Oklahoma Football: Players Who Must Step Up with Trevor Knight out vs Texas Tech

Oklahoma’s already waning season took another critical blow with the announcement that it will be without Trevor Knight for some time.

Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Brandon Chatmon relayed that the Sooners’ starting quarterback would miss Saturday’s contest against Texas Tech. Knight suffered an injury after being sacked by Baylor last weekend, needing a cart to leave the field.

With redshirt freshman Cody Thomas set to make the first start of his career, look for the Oklahoma coaching staff to try to take the pressure off the youngster.

Here’s who has to step up on Saturday.

Michiah Quick, WR

There were lofty expectations for the freshman receiver this season. However, it took until the seventh game of the season for Quick to register a catch.

That has to change moving forward.

Fortunately, the Sooners seem to be moving in the right direction, attempting to get Quick more and more involved in recent weeks. In fact, the Fresno, California, native has caught 14 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown over the last two games.

With still no word on whether leading receiver Sterling Shepard will return on Saturday, the pressure will be on Quick to be Thomas’ go-to receiver in a crunch.

For his part, Shepard feels confident in Quick’s abilities.

“I told you guys at the beginning of the season, he’s one of those guys that doesn’t act like a freshman,” Shepard said earlier this year, per The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber. “You guys got a chance to see that.”

Quick certainly has the talent. It’ll come down to whether he and Thomas will be able to get on the same page.

Any One of the Running Backs

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

With just 15 passing attempts in his career, Thomas isn’t likely to throw the ball too much on Saturday unless necessary.

More than likely, Oklahoma will run, run and run some more.

It certainly helps that the Red Raiders are downright awful at stopping the run. Through nine games, the team ranks No. 122 against the run (245.6 YPG) and has conceded a whopping 26 rushing touchdowns on a more-than-generous 4.9 yards per carry.

That’s music to the ears of a Sooners rushing attack that averages 225 yards per game on the ground.

There’s sophomore Keith Ford, who’s used his physical and agile running style to rack up 234 yards and five touchdowns in four appearances. Then there’s the tank-style running of Samaje Perine, who leads the team in both yards (788) and touchdowns (11). And don’t forget the most athletic of the bunch: Alex Ross—64 carries, 491 yards and three touchdowns—who also makes noise on kickoff returns.

Regardless of who gets the call, Oklahoma must run the ball successfully against Texas Tech.

Cody Thomas, QB

Of course, the player who needs to step up the most is Thomas himself.

In four relief appearances, Thomas has completed just seven of 16 passes for 50 yards and an interception. However, it’s worth noting that in his only meaningful snaps—against Kansas State in the second quarter—the redshirt freshman calmly quarterbacked the Sooners on a 95-yard touchdown drive, going 2-of-2 for 17 yards.

But don’t worry about Thomas being composed under pressure.

“[Thomas] kept his composure better than anybody I’ve ever coached,” said Mike Fuller, Thomas’ high school coach at Colleyville Heritage High, per The Oklahoman's Jason Kersey. “It didn’t matter if it was a scrimmage that didn’t mean anything or 4th-and-goal in a district game against a big rival, his demeanor never changed."

In a game where Thomas realistically won’t be asked to do much except manage the game, look for the Colleyville, Texas, native to be just fine.

All stats, recruiting information and rankings used in this article are courtesy of cfbstats.com and 247Sports.

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