SOONER WIRE - The Oklahoma Sooners will look to win their second straight game on Saturday, as they’ll visit the Missouri Tigers. OU defeated Maine last week, with several true freshmen getting plenty of snaps in a blowout win over an FCS foe.

This week, it’s back to the SEC grind for Brent Venables’ squad, as Oklahoma looks to reach bowl eligibility. With plenty of injuries still hampering the Sooners, it could be another opportunity for some young players to step into the spotlight on the road.

Brent Venables also mentioned that wide receivers Deion Burks and Jalil Farooq could return for the Sooners when they make the trip to Columbia to take on old Big 8 and Big 12 foe Missouri.

Speaking with the media on Tuesday night, Jackson Arnold was a little more emphatic, saying, “I feel like on the field, you have two explosive guys coming back that are key pieces to our offense.”

He went on to talk about the confidence it gives the Sooners offense to have the two leaders on the field. Burks and Farooq should open the field for the offense. Burks in the slot and Farooq outside give the Sooners two dynamic playmakers that can make life a lot easier for Arnold and the offense.

Farooq was injured on the first series of the season. He broke his foot and required surgery. Burks went down in the loss to Tennessee. With both possibly returning this week and with what the Sooners have shown on offense the last couple of weeks, the offense might be coming together with three games remaining.

Now, here are three freshmen

to keep your eye on when Oklahoma takes on Missouri.

1. Xavier Robinson, RB

Running back Xavier Robinson was impressive last week against the Black Bears. He was playing in mop-up duty against lesser competition, but his physicality and burst has some clamoring to see what he can do at the highest level.

Robinson is a local talent from Carl Albert High School in Oklahoma, and he’s been buried on the depth chart behind Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, and others. No one is saying he should surpass Barnes or Tatum, but it’d be interesting to see what he can do if given the chance to get more work.

2. Reggie Powers III, DB

Each of the past two weeks, I’ve included one of OU’s freshmen trio of defensive backs in this piece. This week, Reggie Powers III gets the nod. He, along with Jaydan Hardy and Michael Boganowski make up an exciting future at safety for Oklahoma’s defense. They’re all playing more and more as the season moves along.

Powers had a beautiful interception in the fourth quarter last week that was wiped off the board due to a roughing the passer penalty. He’s been solid on special teams and could certainly see more snaps as the Sooners try to cover up some of their deficiencies at cornerback.

We’ll go out of the box a little for this third one. Everyone knows about OU’s wide receiver injuries in 2024. And everyone knows about the various levels of impact true freshmen wideouts like Jacob Jordan, Zion Kearney, and Zion Ragins have had in their place.

But another guy who has gotten a bit of playing time is Ivan Carreon. He’s got the most size of the group at 6-foot-6, and is a good blocker on the outside. He’s caught a couple of passes this season, but could be in line for some more targets if the Sooners have bad injury luck at wideout again this week. He followed Emmett Jones from Texas Tech, decommitting from the Red Raiders to come to Norman.

Oklahoma vs. Missouri will kick off on SEC Network at 6:45 p.m. from Columbia, Missouri.

3. Ivan Carreon, WR

X