Oklahoma spent most of Saturday night looking like the better team, only to watch the game slip away when its offensive line could no longer hold up.
The Sooners dropped a 21-13 decision to No. 17 Kentucky at Owen Field, a loss that pushed them to 3-3 and laid bare the same issue that keeps resurfacing: the line simply didn’t have enough healthy bodies to survive the finish. OU outgained the Wildcats 346-230, but that edge didn’t matter once the fourth quarter arrived and the protection broke down.
The turning point came with one of the Sooners’ linemen already laboring. Around the middle of the third quarter, Ryan Fodje was hurt, limped off in obvious pain and got his right leg re-taped on the sideline before returning.
He was still out there because Oklahoma was already short-handed, with Michael Fasusi, Heath Ozaeta and Eddy Pierre-Louis all injured. Fodje had been working out of position on a patchwork line, and when the game tightened late, it showed.
Early in the fourth quarter, he allowed two sacks on a drive that should have been a chance to seize control.
Eventually, OU pulled him and moved Peyton Joseph to left tackle. Then Joseph went down too.
Brent Venables didn’t want to declare the line a total collapse, even after the late-game unraveling in front of 83,218 fans on Owen Field, a week after Oklahoma’s win over Texas.
“I'll have to go back and watch the tape,” Venables said when asked if the offensive line fell apart in the fourth quarter. “To say falling apart, that's - I don't think I would use that word at all.”
That was a softer tone than the one Venables used during the week before the Red River Rivalry, when he called the group “inconsistent and “embarassing.” Saturday, he pointed to both the injuries and the fight the Sooners showed.
“There is plenty that was good,” Venables said, “that you’re going to be able to build on and get better from. I have great appreciation for the fight.
We threw, for the most part, from good, clean pockets. We did have some success running the ball at times, and I thought they did some really good things.
“There’s some times we have to get rid of the ball and not take the sacks as well. Sometimes that’s not on them; we’re holding it too long. I need to go back and watch the tape to be able to get a really good assessment, but I thought there were some good things.”
John Mateer’s night followed the same pattern as the offense around him: encouraging early, then wrecked by the late pressure and mistakes. He finished 24 of 40 for 270 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions, and his first half was sharp - 15 of 21 for 167 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers. But the second half brought back the same turnover problems that have haunted him before, capped by a pick-6 with 1:17 left on Oklahoma’s end of the field.
“I felt good (in the first half),” Mateer said. “I go into every week confident, and I'll find a way to go in the next week confident.
It's a game and every week is a season of its own. I know who I am, but I felt good.
I did, and the guys were rolling, and I'm proud of them.
“Just got to finish. Got to finish in the end zone in the first half. Then got to finish the game in the second half.”
Mateer now has nine turnovers this season, and that last one was a costly decision. Still, the quarterback was often forced to operate under duress as the pocket deteriorated around him.
Ben Arbuckle put the responsibility on himself after the loss.
“That's just football,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said of the offensive line. “We had opportunities there at the end of the game to go win the football game, and I got to be better in those moments and those situations, putting those guys in a position to be successful, regardless of who's out there.
“We had those opportunities, and we have to be able to capitalize on those and go win the football game.”
Arbuckle came back to that point again when discussing the offense as a whole, saying the burden falls on him no matter who is available.
“Whatever 11 we have out there, it is my sole responsibility to put those kids in position to go be successful,” Arbuckle said. “Move the ball down the field, capitalize in those situations, those opportunities, regardless of who was out there. I have to be really good about putting those guys in position to go make the plays, to win the football game.
“If there's any frustration, it's with myself that I didn't get the job done.”
For Oklahoma, the story remains the same: injuries, thin depth and an offense that can’t string together a full game. With a road trip to Mississippi State next and the health of the line still unclear, the Sooners are staring at the same problem again.
In Other News...
Oklahoma's Biggest Problem Heading Into Mississippi State Is Hard To Ignore
Oklahoma heads into its meeting with Mississippi State still trying to find a steadier gear on offense, and the concerns are hard to miss. John Mateer has flashed the kind of playmaking that can tilt a game, but the turnovers have been part of the package, and the Sooners have also had to lean on Avant to help keep the ground game moving when the passing attack bogs down.
Mississippi State brings its own uncertainty, starting with the quarterback situation, which adds another layer to a matchup already shaped by defenses on both sides. The Sooners will need to sort out their own ball security issues before they can worry much about the Bulldogs, because the margin for error shrinks fast when one offense is still searching for consistency and the other side is capable of making the game messy. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Fans Wont Like Why Ryan Fodje Stayed In Against Kentucky
Late in Oklahomas home loss to Kentucky, starting left tackle Ryan Fodje went down with a right ankle injury in the closing minutes of the third quarter and briefly headed to the sideline for examination. He came back with the ankle heavily taped, a sequence that mattered because the Sooners offense was already losing its grip on the game and needed stability in the worst possible spot.
Brent Venables said the call to put Fodje back in came with input from the training staff and from Fodje himself, a detail Oklahoma fans probably will not love given how the rest of the night unfolded. After he returned, the offense kept sputtering, with the protection issues showing up in the form of sacks and interceptions, leaving the injury decision as one more thing the Sooners will have to sort through after an ugly home result. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Faces One Big Offensive Concern Entering Mississippi State
Brent Venables missed Tuesdays press conference because of flu-like symptoms, leaving defensive tackles coach Todd Bates to field questions as Oklahoma turned the page toward Mississippi State. The conversation quickly settled on the offense, where the Sooners are still trying to get a steadier rhythm while the defense continues to hold up at a national level.
Ryan Fodjes injury status was part of the discussion, along with the broader issues on offense and the encouraging signs from running back Tory Blaylock as he works back from an early-season injury. For Oklahoma, the formula is clear enough: the defense is doing its part, but the offense still has to answer the biggest question hanging over this stretch of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]