Brent Venables reveals Danny Stutsman played through illness

It was hard to tell with the way he played, but Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman wasn’t at full strength for last weekend’s game against BYU.

Sooners head coach Brent Venables revealed after the game that Stutsman was battling an illness leading up to kickoff. Venables wasn’t sure the leader of his defense was going to be able to suit up, but Stutsman insisted on playing.

He ended up playing a big role in Oklahoma earning a 31-24 victory.

“Danny, I think he had 10-plus tackles. He’s on IVs, literally. I didn’t think he was going to play, but he said he was going to no matter what,” Brent Venables said. “I think he had a little bit of flu bug and was really sick all day [Friday] and [Saturday] morning. He wasn’t able to join us for much of anything. He’s like, ‘my butt’s playing.’ … But that’s what you love, and what everybody loves about Danny.”

Danny Stutsman finished the game with a team-high 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. The Oklahoma defense was far from perfect, allowing nearly 400 yards of offense. But Stutsman and the Sooners played well enough to get the win.

“This is a team that likes to play. They like to compete. We don’t always coach them perfect. We’ve got a lot to get better at. We had several false start penalties today, but we did take care of the football – difference in the game. And again, the defense continued to fight,” Venables said. “They’ve played pretty dang good on the season, so this is one of those moments where if they’re not prepared for the worst case scenario mentally and physically, they don’t have good leadership, things could go south there in the second half.”

The two teams went back and forth all day, and the score was tied at 24 entering the fourth quarter.

However, Oklahoma came up with enough big plays late to find a way to win. Venables credits his team’s leadership for helping the Sooners come out on top. Stutsman is a big part of that.

“They responded like you would want them to, like a champion would do, and a group of guys that are highly, highly invested,” Venables said. “They care about each other, they care about their opportunity and they care about the product they put out on the field.”

Oklahoma will finish the regular season on Friday as the Sooners will host TCU at Noon.