NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma’s offense keeps dragging the Sooners back into the same conversation, and Saturday’s 42-25 loss to South Carolina only sharpened the issue Brent Venables has to solve before this season is over.
The boos at home were part of the picture. So were the stalled drives, the lack of a run game and the familiar frustration that has followed Oklahoma through much of this fall. Since the win over top-ranked Texas in the Red River game to open October, the offense has slipped right back into the same rut that has defined too many stretches of the season.
That leaves Venables with a hard question: what exactly does Oklahoma want to be on offense under coordinator Ben Arbuckle?
The Sooners are 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the SEC after the loss, and they’re only one game over .500 in conference play under Venables at 20-19. Without a strong finish, they’re staring at a third losing season in five years.
Against South Carolina, the first half told the story fast. Oklahoma had no real rushing threat early, and quarterback John Mateer went 7 of 12 for 25 yards before halftime.
Most of those throws were short perimeter looks, with nothing getting into the second level. By intermission, the Sooners had more penalty yards than offensive yards and were trailing 28-10.
Their only score before the break came on Kip Lewis’ interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Venables left the field talking about execution and explosive plays, which has become a familiar refrain. He hired Arbuckle after the 2024 season to jump-start the offense, and Arbuckle brought Mateer with him from Washington State to lead it. But the return on that pairing has faded.
Oklahoma did make the College Football Playoff last season, but the offense was uneven even then, with the defense carrying most of the load. Down the stretch in November, the Sooners had 47 offensive possessions over four games before the CFP first round.
Twenty-five ended in punts, five in turnovers and one on downs. Nine possessions ended with field goals and seven with touchdowns, but only two of those touchdown drives lasted five or more plays.
The same problems have shown up again this fall. Oklahoma came into Saturday last in the SEC in total offense and rushing offense, and 15th in scoring offense - worse than last season. According to TruMedia, the Sooners’ three-and-out rate was 34.1% entering the game, which ranked 120th nationally.
“It ain't changing,” Oklahoma grad and analyst Dari Nowkah said at halftime from the SEC Network set. “You'll see No. 10 trot back out there. That's been the story every game of John Mateer's career; there are opportunities, they're just not being discovered.”
The offense has had scattered flashes, but not enough of them. Oklahoma scored 13 points in a loss to Kentucky two weeks ago, settled for field goals after red-zone stalls in a 23-15 win at Mississippi State in Week 8, and didn’t find any real rhythm against South Carolina until the game was already out of reach and the Gamecocks were playing backups.
The late push made the final numbers look better than the game felt. Oklahoma scored three points across its first eight offensive possessions, then got a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Mateer to Ivan Carreon, his first scores of the season. Mateer finished 26 of 43 for 244 yards, but much of that came after the outcome had already been decided.
Looking ahead, the roster picture only makes the pressure sharper. Unless Oklahoma lands a major quarterback addition in the transfer portal for 2027, the Sooners are headed toward an offseason with two true freshmen, senior Whitt Newbauer and sophomore Bowe Bentley among the options. Newbauer and Bentley have combined for two passing attempts this season.
That makes it hard for Venables to ask the fan base for another offseason of patience. Arbuckle is in the second season of a three-year deal as play-caller, and the scheme has shown some openings. The problem is that the execution keeps breaking down, and the Sooners still haven’t settled on an offensive identity.
Venables knows what a championship defense looks like. He coached plenty of them at Clemson and had one last season in Norman. Now he has to make the offense fit with the rest of the program instead of leaving the defense to carry the load every week.
Running this back in 2027 and expecting a surge offensively isn’t going to work, unless Oklahoma lands a quarterback who can execute what’s called or Arbuckle takes an identity first mindset into the offseason and hammers it home with the players.
In Other News...
Oklahomas Offensive Collapse Just Raised A Bigger Brent Venables Question
Oklahomas offense never found its footing in the 42-25 loss to South Carolina, and the frustration around the program only deepened as the game wore on. The Sooners were outplayed by a Gamecocks team led by LaNorris Sellers, who carved up the defense through the air and on the ground in one of the more complete performances Oklahoma has faced this season.
Brent Venables was left to answer for the result afterward, but he declined to get into any possible coaching changes in the wake of the defeat. With the offense sputtering and the margin for error shrinking, the bigger concern now is whether this was just a bad night or a sign that Oklahomas issues run much deeper than one loss. [Read more 🡒]
Boganowski Sends Oklahoma A Blunt Message After Defensive Collapse
Michael Boganowski had a milestone moment in Oklahomas 42-25 loss to South Carolina, picking off his first pass as a defensive back, but the play was buried in a rough afternoon for the Sooners defense. The unit missed a season-high 27 tackles and gave up multiple long touchdown passes, turning a breakthrough individual moment into a footnote in a game that slipped away.
Boganowski didnt try to soften the bigger picture afterward, pointing to the defenses poor execution and the need to clean it up quickly with more games ahead. For Oklahoma, the interception offered a small bright spot, but the larger concern is whether the Sooners can turn that kind of effort into something more reliable before the next test arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Fans Turned On The Offense As Pressure Mounted Fast
The frustration inside Norman showed up early and never really let go, as Oklahomas offense spent much of the afternoon searching for answers in a 42-25 home loss to South Carolina. The Sooners were booed by their own fans as the pressure mounted, a sharp turn for a team that had hoped to steady itself at home after a rough stretch. John Mateer finished 26 of 43 for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but the production never fully matched the urgency of the moment.
South Carolinas LaNorris Sellers kept the game moving in the other direction, making plays as both a passer and runner while Oklahoma tried to keep pace. The loss marked the Sooners second straight home defeat for the first time since 2024, a troubling note for a team still trying to find its footing in front of its own crowd. The schedule does not offer much breathing room either, with Florida up next on Nov. 7. [Read more 🡒]