It was a scary scene Saturday when Oklahoma wide receiver Keontez Lewis crashed headfirst into the brick wall behind the end zone at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, and the first thought from most watching was that it could have been prevented.
After hinting at the possibility after the No. 6 Sooners' 44-0 win against Kent State on Saturday, OU head coach Brent Venables said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday that he believes OU plans on adding padding to that brick barrier behind the end zone to prevent an incident like that from happening again.
Brent Venables says padding will be added to brick wall
"I think they're putting some padding," Venables said. "I don't know exactly when or how much and all that, but I think they're going to put some padding around that brick area where we're vulnerable."
On just the second play of the game, Lewis dove straight into the brick wall while trying to chase down an overthrown ball. He was down for over 10 minutes before being carted off the field while surrounded by concerned teammates. Fortunately, Lewis was not injured as seriously as things first seemed.
"Thank goodness, right," OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. "I mean that was a scary situation I think for everyone in that stadium and it kind of made my heart stop for a little bit just because of how much I enjoy being around Keontez, how much I love Keontez and the type of kid that he is and thinking about everything that he has in his personal life, too. I mean, that was a really scary situation.
"It was great to see him walk into the building the next day. He had a smile on his face. He has to do the proper protocol with the training staff and everything, but Keontez Lewis, what a great kid. Thank goodness that he's alright and whenever he's ready to play, he'll be ready to play, but I don't know when that is."
The Sooners will be in Dallas this weekend for the Red River Rivalry, then travel to South Carolina the next weekend, so OU has three weeks between games before the Sooners return to play Ole Miss on Oct. 25 at Memorial Stadium.