Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle's latest comments will be music to OU fans' ears.
Arbuckle on Monday spoke to media as the Sooners are in the midst of spring camp, and when asked if the offense is further along this spring compared to last, which was right after he got to OU, Arbuckle not only said, "Absolutely," but the first reason why has been fans' biggest complaint the last few seasons: the offensive line.
Ben Arbuckle credits offensive line for Sooners' offensive improvement
"I think the biggest place that you can see it is up front," Arbuckle said, "especially with having, really, five guys that played a lot of football for us last year, but four guys who played extended amount of football for us last year. Nothing's really new to them anymore, so that's fun to see."
Asked OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle how much further along the offense is this spring versus last year when he first arrived.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) March 30, 2026
First thing he said was how much better the offensive line is now than this time last year. #Sooners pic.twitter.com/8ICvL5q7tD
The Sooners lost several depth pieces to the Transfer Portal over the offseason and starting right guard Febechi Nwaiwu graduated, but they returned their most critical players up front. OU returns four players who started down the stretch of last season, including sophomore left tackle Michael Fasusi, redshirt sophomore guard Eddy Pierre-Louis, redshirt senior center Jake Maikkula and sophomore right tackle Ryan Fodje.
Arbuckle also mentioned a fifth player with a lot of playing time, which would be redshirt junior guard Heath Ozaeta, who made seven starts at left guard last season. The Sooners through the portal also added E'Marion Harris, who started 24 games at Arkansas.
With Harris expected to play tackle, he will likely get the starting nod at right tackle, with Fasusi on the left side. Fodje would then slide in to guard and Pierre-Louis will have to battle Ozaeta for the other spot. Maikkula will remain a consistent presence at center.
Read more: A way-too-early Oklahoma depth chart prediction with Transfer Portal chaos settled
At this time last year, there was a lot of hype surrounding highly touted recruits Fasusi and Fodje, but they were still adjusting to college football, and did throughout the season. Last season was also the first time Pierre-Louis got extensive playing time. Maikkula had also just transferred from Stanford, so he was getting acclimated to his new program while everyone on the offense was learning a new system under Arbuckle.
Despite all that newness, the Sooners still went 10-3 in 2025 and made the College Football Playoff with three freshmen on the offensive line and a 29-year-old coordinator calling plays. It was a headache at times when the offense was on the field, but the Sooners in 2026 will finally get to reap the benefits of those growing pains.
Behind that seasoned line will be third-year starter John Mateer at quarterback with more weapons at receiver, and the potent 1-2 punch of Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock at running back.
"There's a lot more continuity, to where now, we can really just work on getting better and developing what we need to develop instead of just constantly teaching all the time," Arbuckle said.