Dasan McCullough's Return Gives Oklahoma's Defense Another Weapon

The Sooners' cheetah linebacker hadn't played since last year and was planning on a position change in 2024, but a July injury knocked him out of action until the Texas game.

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables speaks with Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Dasan McCullough / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Oklahoma’s defense has been good this season. 

But the Sooners got better last week when Dasan McCullough returned to action.

McCullough, a junior from Bloomington, IN, missed the first half of the OU season with a stress fracture in his foot. 

But there he was last Saturday in the Cotton Bowl, chasing down Texas Longhorns and playing football again.

Texas won the game 34-3 and sent OU into a big-picture, fix-it-now, win-or-else mode.

But for McCullough, the Red River Rivalry was an individual triumph.

“Shoot it's been long. It's been a lot of recovery," McCullough said this week. "A lot of like, rest. It was a bone injury so really just a lot of rest and keeping my mental straight. That was the biggest thing for me was to stay strong mentally and being ready to come and play when I get back.”

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound McCullough played 26 defensive snaps against the 'Horns as well as three snaps on special teams, according to Pro Football Focus. He finished with one tackle and one missed tackle, and his PFF grades were a bit on the low end — but not bad for someone who hasn't done much since July.

"Yeah, it was good," head coach Brent Venables said. "Again, it had been a long time. The last time that he was out there with his teammates was out here on the track field in July, and I was just saying for back and healthy and those types of things. And so it's good to get him back out there with the guys and get him into a rhythm of how to play. There was some ... things that he did that was really good, and some things to learn from. But we're gonna need him."

The Sooners (4-2 overall, 1-2 SEC) continue their maiden voyage through the Southeastern Conference, and Saturday they'll host South Carolina in an 11:45 a.m. kickoff at Owen Field.

McCullough, who played 477 snaps as a true freshman at Indiana before transferring to OU last year, played 276 defensive snaps for the Sooners in 2023. He finished his first year in Norman as one of the top-graded players on the defense, with an overall PFF grade or 79.5. That included a coverage grade of 88.2, a pass rush grade of 54.3 and a run defense grade of 73.6.

As he gets back into game shape, and as he picks up more reps at the cheetah position, he expects his performance will continue to elevate.

“I felt like I could have did a lot better (against Texas). I felt like I definitely could have played a lot better," he said. "First game back, still was kind of timid towards some things. Not triggering when I should. So a bunch of little things like that. All fixable things though. All things that are going to be fixed immediately as of today. So this week you won't see it.”

He said the injury itself and trusting the healing process was not a problem last week.

“No, I knew I was completely ready," he said. "I was ready to go out there to play. I was eager to play, honestly. Yeah, I was. I had some nerves flying but I was eager to get out there.”

Most of what he didn't like about his first game back, McCullough said, was entirely correctable.

“Yeah. It was really just, you're playing timid a little bit," he said. "It's your first game experience out there and you happen to go against a really good team too, as well. So it was really just getting some of that stuff out my system. Getting some of them nerves out, which came out quick. But going week-by-week, it's going to get better and better. So I'd say going into this week I'm completely ready to go."

McCullough said it was easy to lean "a lot" on family as he struggled through the injury — especially his famous dad, Deland McCullough who played parts of five seasons in professional football, and his grandfather, Sherman Smith, who played eight seasons in the NFL. Both men built careers as major college or NFL football coaches. Deland is still running backs coach at Notre Dame.

“Like, my dad's been through the same thing multiple times," McCullough said. "He had multiple ACL injuries when he was in the league, too. So just going through that process, knowing that they've been through it too, my grandpa as well, and just kind of having that backbone support really made it easy for me. I had my head focused on coming back.”

McCullough said the actual injury itself was frustrating because it was so innocuous and yet knocked him out for so long set back the progress he had made in the offseason. 

“It happened during a summer workout, like, the end of July," he said. "We were just doing a team run and I was finishing through and my foot, literally it popped. So I ended up getting a stress fracture in my foot. So it was just a long process of doing nothing, basically. A lot of healing. A lot of just doing nothing. So, spent time getting my upper body right, just kind of getting stronger. Keeping my mental straight. Getting a lot smarter in the football room, the film room and things of that nature. So I feel like I spent my time well.”

He said he nearly returned for the Auburn game on Sept. 28, but the OU medical team decided not to push it.

“Yeah, I thought it could have been a possibility," McCullough said. "But then we just ended up taking the smart route. Give it an extra week going into that bye week basically, just giving it more rest so I could really be 100 percent going into this week. So I appreciate them for doing that and looking out for me.”

McCullough spent most of spring practice trying out and eventually adjusting to a new position: inside linebacker. But with Kendel Dolby's injury at the cheetah spot and the continued emergence of Kip Lewis, Lewis Carter and Kobie McKinzie on the inside behind Danny Stutsman, McCullough is now needed more at cheetah again.

“Week-by-week, it could change," he said. "I’m open to whatever I have to work as. I’m just trying to go out there and help the guys and make plays for the team.”