Oct. 27—As a four-star recruit coming out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it didn’t take long for players and coaches to start seeing the potential in true freshman R Mason Thomas.

At 6-2, and an undersized 222 pounds, coaches spoke highly of Thomas’ quick burst and athleticism as a pass rusher during fall camp. Thomas became an immediate contributor on the Sooners’ defensive line, playing in each of the Sooners’ first two games of the season.

In the season opener, Thomas made two tackles including a sack, but went down with a hamstring injury the following week. After a promising start, the Sooners’ defensive end was sidelined for just under a month before returning to action against Texas.

Thomas recorded two tackles in his return and had another the following week against Kansas.

Now coming off the bye week, the true freshman said he’s “getting close” to being back to being fully healthy.

“It helped me to rest, rejuvenate,” Thomas said. “Shoot, I knew I was sore last week so it really got me healthier. My injury got a little better, getting back to 100 percent. So looking at Iowa State’s offense and just their overall team was really good. “

Thomas is already pretty familiar with the Sooners’ next opponent.

Less than a year ago, it seemed like Thomas would enter this matchup wearing cardinal and gold before flipping his commitment from Iowa State to Oklahoma.

“Iowa State is a great team, a great culture,” he said. “When they recruited me, they were a great program and a great team when we go against them. They’re a tough team, especially all of their losses they had were by a total of 14 points. They lost by a few points, so they’re a really tough team to go against this week.”

Thomas’ return to health couldn’t have come for a better time for a Sooners’ pass rush that’s struggled in recent weeks.

The Sooners were fourth in the country in total sacks through the first three games of the season (13) and have had just two in the five games since. They’re now tied for 58th in the country in that category and have just 11 quarterback hurries since their 3-0 start.

“He’s got a light inside of him that is really special,” OU head coach Brent Venables said. “Amazing young man. He’s a winner. Of course, he missed almost a month because of a hamstring injury. He’s wide open. He’s full tilt. He’s all the way on go every day. You have to slow him down.”

Iowa State enters the game ranked third in the conference in sacks allowed, allowing just over two per game.

The Sooners’ inability to put consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks has put more pressure on a secondary that’s dealing with injuries of their own. Billy Bowman and Damond Harmon each went down with injuries during the Sooners’ loss to TCU and haven’t seen action since.

Oklahoma ranks sixth in the conference in passing yards allowed during conference play and will be facing an Iowa State offense that features the Big 12’s top receiver in Xavier Hutchinson.

Hutchinson’s 67 receptions during conference play are 21 more than the next highest receiver and also ranks first in receiving yards with 758.

“They don’t beat themselves,” Venables said. “They stay on schedule. A lot of teams, a lot of their games you see a lot of the third-and-two to four, two to fives, where you’ve gotta be efficient on those down and distances to get off the field. It’s a real challenge.”