With Kip Lewis out, Cole Sullivan's Role in Oklahoma's Defense Figures to Grow

NORMAN — There's no way around it.

Kip Lewis' injury is a major blow to Oklahoma's defense.

Lewis has started 32 games during his Sooners' career, with 212 career tackles.

But now, Lewis will miss some time after suffering a right knee injury early in last week's 17-10 loss to Michigan.

Sooners coach Brent Venables said on his coaches' show Monday that the news on the severity of Lewis' injury was better than expected, but that Lewis would still miss "some time."

Though James Nesta is listed as Lewis' backup on the depth chart, and will likely see increased playing time as well, Michigan transfer Cole Sullivan figures to slide in to Lewis' role at weakside linebacker.

Sullivan spent time working at the position in the spring, shifting between that spot and middle linebacker, though ultimately shifted more into the cheetah role when Owen Heinecke was granted an injunction that made him eligible for the 2026 season.

Venables spoke positively about the strides both Nesta and Sullivan had made in recent weeks, but was particularly high on Sullivan.

Both Nesta and Sullivan missed around 10 days of fall camp due to injury, and that was evident in the opener vs. UTEP, Venables said.

"There's a little bit of hesitation at times," Venables said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "But both of them — and again, just two games worth — just see this incremental improvement from assuredness, confidence."

Sullivan played 43 snaps against his former team last week, the fourth-most he'd played in a game during his career. The only times Sullivan has played more snaps during his career came last season when he started the final three games of the season for Michigan.

"Cole in particular, as that game went along, got better and better," Venables said of Sullivan's performance against the Wolverines. "He ... won the 12th man award for the game (for) his contributions and on special teams, which was outstanding. And at linebacker, he did some things in that game that were really good, that you could see as a coach, having coached defense in that position for a long time, you say, 'OK, he's making big jumps fast.'

"And so expect that to continue to develop that way, both guys. They are big, strong, they care. They're in the building all the time and they got good instrincts. They're powerful guys, and got tremendous pride. I'm excited to see where that goes."

Another possibility to earn playing time at the spot is Jaydon Southard, the recent transfer from Stephen F. Austin.

Venables said Southard and new defensive lineman Braxton Fely, had a chance to contribute on defense and special teams moving forward.

"You gotta earn that trust, and you got to be able to execute what we want them to do," Venables said. "But they're actually getting in there and getting reps right now."

The 24th-ranked Sooners take on New Mexico at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

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