Brent Venables says Oklahoma is not ‘remotely close’ to standard right now
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Brent Venables said after Saturday’s 35-9 loss to South Carolina at home that his program is not doing anything to enhance the brand at Oklahoma or honor what the program has represented “for such a long time.”
The Sooners opened Saturday’s defeat with an interception on the first play from scrimmage, a fumble recovered and returned for a score on their fourth offensive play, and a pick-6 on their ninth offensive play. Jackson Arnold replaced Michael Hawkins Jr. at quarterback on OU’s fourth possession, something Venables said was an easy decision.
OU went on to lose by 20-plus points for the second straight week. After getting blasted by Texas at the Cotton Bowl last week, 34-3, Oklahoma got knocked right back down to the mat on Saturday.
“What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here,” Venables said.
The Sooners actually outgained the Gamecocks 291-254 in the game, but South Carolina was more efficient. The Sooners averaged just 3.5 yards per play. OU wasted a fairly strong defensive effort again, which might be the straw the broke the camel’s back for the fanbase.
South Carolina averaged just 3.7 yards per play. From the second quarter on, South Carolina scored just 14 points. Had OU not spotted the Gamecocks 21 points with their first dozen offensive plays, perhaps OU may have written a different story.
But “almosts” and “what ifs” are tough to swallow for the Sooners right now. Oklahoma is 1-3 to begin league play in the SEC. The last 4 SEC opponents: at Ole Miss, at Missouri, Alabama, at LSU.
Unless things change, Oklahoma (4-3) might be in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1998.
“Our job is to put our guys in a great position to be successful, no matter what,” Venables said. “No excuses, no injuries, no new quarterback, no ‘who are we playing,’ none of that stuff matters. Everybody knows that’s what you sign up for.”
Venables said the problems for OU are “easy to identify” right now, but actually fixing those issues “isn’t always quite as easy.” Asked if changes were coming to the offense, Venables told the media they’d be the first to know if things changed.
“We have a strong culture. We have a strong belief system,” Venables said. “The results we’ve gotten the last couple of weeks, nobody desires that. Nobody wants that. Nobody accepts that in any way. It’s not acceptable. But the only way that you bounce back from it, you get better from it, man, you’ve gotta fight. You’ve got to continue to believe.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
