After a week’s hiatus, the Oklahoma football season resumes next weekend with an away game at Iowa State.
The Sooners went into their bye week with some momentum after snapping a rare three-game winning streak in a 52-42 homecoming win over Kansas, which itself is now in the midst of losing three consecutive Big 12 games.
There are opposing thoughts on the benefit or harm that can come from a week off in the middle of the season. That goes for weather you’re winning or losing.
A week off certainly affords the opportunity for some welcome rest from the week-to-week rigors of battle in a violent sport and the chance for the injured to get a little more healthy. But it also comes with the risk of impacting all-important rhythm and timing, which can be critical from an offensive perspective.
Coaching through and after a bye week at the college level is certainly nothing new to Brent Venables after more than a quarter-century as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator. But this is his first as a head coach.
So, how did Venables handle his first week off within the season as the Oklahoma head coach? The Sooners had a light practice day last Monday, two days after the win over Kansas, a heavy practice day with pads on Tuesday, another day of light practice on Thursday and then three days off over the weekend before beginning a standard game week in preparation for Iowa State on Saturday.
We’ll have to wait to see how Oklahoma does when it returns to the field following its bye week. The Sooners’ opponent on Saturday, Iowa State, which is still looking for its first conference win, also had this past weekend off. From that, we can deduce that the team that wins on Saturday will be the team that managed the week off the best.
Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma teams did a good job of responding with a win after an open date, going 21-7 after a bye week in his 18 seasons as the Sooners’ head coach. Venables was part of that in 13 seasons on the OU coaching staff under Stoops. Oklahoma was 15-3 after an open date while a member of the Sooners’ coaching staff.
Stoops won his first 10 games after a bye week but went just 5-6 in the next11 games after that (from 2009 to 2014).
Venables’ predecessor, Lincoln Riley, struggled coming off of a bye week. Oklahoma had seven open dates in the five seasons Riley was head coach. The Sooners’ were just 4-3 the week after open week while Riley was at the helm.
If history means anything, Venables has done week with both OU and at Clemson coming off of an open date? In the time he was at Clemson, from 2012 to 2021, the Tigers were 12-1 after a bye. Combining his Oklahoma experience with what occurred during his time at Clemson, the two teams Venables has been associated with the past 23 seasons are 27-4 the week after an open date.
Let’s hope that karma carries over to the 2022 Oklahoma team this coming Saturday.