Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle refuses to feed the Sooners’ running backs. As a result, the backfield, the running game, and the offense as a whole are all malnourished.
It has been a concerning trend since even before Arbuckle was in Norman that the Sooners have mind-boggling rotations in the backfield that never let any running back find a rhythm and get going.
The blame was initially put on former running backs coach DeMarco Murray, but he is now in Kansas City force-feeding Kenneth Walker III. The man in charge of OU’s offense ultimately deserves credit for whatever decisions are made.
Although head coach Brent Venables claims it was OU’s best offensive performance since Week 1, which reveals just how low expectations have become for Arbuckle, the lack of running back usage reached a new low in the Sooners’ 21-13 loss to Kentucky.
Lloyd Avant needs more touches for Sooners' run game to find success
Lloyd Avant, who has clearly earned his role as the Sooners’ RB1 since transferring from Colorado State, led the backfield with eight carries, which he took for 31 yards and averaged 3.9 per attempt.
The week before against Texas, which has a much stouter defense, Avant averaged 7.2 yards per attempt with 10 rushes for 72 yards and a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. His explosive 42-yard run also sparked the offense in the second half.
The Sooners’ offense drove to the end zone just once against Texas. Not coincidentally that possession, Avant touched the ball on five of six plays with an eight-yard catch and four carries for 20 yards and a two-yard TD plunge. The only play that didn’t involve Avant was a loss of three yards on a John Mateer rush.
After all that success, Avant received only one more carry in the Sooners’ final four possessions. All of them, except OU’s game-winning drive, ended with a punt, with two of them being three-and-outs.
On Saturday against Kentucky, Avant didn’t get a single fourth-quarter carry. OU running backs total got only one touch during the fourth quarter, even with the Sooners never trailing by more than one possession.
"Yeah, I think there's a lot that goes into it," Arbuckle said when asked about running backs not touching the ball late. "Really need to go back and watch the film and put myself in those situations again. If it was the last running back handoff (with 12 minutes left in the game), it wasn't the last run of the game. We were able to do some effective things in that way.”
Excuse me, “effective things”? OU, in its four fourth-quarter possessions, had back-to-back three-and-outs, then back-to-back interceptions. The lack of production in the fourth quarter and late turnovers ultimately cost the Sooners another massive upset and kept them from getting the season back on track.
“Got to look at all of it,” Arbuckle continued. “What what could we have done better? What could I have done better? What could us as coaches have done better? What could the players have done better? We have to look at all of it, and ultimately, we have to get rolling on Monday, because we got to go play football next Saturday."
Arbuckle continues to force Mateer to become a threat on the ground, as he again led the team in rushing attempts against Kentucky, but he’s obviously not. Enough time has passed to realize that.
The running game is lifeless. A porous offensive line that is decimated by injuries contributes to all of the Sooners’ offensive struggles, but the running backs are the oxygen of any successful run game. It is time Arbuckle lets the players who are paid to run the ball earn their dollar.
Add us as a preferred source on Google