Oklahoma went into this season expecting its offense to take a step forward with Ben Arbuckle calling plays and John Mateer back healthy at quarterback. Two games in, that jump still hasn’t shown up.
The Sooners’ 17-10 loss at Michigan laid bare the same problems that haunted them a year ago: shaky quarterback play, little rhythm and almost no run game. Oklahoma managed just two scoring drives in 11 possessions in Ann Arbor, and the offense once again looked like a unit searching for something it can trust.
Brent Venables didn’t sugarcoat it on his coach’s show this week.
"We didn't make the layups, there's lots of layups there an easy access throws that help the offense stay on schedule so you can have good balance in what you're doing," Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said this week on his coach's show. "We can't miss those layups, playing against anybody, let alone good teams on the road.
Offensive football is very rhythmic and we didn't take what was there. That's frustrating.
"It's one thing if they've got you covered up and our play designs aren't there and they're just better than you, but that certainly wasn't the case."
That’s the crux of it: Oklahoma isn’t getting beat because the defense is simply overwhelming the plan. The Sooners are leaving plays on the field, and that’s a dangerous place to be with Georgia and Texas coming up to open SEC play. After the loss, Oklahoma dropped 11 spots to No. 21 in the AP Top 25.
The broader numbers are even more troubling. Across the Sooners’ last 11 games against Power Four opponents dating back to last season, Arbuckle’s first year as offensive coordinator, Oklahoma has scored touchdowns on only 24 of 124 possessions.
That count excludes end-of-half situations and kneel downs. Fifty-eight of those drives ended in punts, and 14 ended with turnovers.
Mateer’s night against Michigan fit the larger pattern. He finished 17-of-33 for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and the turnover came in the fourth quarter before Michigan’s go-ahead touchdown with 7:53 remaining. Oklahoma had three possessions over the final eight minutes and gained just 40 yards on 13 plays.
There was also a key miss late, when Mateer went deep to tight end Rocky Beers in double coverage even though Elijah Thomas had gotten open underneath across the middle. Mateer never got to the other read.
He knows the standard is higher than what he showed.
"I'll make it happen," Mateer said. "I don't have a choice.
This team needs me. This university needs me.
I have to do it. I believe I will"
The Sooners did string together touchdown drives of 83 and 90 yards to open the second half against Michigan, but those have been the exception rather than the rule. Oklahoma finished 3-for-13 on third down, produced 289 total yards and got only 44 rushing yards on 14 carries from its running backs.
Venables said the offense has to get cleaner and tougher in the basics.
"We've got to be much more efficient, stay ahead of the chains," Venables said. "Our personnel, our execution, our fundamentals ... striking blocks, being more violent.
Those are all things that we have to be very thoughtful of offensively. Those are things that help you win in all three phases of the game, but on offense in particular, we're very inconsistent in doing those things."
Mateer’s completion rate against Michigan was 51.5 percent, his second-worst mark with Oklahoma, and Venables said the quarterback still has his support.
"He's got to focus on the things that he can control, and we got to focus on the things that we can control and find the ways - use them with the magnifying glass the right way to find out how we can get better," Venables said. "And I know he'll do that, and we'll do that."
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's Run Game Debate Just Got A Telling Player Response
After Oklahomas loss to Michigan, the conversation around the Sooners run game quickly shifted from production to philosophy, with plenty of heat aimed at the game plan and play calling. One of the transfers in the backfield, Avant, offered a more measured read on how it all unfolded, saying he felt in rhythm during the game and believed the coach put him in the best position possible even if the workload did not look like many around the program expected.
Avants response matters because it cuts against the growing criticism and gives a glimpse at how the backfield is processing a performance that left plenty of questions behind. For Oklahoma, the issue is not just whether the offense can run the ball better, but how much of the frustration comes from execution and how much comes from the way the staff is choosing to use its backs, a debate that is only going to get louder if the ground game keeps looking this way. [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 🡒]