Stating the obvious, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables confirmed that, yes, the Sooners' running game has been disappointing this season. OU fans have felt that way for three years now, though.
During the bye week, when the Sooners have time to hopefully fix deficiencies like the run game, Venables was asked on Wednesday if he expected the run game to be "in the state that it is," which would be nonexistent.
"Expected it'd be better," Venables said. "Thought it would be better."
Same, Brent.
"So that's been disappointing that we're not as far along as you want to be, and we need to be," Venables continued. "Having a successful, cohesive, explosive offense -- it takes a lot of moving parts to play well. That's been disappointing. But, again, just go on right back to work and continue to try to make it better."
Lack of running game has just become Sooners' offensive identity
The Sooners were supposed to revive the running game over the offseason after it had been lifeless in 2024 and 2025. We heard for months echoes of "We're gonna run the dang ball" and even how much improved it looked during fall camp.
Yet, here we are again in 2026, and the Sooners are better than only two other Power 4 teams at running the ball. They average 99 rushing yards per game, which ranks 129th among 138 FBS teams. They've been held under 65 yards in their last two outings against New Mexico and Georgia.
In 2024, the Sooners averaged 155.15 rushing yards per game, which ranked 76th in the FBS. Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell midseason, then eventually hired Ben Arbuckle, who also brought dual-threat quarterback John Mateer with him from Washington State to instantly fix the Sooners' struggling offense.
But then, OU was actually even worse on the ground last season, averaging 118.46 yards, which was No. 113 in college football. That prompted an overhaul of the staff by firing tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley and replacing him with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Witten. Running backs coach DeMarco Murray also left for the Kansas City Chiefs, so he was replaced by a much more experienced Deland McCullough.
As far as those with direct hands in getting the running game to succeed, that left only Arbuckle and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh returning for 2026, as well as Assistant Head Coach for Offense Kevin Wilson. Bedenbaugh being the obvious common denominator for all three seasons is a point for another time.
Along with the new staff additions, the Sooners also returned a healthy Mateer, four of five starting offensive linemen, and running back duo Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock. They also brought in Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant, who has been a nice surprise at running back, and completely revamped the tight end room with more size, experience, and talent.
All that had OU fans hopeful for at least a functioning run game, and that looked to be true in Week 1, when the Sooners frequently lined up in 12- and 13-personnel while blowing out UTEP 51-0 and rushing for 170 yards.
But that was an outlier, not the new norm. After four games, much like Venables, OU fans are once again disappointed in the Sooners' rushing attack. The difference, though, is that fans just have to watch in disgust, while Venables can actually do something about it.
There's been talk -- from both Venables and Arbuckle -- of OU finding its identity on offense, but it's become painfully clear that not being able to run the football has just become the Sooners' offensive identity with Venables in charge.
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