Oklahoma offensive assistant Ben Tawwater diagnosed with cancer, Brent Venables reveals
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables announced on Monday on his coaches show that Sooners offensive assistant Ben Tawwater has been diagnosed with cancer.
Iowa State at home this past weekend, Tawwater was awarded a game ball for his services to the team. He is set to begin a six-week hospital stay as he begins treatment to combat his illness.
The diagnosis was made a few months ago, but only now is his condition being revealed.
Tawwater, a product out of Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma City, OK, walked onto the Sooners’ program in 2020 but never saw any game action. He transitioned to the student coaching ranks shortly after.
As the Sooners continue the season with Tawwater on their minds, No. 12 Oklahoma’s annual rivalry matchup against Texas is scheduled for this weekend.
Both programs are ranked and should prove to be way more competitive than the 49-0 Longhorn victory from last season. One of the biggest differences is the fact that Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel will be under center this time. He missed last season with an injury.
Through five games this season, the veteran quarterback has thrown for 1,593 yards, 15 touchdowns, and two interceptions. His accuracy has been on display as well with a completion percentage of 75.2% — well above his current career average of 62.8%.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said that he expects the best version of Gabriel this weekend and that the No. 3-ranked Longhorns won’t be overlooking Oklahoma after last season’s unicorn score.
“I’m sure they’re talking about last year’s game too,” Sarkisian said, via On3’s Griffin McVeigh. “So, we’re going to get an emotional team coming into the Cotton Bowl that we’re going to have to compete against. We just have to recognize that. And we have to play good football at the end of the day.
“Emotion is great and it only runs for so long. But if you rely on just emotion, sooner or later, you can exhaust yourself, and it’s going to come down to execution. We just got to make sure we’re dialed in.”
The opening kickoff between the Sooners and Longhorns is scheduled for this Saturday at Noon ET live on ABC inside the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Texas is a 6.5-point betting favorite, per Vegas Insider. The over/under total is set at 60.5.
