Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has made it clear all season that he's a college football coach, not a pageant queen.
Venables' No. 8 Sooners gutted out another win thanks to their defense -- this time 17-6 over No. 22 Missouri on Saturday in Norman -- that many fans might consider ugly. Regardless of opinion, though, the Sooners are 9-2, and it's obvious after his postgame interview with ESPN that Venables doesn't care at all about the eye test, just winning football games.
Oklahoma beat Mizzou to move one step away from College Football Playoff
"They're just grimy," Venables said. "It's a grimy group of guys, and that's the way I love it. They've got a relentless mindset, incredible intensity, and they're together -- you can feel it. They know how to play together, and that really personifies this football team.
"It's not pretty, but this is not a beauty contest. This is football."
Although the Sooners' offense put up only 276 total yards, the defense still did to win enough by intercepting Mizzou quarterback Beau Pribula twice and sacking him four times, even without their top pass rusher in defensive end R Mason Thomas. OU's Peyton Bowen also blocked a field-goal attempt in the second quarter that would have given the Tigers the lead. Peyton's brother, Eli, eventually had the game-sealing interception.
It's how the Sooners have won all season, and it has them a win away from the College Football Playoff with LSU at home next week in their regular-season finale.
"They're hungry, not satisfied," Venables said. "They know that we haven't done anything. We're 9-2 now, and that's still, again, this is Oklahoma. This stadium and this building and the championships that are represented here -- 27 seasons of 11-plus wins -- so incredibly high standards and expectations, and our guys want some of that. They want to be one of the people at the table."