Apparently, the best the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense can do is 13 points against the No. 108th-scoring defense in the country. A new low standard has clearly been set by OU head coach Brent Venables.
The Sooners let another top-15 upset slip away with a 21-13 loss to No. 15 Kentucky on Saturday night in Norman, dropping them to 3-3. OU’s defense was outstanding yet again, but the offense, of course, couldn’t put enough points on the board for the Sooners to win.
The worst part is that the Sooners’ offense was at its best, and that still wasn’t enough.
“That’s maybe the best that we've played since our first game on offense,” Venables said in his opening statement during his postgame press conference. “I gotta recognize those things — things we did do well.”
Sooners can't be content with mediocre offense
Venables admitted that he’s proud of 13 points and a losing performance. He meant it as praise for his offense and the unit’s improvement, but he really just revealed the reality of the Sooners’ offensive standard under him and how low expectations have gotten.
This is a program that not that long ago was famous for high-scoring offenses and producing Heisman Trophy winners. Venables has flipped the script and built an elite defense instead, but great teams have to be good on both sides of the ball to compete for a national title.
Miami has both. Georgia has both. Ohio State has both. Notre Dame has both. Those are teams competing to be the best this season. It’s a situation that OU should be in as a blue blood, but apparently, five years later, the Sooners are content with 13 points.
The worst part about Venables’ statement is that he’s right. It was the most life the Sooners’ offense has shown since a Week 1 blowout against UTEP. And it still wasn’t enough.
There were points left on the field. OU tried a fake field goal on 4th-and-goal that ended with an interception. Another trick play in the first half also blew up in offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s face and hindered a drive that was already chugging along without needing to trick the other sideline.
Quarterback John Mateer failed at the end with back-to-back interceptions that ultimately cost the Sooners the game, but until then, it was his best performance in weeks. He completed 60% of his passes for 270 yards and a touchdown. But again, a fan base that watched the likes of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray is trying to convince itself that a quarterback throwing one touchdown pass and for less than 300 yards is sufficient.
Venables specifically mentioned the running game looked better against Kentucky. It was still held under the Wildcats’ average at 76 yards while averaging 2.5 a carry.
The offensive line gave up five sacks. The group is decimated by injuries and suffered even more on Saturday, but that’s also just become the standard excuse for poor offensive line play.
OU fans are becoming numb to these same consistent issues, and I’m afraid Venables has too.
After an embarrassing showing in a 14-6 win over New Mexico in Week 3, Venables called out Arbuckle’s offense.
"I expect more," Venables said then. "We gotta be a lot better than that. That can't be the product. We've got a lot of work to do there.”
That’s obviously a different tone than Venables had on Saturday night. OU actually scored one fewer point against Kentucky, and even though there’s a clear difference in the quality of the opponent, a leader of a blue blood still shouldn’t ever praise 13 points, no matter who’s on the other sideline.
The Sooners are mediocre at .500 and destined for a third losing season in five years under Venables. He also just signed a new two-year contract extension through 2031 that upped his buyout to $51.67 million, so he’s not going anywhere any time soon.
Oklahoma seems to be stuck at a new standard where 13 points are considered a step in the right direction. This is not the standard of a blue-blood program.
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