It's never a good sign when an offensive line has so many problems that the head coach won't even take the time to list any of them during a press conference.
With the No. 1 Texas Longhorns, who are equipped with a dangerous pass rush, looming on Saturday, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was asked about his "very disappointing" offensive line on two separate occasions during Tuesday's weekly press conference.
As bad as quarterback John Mateer has been, it's somewhat a "chicken-and-egg" argument for the Sooners' dormant offense. Mateer might be turnover-prone, but he's standing behind a leaky offensive line and has no sort of run game to rely on because of that same front.
Venables, after already being brutally honest about the group earlier in the presser, was asked what exactly the offensive line's problems are.
"It's a long list," Venables said before the question was even complete.
He was then asked to elaborate.
"I think the No. 1 issue is the lack of continuity," Venables said. "Too many guys coming and going. When you have that, the product's gonna look like that. The best players and the best units, and the best teams, if they have something that's a commonality, it's consistency.
Here's Brent Venables today being brutally honest about the state of Oklahoma's offensive line:
— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) October 6, 2026
"It's been incredibly inconsistent and very disappointing. As you build your football team, that's a critical place. That is a place that probably requires the most development of any… pic.twitter.com/pC4MB1ap6O
"Lack of consistency in players being here is the No. 1 area of concern, and it's something that's held us back from being a room that looks like really good development. So whatever other room you want to compare it to on the team that's actually doing well, I think it really says a lot. I think some of the better players that we've recruited have played really well -- young guys that played for us a year ago and are playing for us this year. But we need more continuity and consistency in that area."
He didn't mention it specifically that time, but Venables basically emphasized his earlier point that the transfer portal annually decimates the Sooners' offensive line. That group has also dealt with a plethora of injuries over the last three years, including starting left tackle Michael Fasusi most of this season.
That's a sorry excuse.
Bill Bedenbaugh is really to blame for Sooners' terrible O-line
Every program in college football has to deal with a revolving door because of the portal. It's your job to keep them around, and they should want to if your offensive line coach's reputation is as good as they say it is.
The Sooners also just returned four of five starters from last season's unit, plus added Arkansas transfer E'Marion Harris to the mix. Freshman Noah Best has also been a massive surprise while starting all four games of his collegiate career so far. Heath Ozaeta is another experienced veteran who should have given OU more depth at the position than most rosters could dream of.
Obviously, Fasusi has been sidelined since the first quarter of the season, and that's certainly devastating, but his return still won't fix OU's O-line overnight and isn't as detrimental as the numbers show.
According to Pro Football Focus, OU's offensive line ranks No. 120 in pass blocking and No. 101 in run blocking. The Sooners have given up eight sacks, but Mateer is consistently under more pressure than any QB in the SEC. They also average only 2.9 yards per rushing attempt and rank 131st in FBS with 99 rushing yards per game.
Blaming the transfer portal for those results is ignoring the root of the problem: offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh. If Venables merits credit when the defense succeeds and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle gets the blame when Mateer fails, then Bedenbaugh deserves the same responsibility for his group.
If the offensive line is failing, and it has been for three seasons, then that means Bedenbaugh has been failing. It's no coincidence that the Sooners' offense has also been dysfunctional during that entire stretch.
A question specifically about Bedenbaugh and the way he's developing the offensive line was what prompted Venables to really let out his frustrations about the group. He still never mentioned the obvious problem, though.
"It's been incredibly inconsistent, very disappointing," Venables said. "As you build your football team, that's a critical place. That is a place that probably requires the most development of any position that you have on your roster. We haven't allowed -- for lots of different reasons -- the portal is No. 1 reason. ...
"The instability because of the climate was a big part of it. Certainly didn't do a very uneven job when it comes to choosing the guys we've brought in here. Way too many guys are coming and going at that position group, and we need continuity and consistency in order to develop that group into what we want.
"It's been very unstable and certainly not the development you want from top to bottom."
Bedenbaugh, because of his past success, has skated by during the offense's struggles for the past three years. Being stuck in the past, though, also has OU's offense stuck now in the present, and likely the future if Bedenbaugh is still around, no matter who's at quarterback and no matter who is calling plays.
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