Brent Venables is preparing the Oklahoma Sooners to face off against Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.

Heupel is one of the best quarterbacks in Oklahoma football history, leading the Sooners’ to a national championship win in 2000, capping off an undefeated season.

During the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday leading up to Saturday’s matchup, Venables revealed a little-known fact that makes Heupel’s accomplishment as the Oklahoma QB even more impressive.

“You know in that 2000 season … many people probably on the outside don’t know this, he spent the back half of that year injured,” Venables said. “His throwing arm, his elbow was as big as a watermelon. It was swollen up the last 5 or 6 games.

“The way he managed that with his toughness was really incredible.”

Earlier this week, Venables admitted that he actually pushed former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops to recruit Akili Smith instead of Heupel as the quarterback. The Oklahoma coach noted that would have been the wrong decision, and Heupel went on to put together one of the best seasons in Sooners’ history.

On Saturday, Venables and the No. 15 Sooners are hoping to knock off the red-hot No. 6 Volunteers in a home matchup in Norman.

Heupel has tried to keep his legacy out of the storyline heading into the SEC clash, but it’s impossible to forget what he did for the Oklahoma football program.