to play more this week. “I actually got to meet with him this morning too. And Jaydn Ott is in a great head space. And I'm excited for this week and watching him, get to go watch him practice and get him out there against Michigan.”

During his weekly press conference Tuesday, Venables followed Arbuckle and seemed much more confident that Ott would be a big piece of the puzzle against Michigan and going forward.

"He's one of the more explosive players in college football," Venables said. "I know he was banged up last year, was banged up in camp and but looks to be close to 100 percent. And when he's at his best, we've all seen — people that know his journey, you know what he's capable of. So he's a real weapon, and I think he'll play a real factor in our season moving forward."

Ott has been billed as the Sooners’ RB1 ever since he arrived from Cal with 3,333 career yards from scrimmage. That includes a sophomore year total of 1,315 rushing yards after logging 897 yards on the ground as a true freshman for the Bears.

But Ott spent parts of preseason training camp injured, which knocked him down the depth chart. Senior Jovantae Barnes started Saturday’s 35-3 win over Illinois State, and true freshman Tory Blaylock stood out the most while running second team.

Ott came in late in the game, played just four offensive snaps and received just one carry (he lost three yards). He also was on the field for two kickoff returns, but did not get to run back any kicks.

What it All Means This Week

Ott playing late in a blowout game and even getting to carry the football goes against any narrative that he’s not healthy enough to play, which means his lack of action is likely a combination of only recently returning to game shape, a strong preseason camp from Blaylock and holding him in reserve for this week’s game against the No. 14-ranked Wolverines.

Either way, Arbuckle said Tuesday that the OU running game needs to be much better against Michigan than it was against last week’s FCS opponent.

OU ran for just 103 yards and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry against the Redbirds.

However, Arbuckle stressed that the team’s struggles to run the football were not entirely to blame on the front five blockers.

”After reviewing the tape on the run blocking, again, it's — I don't think it's all just offensive line. It's not all tight ends. It's not all running backs. Whenever you talk about running the ball, it's really all 11 players on the field being on the page at the same time. Everything goes into it: wide receivers … quarterback making sure that we're running the run into the best look possible, running backs hitting hitting the hole whenever it's there, hitting the crease when it's there.

“So you know, it's not just one specific position group in the run game. Because there's a lot of things that they did do well the offensive line on Saturday. But again, it's just constantly meshing everyone together in that regard.

“But definitely just, you know, have a great mindset towards it this week. Whenever we get put in those situations, just a mindset of coming off the ball, getting our double teams together, getting off to the second level, running backs pressing their their landmark, sticking it, knifing, getting vertical downfield, wide receivers being great in their perimeter blocking rules, in the runs.”

Michigan Changes the Equation

It’s much more important this week because against a physical, fast Michigan defense, it doesn’t seem likely that quarterback John Mateer will be able to carry the offense with nearly 400 yards passing last week.

In last week's 34-17 win over New Mexico in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines' defense limited the Lobos to just 50 rushing yards and 267 total.

“I mean, they're physical,” Arbuckle said. “They're stout, they're well coached, they understand their gap integrity, and they do a really good job at the point of attack, whether it's in shutting run blocks or rushing the passer, they do a really good job. So they're sound.

“So we have to come — we have to bring our best. You know, they're really good players. So we have to bring our best in those moments, in those situations, too.”