On an afternoon everyone wanted to see how Michael Hawkins Jr. and OU would play in its Red River tuneup, nothing mattered as much as Keontez Lewis’ well-being.
NORMAN — Keontez Lewis crashed into the brick wall behind the end zone so hard that the collision could be heard in the press box.
It was felt throughout the stadium.
When the OU football receiver went full speed after a too-long pass early in the first quarter of Saturday's game against Kent State, he ended up slamming head and shoulders first into the wall that surrounds Owen Field. There was no padding in that area. No slowing down or bracing for impact either.
Lewis crumpled onto his side and into the fetal position. The only movement was his labored breathing.
Felt like that was the only movement in the stadium, too. Everything stopped. Everyone froze.
Except for the OU medical staff and Sooner coach Brent Venables. All of them sprinted across the field toward Lewis, a normal reaction for the medical personnel but not for a head coach. Rare is the injury that prompts a head coach to take off across the field.
But Venables sensed this one might be different.
“You’re dang right,” Venables said. “I was very concerned.”
On an afternoon when everyone wanted to see how Michael Hawkins Jr. would fare replacing an injured John Mateer at quarterback and how the Sooners would play in their final tune-up before the Red River Rivalry — OU 44, Kent State 0 — nothing mattered nearly as much as Lewis’ well-being.
OU announced during the second half that testing done on Lewis at the stadium had been promising but that he had been taken off-site for additional testing.
OU’s radio crew also reported that Lewis was walking around the training room.
Some of his teammates even saw him in the locker room at halftime.
“It was good to see him, to know that he’s all right,” Sooner receiver Isaiah Sategna III said.
The incident could’ve ended so much worse, and while nothing might’ve kept Lewis from being injured, the entire length of the walls behind both end zones should be padded. The wall is only about 5 yards from the back of the end zone, providing limited space for sprinting players to slow down.
The corners are padded, but as the Lewis play showed, those areas aren’t the only places where a collision could happen.
“We’re evaluating all options when it comes to the safety of our players and will make things safer,” Venables said.
Here’s guessing that by the time OU plays again at home — Oct. 25 vs. Ole Miss — there will be padding the entire length of the wall.
After all, no one wants to see a repeat of what happened with Lewis.
Satenga, who was on the field when Lewis went into the wall, was the first Sooner to reach him. The two transfers arrived at OU together earlier this year, their shared moves and positions creating a bond.
Sategna sprinted to Lewis, knowing his teammate would’ve done the same if it had been him lying on the ground.
Still, Sategna was unsure what state Lewis would be in.
“I was thinking maybe it was his head,” Sategna told me. “But you didn’t know.
“It obviously wasn’t easy seeing him laying on the ground.”
As trainers and doctors surrounded Lewis, Sategna backed up to give them room, but he never left. He stayed there behind the end zone the entire time, not moving more than a few feet from Lewis.
The whole time, Sategna prayed.
After the team’s medical staff was joined by on-site paramedics, they eventually rolled Lewis onto his back.
“He was alert,” Venables said. “He was in some pain in his back … but I mean, he was going full speed and ran into the wall.
“It's kind of like probably being in a car wreck, I would guess.”
Venables listened as the others asked Lewis questions.
“My head’s fine,” Venables remembers him saying. “My legs are fine.”
The coach’s concern slowly turned to gratitude.
“I was thankful because it appeared that, all things considered, he was OK,” Venables said.
Lewis was strapped onto a backboard, and eventually, a cart came onto Owen Field. More than 10 minutes after Lewis crashed into the wall, he was loaded onto the cart.
The rest of his teammates rushed to the cart.
Hawkins was one of the first ones at Lewis’ side. It had been Hawkins’ pass, a bit too juiced, that Lewis was trying to track down, and Hawkins tapped him on the shoulder pad a few times.
Hawkins told Lewis that he loved him, that he’d get a win for him.
Who knows what to say in a moment like that, the likes of which had never been seen on Owen Field?
Over the past quarter of a century, I’ve seen a lot of football games at OU. I don’t remember anything as scary as the Lewis injury. There have been ugly injuries. Bad ones, too. But nothing that scary.
Legendary OU football historian Mike Brooks told me he doesn’t recall anything quite like Lewis’ injury either. Not on Owen Field anyway.
A couple of years ago, Sooner defensive back Damond Harmon suffered a scary injury while making a tackle at TCU. He was stretchered off the field after more than 10 minutes and later said he couldn’t feel the right side of his body for a time.
Harmon was diagnosed with a concussion that sidelined him for a month.
Everything froze that day in Fort Worth just like it froze Saturday in Norman.
Even though all signs thankfully point to a full recovery for Lewis — what a story it will be if he returns to action this season — it's more than OK to acknowledge that what we saw and heard and felt was shocking. Scary, too.
“I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” Sategna said, “so it kind of shook me up a little bit.”
Same, Isaiah.
Same.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Keontez Lewis injury shakes up OU football in scary play vs Kent State
Category: General Sports
