Oklahoma spent the bye week digging for answers, and Brent Venables made it clear the search had to go deeper than a surface-level fix.
“Like anything, when you’re not having the success you want, you’ve got to really peel it back,” Venables said Tuesday. “Cushions up, pull the curtains back, have a lot of, again, honest, tough conversations, too, about what we need to do moving forward.”
That kind of self-scouting comes with every open date, but this one feels especially urgent for the Sooners. Their offense has been stuck in the mud all season, and the numbers tell a brutal story: Oklahoma is 131st nationally in rushing yards per game, with only Cal, Stanford and Arkansas behind them among power conference teams. The Sooners also sit 127th in first downs per game, 120th in total offense, 109th in third-down offense and 109th in points per game.
In other words, not much has clicked.
The extra time last week was spent with the starting offense going against the starting defense, a chance to sort through the mess before a brutal run of eight games in eight weeks. That stretch starts Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 1 Texas.
“It felt like fall camp vibes again,” defensive end Taylor Wein said of squaring off against Oklahoma’s offensive line. “Going back to our fundamentals. They’re looking really good, they’re getting more healthy and establishing a DNA.”
This isn’t the first time Oklahoma has walked into a Red River week with offensive questions hanging over it. Two seasons ago, the Sooners reached the bye in the lead-up to the rivalry game scrambling for answers. Injuries had shredded the wide receiver room, Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr. had both failed to lock down the quarterback job, and the result was a 237-yard performance in a 34-3 loss to Texas.
The week after that was even uglier. Hawkins endured what was described as about as disastrous a start as could be drawn up in a 35-9 home loss to South Carolina, and Seth Littrell was fired as offensive coordinator. That opened the door for Ben Arbuckle to join Venables’ staff the next season.
Now Arbuckle is the one under the microscope.
“With the extra week, there’s a couple different roads that you could go down,” Arbuckle said. “You could definitely look at it as that: Are we gonna add a whole lot of new stuff? Or are we going to dissect what we’ve been really good at and try to build off that and then maybe build off what we’ve struggled with to try and get better at it?”
He wasn’t tipping his hand, but the message was plain enough: the Sooners aren’t about to rip up the playbook. Still, little tweaks and a few surprise wrinkles won’t be enough by themselves.
If Oklahoma is going to push Texas and survive the rest of the SEC slate, the offense has to get a lot better at the basics - blocking, running the ball and protecting it. That part isn’t subtle, and Venables knows it.
“We’ve been under a lot of pressure,” Venables said. “We need to apply the pressure and get back to what I know we’re capable of, offensively speaking.
Everybody took the opportunity to improve, get better, gain some confidence through the week. And we’re getting there.”
In Other News...
Brent Venables Is Standing By Oklahoma's Embattled Play Caller
Ben Arbuckle has taken the heat for Oklahomas recent offensive struggles, and the noise around him has only grown louder after three straight underwhelming showings. Fans have not been shy about their frustration with the production, and the conversation has spilled beyond the usual game-day griping into something more pointed, with polls showing a sizable chunk of the fan base would rather see Lincoln Riley back in charge of the offense.
Brent Venables, though, is not feeding that fire. The Oklahoma coach is standing by his offensive coordinator and making it clear he believes Arbuckle can get the unit turned around, even as the criticism keeps building. For a program that expects better on that side of the ball, the question now is whether Venables confidence becomes a stabilizing force or just the latest test of patience for a restless fan base. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Fans Need To Know This Before Red River Weekend
The annual Red River showdown returns Oct. 10 at Cotton Bowl Stadium during the State Fair of Texas, and for Sooners fans heading to Dallas, the game-day experience will start well before kickoff. With the fair grounds packed and the rivalry atmosphere in full force, Oklahoma supporters are being urged to arrive early and plan ahead, especially with parking and transportation expected to be part of the pregame challenge.
Safety and security will also be front and center, with a clear bag policy in effect and screening at entry points for everyone coming through. Fans making the trip can also expect the broader fair-week atmosphere to be in play, including live SEC Network shows during the fair, which should only add to the pageantry around one of the most recognizable games on the Sooners calendar. [Read more 🡒]
Red River Shootout Could Expose Whether Texas Is Really No. 1
The Red River Shootout arrives with Texas carrying the look of a heavyweight, at least on paper, and the SP+ model leans that way too. It projects the Longhorns to win 27-17 and gives them a 73 percent chance of leaving Dallas with another statement victory, which sets up a useful measuring stick for a Texas team trying to justify its top billing.
For Oklahoma, the game offers more than rivalry bragging rights. The Sooners have built their case around a defense that has quietly ranked among the nations best, and this matchup will tell a lot about how well that unit holds up against Arch Manning and a Texas offense still trying to prove it can consistently match elite expectations. If the Longhorns look the part again, the rest of the sport may have to keep treating them like the real No. 1. [Read more 🡒]