Lloyd Avant left Oklahoma’s 17-10 loss to Michigan with a steady message and the kind of outlook teams lean on after a setback: keep moving, fix the mistakes, and trust the process.
After Monday practice, the transfer back said the Sooners were approaching the week with a clear goal.
"(We're) coming out with the attitude that we’re going to fix everything," Avant said. "It’s going to be okay.
You know who’s going to be around you through adversity. So coming after the game, seeing that we had that adversity, and just come out, proving ourself right.
We’re going to come out, fix what we had wrong and just keep going with it."
That attitude fits a team trying to shake off a loss that has already sparked plenty of discussion about Oklahoma’s offensive approach. Ben Arbuckle’s game plan against Michigan has been a major talking point, and Brent Venables has also taken aim at both the play calling and the execution in the days since, including on various coaches shows.
A big chunk of that criticism has centered on the Sooners not leaning hard enough on the run. Avant’s final line - nine carries for 35 yards, or 3.9 yards per carry - doesn’t jump off the page, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He looked more settled than the stat sheet suggests, averaging 4.2 yards per carry at halftime and ripping off runs of seven, eight, and a game-high 11 yards.
Still, Oklahoma shifted away from him and toward John Mateer, who, at least from the outside, looked far too much like the injured quarterback from a year ago.
Avant, though, pushed back on the idea that Arbuckle abandoned the ground game.
"I was in rhythm," Avant said. "Coach put me in the best position possible.
When he was going out there, putting the plays in, I was just in rhythm, doing whatever was asked for. Doing what I was asked to do, and doing it 100% of my capability."
There was no frustration in Avant’s voice, either. He said the lack of additional carries didn’t bother him.
"It wasn’t frustrating (not getting more carries)," Avant said. "Coach is going to put us in the best position possible.
We just have to go out there and execute until the whistle. Just go out there and do what the coaches told us to do."
For Oklahoma, the takeaway is simple: the Sooners still have work to do, and Avant sounds ready to do his part when the ball comes his way.
In Other News...
Michael Hawkins Jr. Is Making Oklahomas QB Problem Even Harder To Ignore
Michael Hawkins Jr. has made an immediate impression since leaving Oklahoma for West Virginia, piling up productive rushing games against Coastal Carolina and UT Martin and showing the kind of dual-threat burst that once made him an intriguing option in Norman. For Oklahoma fans still watching from afar, it is a familiar sort of frustration: the former Sooner is finding his footing somewhere else, while the quarterback situation back home remains under a microscope.
John Mateer is still holding the starting job, but that has not quieted the debate around Oklahomas offense. The criticism has grown around his play, and with little proven depth behind him, the Sooners do not have many easy answers if they want a different look under center. Hawkins early success only sharpens the contrast between two quarterbacks with different styles, and it leaves Oklahoma trying to balance patience with a problem it cannot really ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma May Have Found Its Answer In The Backfield
Oklahomas early-season rushing issues have left Brent Venables searching for a steadier answer in the backfield, and Tory Blaylock is starting to re-enter that conversation. After missing the opener with a hamstring injury, the running back made his season debut recently, and Venables said Blaylock is now fully healthy and back in the mix for playing time.
For a Sooners offense that has needed more push on the ground, Blaylocks return gives the staff another option to lean on as the schedule tightens. His availability matters not just because of what he can add individually, but because Oklahoma has been looking for someone to help settle the run game into something more dependable. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Offense Has One Problem Ben Arbuckle Knows He Must Fix
Ben Arbuckle didnt spend much time softening the edges of Oklahomas loss to Michigan. The Sooners offensive coordinator sounded frustrated while taking stock of what went wrong, and his message was pointed in the way good postgame self-scouts usually are: coaches and players alike have to own it, because the tape showed too many missed chances and too little consistency in the things that were supposed to travel.
John Mateers performance, Arbuckle said, was uneven, but he stopped well short of putting the burden on the quarterback alone. The bigger issues, from Oklahomas perspective, still circle back to execution, a rushing attack that has to become more reliable, and an offensive line that needs to settle in. Arbuckle also hinted at possible adjustments to help Mateer, including more designed runs, as the Sooners try to find answers before the next test. [Read more 🡒]