In Year 4 leading the Oklahoma Sooners, during a season in which many thought he would lose his job, Brent Venables has almost guaranteed the Sooners a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The No. 8 Sooners' ugly, but also now expected, 17-13 win over the LSU Tigers on Saturday in Norman basically punched their ticket to the playoff in the regular-season finale at 10-2. According to ESPN's playoff predictor, the Sooners now have a 99% chance of making the CFP when the field is announced next week on Dec. 7.
The victory also notched Venables' second 10-win season leading the Sooners.
Oklahoma earns College Football Playoff berth with LSU win
Venables' defense helped the Sooners overcome mistake after mistake that should have lost them the game and also erase all hopes of making the playoff. Fans clamored for quarterback John Mateer to be benched after throwing three interceptions. OU was penalized eight times (twice as much as LSU) for 60 yards. And at times it just seemed like there was no way the Sooners could eek out another win.
But the Sooners prevailed.
Venables has made it clear before that he's not worried about winning pretty. The win column is all that matters, and Venables was proven correct as his team is headed to the College Football Playoff after victory No.10. And it was obvious during Venables' postgame interview with ESPN that he knew exactly what his team had accomplished and it didn't matter how they got there.
"Hard to kill," Venables proclaimed. "What a heck of a game. Nobody deserved to lose that. LSU, man, they've really fought, man, big-time.
"But, man, am I proud of our guys. We overcame a lot of mistakes, penalties, turnovers, just a lot of miscues today. But, hey, we're a pretty good football team and can overcome all of that."
Hard to Kill. pic.twitter.com/YMAwsFsov0
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 30, 2025