On a day Oklahoma finally got a key piece of its offensive line back, the Sooners also took a hit that could loom even larger. Starting center Jake Maikkula left Saturday’s game against Mississippi State in the third quarter with a lower-body injury and did not return after limping off the field. He headed straight to the medical tent once he reached the sideline.
Maikkula has been the man in the middle for OU whenever he’s been available. He has started every game at center since missing the season opener because of an injury, and he also made 10 starts there last season after transferring from Stanford, where he spent the first three years of his career.
With Maikkula out, Oklahoma turned to Caleb Nitta rather than sliding Noah Best back to center. Best had opened the season in Maikkula’s spot when Maikkula was sidelined in Week 1, becoming the first freshman center to start an OU season opener since J.R.
Conrad in 1992. He was also the first true freshman since Ty Darlington in 2012 to start at center at all.
Best has since shifted to guard and has started every game of his young career there. So when Maikkula went down, Bill Bedenbaugh chose to keep Best where he was and insert Nitta at center.
Nitta entered Saturday with just three appearances this season, having already seen action against UTEP, Texas and Kentucky. He’s more familiar with the position than his limited OU reps might suggest: last year at Western Kentucky, he started the final nine games at center. Before that, he spent two seasons at Virginia Tech and barely played.
So far, Nitta has handled the job well enough, and Oklahoma has kept moving the ball against Mississippi State with him in the middle.
He’s hardly the only lineman the Sooners have had to lean on. Injuries have forced constant shuffling up front, and OU was already without Ryan Fodje and Heath Ozaeta on Saturday, even though both have started multiple games this season.
There was at least some good news for the group before kickoff. Starting left tackle Michael Fasusi and guard Heath Ozaeta were back after being listed as questionable all week, and Fasusi’s return was especially noticeable after he missed time with a shoulder injury suffered in the first quarter of the season opener.
Still, Maikkula’s exit remains the biggest concern. If the injury keeps him out beyond the second half, it would be another serious blow for an Oklahoma offensive line that has spent too much of the season patching holes on the fly.
In Other News...
Oklahoma's Defense Gets A Serious Warning Before Mississippi State
Mississippi State brings a very different kind of test into the matchup, one built around a veer-and-shoot offense that leans on numbers in the run game and works in run-pass options when the look is right. For Oklahomas defense, that means the assignment is less about one dramatic wrinkle and more about staying disciplined snap after snap, keeping the front sound and making sure the Bulldogs dont turn the ground game into easy yards.
The tempo and pace also raise the pressure on the Sooners to communicate cleanly and line up correctly before the ball is snapped. If Oklahoma can stay connected and execute consistently, it can force Mississippi State to work longer drives and avoid the kind of explosive plays that make this offense so difficult to contain. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Arbuckle May Have Found What Oklahoma's Offense Needed
Ben Arbuckle's latest outing as Oklahoma's offensive play-caller offered a clearer picture of what the Sooners have been chasing. In a 23-15 win over Mississippi State that pushed Oklahoma to 4-3, the offense leaned into the running game and turned in its most productive day of the season, finishing with 467 total yards while staying efficient and controlled.
John Mateer did his part by completing 76% of his passes without a turnover, and the backs helped carry the load on the ground. Just as important for Oklahoma, the offense kept the clean sheet it needed by avoiding sacks and giveaways, a combination that gave the Sooners a steadier rhythm than they've had at times this fall and hints at a formula worth building on. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Finally Got The Formula Right But One Problem Wont Go Away
For one Saturday in Starkville, Oklahoma looked a lot more like the team it expected to be when it entered SEC play. The Sooners beat Mississippi State 23-15 at Davis Wade Stadium, moved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the league, and finally put together the kind of clean offensive and defensive showing that has been too rare this fall. John Mateer set the tone with 283 passing yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers, and Oklahomas defense did enough to keep Mississippi State under control for most of the afternoon.
Still, the win did not come without another familiar concern hanging over it. The Sooners left points on the field with missed field goals by Sandell, a reminder that even when the broader formula works, the margins remain too tight for comfort. Oklahoma got the result it needed and some much-needed traction in conference play, but the lingering issue is whether it can keep that balance intact when the pressure rises again. [Read more 🡒]