Jacob Lacey’s journey from battling blood clots to earning first OU sack

Jacob Lacey planted his hand in the turf as the crowd roared with 2:37 remaining in the fourth quarter during the Red River Rivalry.

Finally it was his chance to make a play, and the redshirt senior defensive lineman did just that.

Once the ball was snapped, Lacey bulldozed past Texas’ offensive line and clobbered Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers in the backfield for a game-changing sack. UT head coach Steve Sarkisian was complementary of Lacey’s play following the contest, noting it as one of the most pivotal moments in OU’s win.

“We were trying to make sure we had the last possession,” Sarkisian said. “We had called a (run pass option), we were blocking the run, Quinn was getting ready to throw an RPO and the guy made the sack. At that point, it put us in a third and long with about a minute left. I wanted to ensure we were in good field goal range … so we ran the ball there on third down.

“The mindset shifted on one play.”

While the sack aided OU’s eventual 34-30 win over UT two weeks ago, the play was a much bigger moment for the Notre Dame transfer, who suffered from blood clots this offseason.

Lacey suspected something might be wrong after his leg started hurting following a workout this spring, but he thought it was the usual aches and pains that come with training. Once he hopped on a plane ride back to South Bend, Indiana, to see his friend’s graduation, however, things took a turn for the worse as he was struggling to breath and started coughing up blood.

At 3 a.m., he rushed to the hospital before health professionals told him “You shouldn’t be alive right now” and “You won’t play football ever again.” The words were jarring for Lacey, who was hoping to make an instant impact on OU’s defensive line after transferring months before.

Despite the diagnosis from health professionals, Lacey pressed on and eventually was cleared before the first regular season game.

“I was doing everything I could,” Lacey said on Monday. “I was working out at the apartment gym all by myself, keeping the lungs up and everything like that. … That Tuesday before the first game I was cleared. Something that allowed me to play so fast was staying locked in, staying engaged and taking notes.”

After learning of the injury, Venables was hesitant to include him in the Sooners master plan for the 2023 season. He said, due to Lacey’s relentless work ethic, the redshirt senior defensive lineman was able to make a speedy return to OU’s defensive rotation.

Since then, Lacey has made an instant impact on OU’s defensive front. The Bowling Green, Kentucky, native has garnered 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack during the 2023 season.

He hopes to add to OU’s pass rush, which currently has 14 sacks and 19 quarterback hits this season.

“It was scary, really scary,” Venables said. “I’m just thankful that under the circumstances, that he was diagnosed and went through the right protocols to get him healthy and fortunately for him, and for us from a football standpoint, it was the best case scenario when it comes to a blood clot.

“To his credit, he stayed active in all the right ways on his own, and I probably don’t know half of it. But he stayed fresh and up. He was at every walkthrough or practice and things of that nature to be around his teammates. And so I think all those things helped him from a transition standpoint, getting back into the flow of things where it didn’t take him as long as potentially could have (after the diagnosis).”

Defending a potent offense

Gus Malzahn has developed a reputation for keeping a few tricks up his sleeve, which Venables is well aware of. In fact, it’s something he praised the UCF coach for implementing into his gameplan.

“​​I think for the good coaches, deception is part of the game,” Venables said. “I think it’s always a good thing on both sides of the ball. That’s a good part of strategy.

“They double pass, they throw back to the quarterback, we had the fumblerooski, you’re going to get the jet pass, all of those things to slow your aggression down and to manipulate you. We try to work on that every single week as part of our normal (routine) even if they don’t do it.”

Venables noted the steps OU is taking to prepare not only for Malzahn’s Knights, but for the following week against Kansas, another team known for offensive trickery.

The Sooners have worked each week on defending obscure plays, but the verdict is still out on their ability to stop them during games.

“We’ve had our moments like (against) Cincinnati, where we didn’t play the screen and go well,” Venables said. “And then we’ve had games like SMU where we defended a lot of trick plays, from fumblerooski to reverse, reverse pass, flea flicker, all those things.”

OU’s defense, which has allowed a Big 12-best 14 points per game through six contests, will have its hands full with the Knights’ offense. UCF leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally with 516.7 yards per game and third nationally with 246.3 rushing yards per game.

“They’ve been fantastic,” Venables said of UCF’s offense. “They’ve protected the quarterback, they’re running their system very well. Whether it’s double teams, the zone game, the gap schemes, Wildcat, protecting the quarterback, they’re doing a great job. They’ve got great cohesion, their experience shows with the consistency that they’re playing at.

“Probably the best (compliment) and the one coaches want to see is the consistency. … They know how to target you. They know how to handle the different looks and things of that nature. They’re playing in a very cohesive way.”

They’ve done all that without their starting quarterback, senior John Rhys Plumlee, for most of the past four games. Rhys Plumlee will attempt to play his first full game since Sept. 9 when the Sooners face the Knights at 11 a.m. Saturday in Norman on ABC.

Injury updates

Venables provided an update on a few injuries ahead of Oklahoma’s matchup with UCF.

Following his comments on a recent podcast regarding redshirt senior offensive lineman McKade Mettauer, who was carted off the field with an injury during the Sooners’ win over Texas, missing “a week or so, or a couple weeks,” Venables said Tuesday he expects a rotation at right guard.

“You’ll see all of them,” Venables said, referring to redshirt sophomores Savion Byrd and Troy Everett, freshman Cayden Green and redshirt senior Caleb Shaffer. Venables confirmed Byrd, who dealt with an undisclosed injury earlier this season, will be available.

Another player who hasn’t been fully healthy for OU this season is sophomore running back Jovantae Barnes. A consensus four-star recruit in Oklahoma’s 2022 recruiting class, Barnes was expected to start in 2023 but hasn’t been able to get healthy.

Venables says he’s hopeful Barnes will be able to contribute during the second half of the season.

The Sooners’ head coach also said freshman cornerbacks Makari Vickers and Jasiah Wagoner, as well as redshirt sophomore Kani Walker will be available at 11 a.m. Saturday vs. the Knights in Norman.

“We’re pretty healthy there now,” Venables said. “I feel much better (about our cornerbacks).”