OU notepad: Elijah Thomas continuing to progress in 'deep' receiver room

NORMAN — Brent Venables and Ben Arbuckle each held their weekly press conferences on Tuesday.

And there was a lot to talk about.

Here are a few of the notes from the head coach and offensive coordinator ahead of Saturday’s clash (11:45 a.m. CT, SECN) at South Carolina:

Ben Arbuckle on Elijah Thomas

There was a lot of preseason hype for the true freshman receiver, who seemingly emerged as a real option for OU’s offense. Instead, he’s been mostly relegated to special teams duty.

Thomas has logged just 30 snaps on offense in two games, and he didn’t play against Auburn, Michigan or Texas. He’s played 99 snaps on special teams, per Pro Football Focus.

Thomas’ lack of involvement on offense has more to do with the wide receiver rotation, which has mostly focused on veterans Deion Burks, Isaiah Sategna, Keontez Lewis and Javonnie Gibson.

“First off, with Elijah Thomas, every time I watch special teams, I’m just looking for where he is, because he flies down the field,” Arbuckle said. “He’s assignment (sound), he’s excited to be out there, and he makes plays. That’s a credit to him, and that’s a credit to (OU special teams coordinator Doug Deakin) putting him position to be successful. ET’s a really really talented kid.

“I do have a lot of receivers in that room that I do trust. Guys that have a lot of veteran experience about them. Again, it’s nothing that ET has done wrong… He’s a talented kid who’s taken all the right steps to find his way onto the field. But that receiver room is deep. A bunch of good kids in there. And we just got Javonnie back. OK, I gotta get Javonnie going too. And that’s nothing to do with ET. But there’s a lot of guys in that room. He just does a great job of coming to work every day.”

Arbuckle on utilizing Jayden Jackson, David Stone on offense

The defensive tackle duo actually made their way onto the field for the Sooners’ offense against Texas. They both came in for a special package on a fourth-and-1 early in the game, and both made pivotal blocks that helped the Sooners pick up the first down.

Could we see that again in the future?

“Yeah, absolutely,” Arbuckle said. “With what we were seeing in short yardage, I thought being able to bring in two bigger bodies, who are really explosive, strong guys, would to be our interest. Speaks to those kids, too. Not only are they having great seasons, are they great players, but everything in the 10 and a half, 11 months since I’ve been here, those kids are hard workers. They’re great kids to be around. They’re physical as can be. They work in such a way that it builds trust.

“Here I am, I’m an offensive coach, and I see them from afar, and I’m like, ‘I like those guys.’ They loved it, they had a lot of fun with it, and they did a great job with it, too. But you know, just being able to get good football players in good position to be successful.”

Venables on LaNorris Sellers

The numbers for the South Carolina quarterback are down this season, as the team around him has struggled. He has 1,010 passing yards and four touchdowns while completing 64% of his passes, adding 117 rushing yards.

But the Sooners certainly remember playing against Sellers last year, when he totaled 203 yards and a score. Venables had high praise for Sellers.

“You saw him out here (last year). Man, he’s a freak,” Venables said. “He really is, and he’s really becoming an excellent quarterback. I mean, he threw for 300 yards against Missouri a couple weeks ago in Columbia, and, man, he’s running to his left one time, and it’s 3rd and 37, and next thing you know, it’s 4th and 3, because he throws a freaking dart across his body. He’s running for his life. Running to his left, he’s a right-handed guy, and he just throws a freaking dart. Great accuracy right on the sideline, and he’s got great toughness to him.

“… (Wide receivers Nyck Harbor and Vandrevius Jacobs), these guys are really good, they’re really fast. So they’ve done a really good job of putting good players around (Sellers) as well. And so you don’t wanna be in a whole lot of those one-on-ones either. So it makes it hard to decide on how you’re gonna play him.”