Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops announced left guard Brian Simmons will miss the Texas game due to a knee injury. Simmons was injured in the second half of the Baylor game and had to be helped to the sidelines.
Stoops declined to discuss the severity of the injury, but his absence pushes the count to four Sooners who started (at least part time) last season to have missed big chunks of this season due to injury.
All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham is out for the season after having surgery to repair cartilage damage in his knee. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford missed three games to a shoulder injury. Ryan Broyles, the Sooners' most productive returning wide receiver, and still their top receiver this season, missed the Baylor game and just about all of the Miami game with a shoulder injury.
Stoops said there's no definitive go-to lineman to take Simmons' place Saturday. Stephen Good played in Simmons' place in the second half against Baylor and true freshman Tyler Evans has also seen extensive playing time, along with junior college transfer Tavaris Jeffries.
"The opportunity is there for someone to step up," offensive line coach James Patton said. "We'll see what happens this week."
Broyles might be back
Broyles practiced Monday and might be healthy enough to play Saturday.
"There's a chance," Stoops said.
It will be a similar situation to the one OU faced as Bradford recovered from his injury. Stoops said a decision on Broyles' health will be made later in the week. The coaching staff wants to see what he can do in practice before making a decision on whether he's able to play.
"I'm sure some of it will definitely be the combination of range of motion, mobility, probably a combination of pain tolerance and more than that, the combination of the (re-injury) risk," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "You put a guy out there that has a chance to have a more severe injury because it's not completely healed yet ... You're not gonna put any young man in that situation."
If Broyles plays, it would be a major boost to the Sooner offense. Broyles leads the team in touchdown receptions with seven. In the two games OU has been without him -- all but a handful of plays against Miami and the Baylor game -- OU has just two touchdown receptions.
On the run
OU's running game has taken some hits for not being able to pick up critical yards at critical times in its losses to BYU and Miami. But it's also averaging 187.8 yards per game.
"What we need is more consistency," Patton said. "Run blocking is about consistency. You have to keep pounding it in and finding creases."
Red zone woes
There's an old adage that says teams can't win big games by kicking field goals. That could be a bad omen for the Sooners who enter the Texas game having scored touchdowns on just 60 percent (15-for-25) of their trips to the red zone (inside the opponent's 20-yard line) this season. The percentage puts OU No. 11 in the Big 12.
On the other hand, the Sooners are the only team in the conference who has played two ranked opponents: BYU and Miami.
Texas has scored TDs on 70 percent (17-for-26) of its red zone trips. But none of its five foes have been ranked at any point this season.
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Simmons is out for Texas
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