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Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables is 'Hopeful' About RB Jovantae Barnes' Return

After a big freshman season, Barnes was expected to break out in 2023, but he hasn't played a down yet in Big 12 Conference play.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables is 'Hopeful' About RB Jovantae Barnes' Return
Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables is 'Hopeful' About RB Jovantae Barnes' Return /
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NORMAN — Oklahoma is 6-0 and ranked No. 6 and probably better than most pundits would have predicted.

But, as coach Brent Venables has been wont to say, the Sooners can certainly get better.

Playing the first half of a soft schedule revealed that OU’s rushing offense doesn’t have much bite.

While the passing game has been lethal behind sudden Heisman contender Dillon Gabriel and a posse of surprisingly good receivers, OU’s running attack has been less reliable.

With six games to play in the regular season, the Sooners rank 54th nationally with an average of 164.8 yards per game on the ground. Per carry, OU’s average of 4.09 yards ranks 75th in the nation.

Even OU’s successful rushing numbers have been deceptive. Wide receivers Jalil Farooq, Drake Stoops and Jaquaize Pettaway have rushed nine times for 52 yards. Gabriel (208 net yards rushing) leads the volume rushers at 4.8 yards per carry.

Meanwhile, running backs Tawee Walker (239 yards, 4.5 average), Marcus Major (226, 3.8), Jovantae Barnes (122, 4.4) and Gavin Sawchuk (45, 2.5) have carried the load out of the backfield with moderate results.

Barnes has been the biggest question mark. He had a surgical procedure on his foot in the spring and missed the second half of spring practice, and he hasn’t been able to become a steady contributor yet.

Venables said a month ago that Barnes was “not fully healthy” and didn’t know then “what the percentage would be,” but that the foot procedure was “just kind of (in) a funky spot.”

After rushing for 519 yards and five touchdowns as a true freshman last year (4.5 yards per carry), Barnes’ lack of participation has left the running back room lacking punch.

But Venables on Tuesday offered a sliver of hope that Barnes could return soon and become a regular contributor over the back half of the regular season.

“Possibly,” Venables said. “We’re hopeful. So we'll try and bring him along like the other guys.”

The 6-foot, 207-pound sophomore from Las Vegas had two 100-yard rushing performances last year as Eric Gray’s understudy. He’s a physical runner who said last month that he’s intent on becoming more elusive.

“Just one-on-one battles, making people miss — I feel like we can do better on that,” Barnes said in September. “Just breaking tackles.”

Barnes carried 13 times for 49 yards against Arkansas State, then got just two carries for 5 yards against SMU. His last game was against Tulsa in Week 3, when he rushed 13 times for 68 yards and a touchdown.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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