There’s a little more life around Oklahoma’s offense these days.
That showed up in a big way last week at Mississippi State, where the Sooners put up a season-best 467 total yards in a win. The production came in chunks, too: 283 yards through the air and 184 on the ground, both season highs. With South Carolina next on Saturday, Oklahoma is trying to turn that performance into something more lasting.
Part of that improvement starts with the obvious things. John Mateer was efficient and stayed away from turnovers.
Michael Fasusi’s return at left tackle mattered. But there’s also a quieter development under the surface: the offensive coaching staff is starting to feel more like a unit.
Ben Arbuckle is back as offensive coordinator this season, but the room around him has changed. Deland McCullough came in as running backs coach, and Jason Witten joined as tight ends coach. According to Brent Venables, that group has been grinding through the early turbulence and coming out stronger for it.
“They’ve just kind of kept their head down and figuring things out, and managing some of the obstacles that they’ve been through, both in personnel and in some tough moments,” Venables said. “And then just making some incremental improvement, like they have here the last three weeks. So when you’re in those rooms together for 10-12 hours a day, you really develop a chemistry and some trust, and that’s what I’ve seen.”
Arbuckle sees the same thing, though he’s not interested in pretending Oklahoma has arrived yet.
“I love the guys that I get to work with,” Arbuckle said. “They’re really good football coaches, they’re really smart dudes, they’re really good dudes, and that makes coaching a lot more fun. Then you get into the season and you do start doing better at certain things, a little bit of rhythm, a little bit of cadence starts to show up and we have to continue to build on that and understand that, yeah, even though it’s better, it ain’t good enough.”
Venables used an example from his own past to explain what he means by a developing identity. He pointed to the 2000 national championship defense, which he said looked very different early in the season than it did later on, when the unit had settled into what worked.
“What we were doing at the beginning of the year, the first half of the year defensively looked night and day to what we were doing in the national championship game and the last several weeks of the season,” Venables said. “You figure out lots of different kinds of ways to win what’s working for you and what isn’t.”
Arbuckle says the biggest challenge has been getting everyone moving in the same direction, especially with new faces in the mix. But he also believes the knowledge in that room helps the process along.
“I think that’s a challenge whenever you have some new faces to get on the same page,” Arbuckle said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things from a leadership standpoint that I have to tackle headfirst is getting everybody on the same page. But as far as having the guys that I get to work with in that room and the depth of knowledge and experience that’s in there, I mean, it’s huge, and it makes getting on the same page really that much easier because there’s so much good information that’s being said, that’s being brought up, that’s being talked about.”
In Other News...
Sooners Injury Report Leaves Two Major Concerns Hanging Over Saturday
Ryan Fodje will miss his second straight week for Oklahoma, leaving the Sooners without another piece of their offensive line heading into Saturdays matchup with South Carolina. The latest injury report also leaves several other names in limbo, including Peyton Bowen and Jake Maikkula, as Oklahoma works through availability questions that could affect both the lineup and the way the staff pieces together its depth.
For a team trying to stay sharp in a tough conference stretch, the uncertainty is almost as important as the absences themselves. The full report includes players from both sides, but the Sooners are the ones watching closest, waiting to see how much they can count on the rest of the roster before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Faces Another Injury Crunch Before South Carolina Test
Oklahoma is heading into its South Carolina matchup dealing with another familiar roster squeeze, with center Jake Maikkula listed as questionable and the injury report again touching both sides of the ball. Safety Peyton Bowen and cornerback Eli Bowen are also in question, adding more uncertainty to a defensive backfield that may already be stretched thin, while the offensive line is working through its own depth issues.
Several players have already been ruled out, including Eddy Pierre-Louis and Ryan Fodje, leaving the Sooners to sort through more lineup adjustments before a game that could test their depth early and often. However the final availability shakes out, this is the kind of week where Oklahoma's margin for error gets a little smaller and every healthy body matters a little more. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Finally Gets A Sean Hutton Update Fans Will Love
Oklahoma finally has a reassuring update on sophomore offensive lineman Sean Hutton, who collapsed during a practice and spent several days in the hospital after a rare medical event. Since then, Hutton has been released and is back at the team facility, a welcome turn for a program that had been holding its breath while he recovered.
Brent Venables and several teammates have already made clear how much the news means inside the building, where the focus has shifted from concern to gratitude. For a team trying to move forward, Huttons return to the facility is the kind of development that can steady everyone around it, even as the full road back remains something to watch. [Read more 🡒]