Oklahoma fans were extremely disappointed and angry last week about the Sooners’ loss to Texas in the Red River Rivalry, but, obviously, so was Brent Venables’ team.
The No. 14 Sooners handled South Carolina 26-7 on Saturday on the road to bounce back from their first loss of the season last week. OU’s poor performance in the Red River Rivalry, even after a 5-0 start, had many questioning if the Sooners really are College Football Playoff contenders in 2025, but Saturday’s outing proved they still are.
Oklahoma maintains College Football Playoff expectations with South Carolina win
“I just saw a team that was hungry and even angry — hangry,” Venables said after the win. “It’s a hangry football team. The team, again, felt like we had a lot to prove and know that we have a good football team.
“The game of football will punish you when you don’t do the little things right, and we certainly did a lot a week ago in the second half and the third quarter where we didn’t give ourselves a chance. But really just, again, proud of our guys and just really just playing together. There was a really good synergy about it.”
It was somewhat of a desperation win for the Sooners after losing last week, especially after playing such ugly football against an unranked Texas team. It’s not that losing on the road in the SEC is ever scoffed at and would instantly kill a team’s playoff chances, but the trip to South Carolina was definitely the easiest challenge left on OU’s schedule.
Starting with Ole Miss on Saturday in Norman, all five teams left on the Sooners’ schedule the rest of the season are ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25. All but No. 16 Missouri went into Week 8 as a top-15 team.
Considering what’s ahead, most everyone would have counted out the Sooners with a loss to South Carolina, if they hadn’t already after the loss to Texas.
“I feel like this is a team that’s been battle tested this season, even going into today, and I think that was a great advantage for us,” Venables said. “Our guys didn’t flinch. They believed. As the saying goes, judge a man, judge a team, judge a unit when things aren’t going well.
“When everybody questioned the team a week ago, our guys had the ability, the maturity to block out that noise and focus on, again, doing the things that winning requires and the energy, the execution, the physicality, great focus to them. So, real thankful for our players and just their determination today.”