On Saturday night, Brent Venables was fighting for his job at Oklahoma. By Sunday morning, he was competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
It was never restrained that Venables was on the hot seat heading into Year 4 leading the Sooners. The importance of that Week 2 matchup against Michigan was also never undervalued, not only for OU in 2025, but also for Venables' career.
Brent Venables has Sooners as College Football Playoff contenders
The score doesn't reveal it, but the Sooners dominated Michigan 24-13 in the top-20 meeting between blue bloods Saturday night in Norman. If even just one special teams mistake was erased, the game would have turned into a blowout.
Venables bet on himself this offseason and took control of the defense, and his unit was masterful in the win. OU held Michigan to 288 total yards and the Sooners have given up just one touchdown through two weeks.
It was also confirmed Venables made the right decision bringing in 29-year-old Ben Arbuckle as offensive coordinator. Arbuckle brought quarterback John Mateer to Norman with him, and against Michigan, Arbuckle used Mateer like a magic wand to do what he wanted against Michigan, especially in the Sooners' 16-play drive that lasted 8:27 in the fourth quarter.
The win launched the Sooners inside the top 15 of the latest AP Top 25 at No. 13. It solidified OU as a legit College Football Playoff contender and Mateer as a Heisman Trophy frontrunner. It was as if Venables took Norman back to the Lincoln Riley days, but with a defense and a coach with character.
And Venables just gets it. Excuses could easily be made for OU's 6-7 season last year, but he ultimately knew it wasn't the standard set for the Sooners. Venables was the defensive coordinator the last time OU won a national championship in 2000, then he won two more with Clemson, so his expectations mirror Sooner Nation's.
"This is a program that has high standards and high expectations," Venables said after beating Michigan. "And I've said this to you all before, several times. And I want everybody to share in the success. And I know how much people in this state, people across the country, that love the Sooners, how much passion they have for Oklahoma. And everybody wants to win and be successful.
"So for a moment, man, we get to celebrate and be proud of their team and of their school, but that is an expectation here. And so, again, we met the criteria today, and job well done by our guys.”
It would jump the gun to say Venables saved his job with one win -- no matter how monumental -- this early in the season. SEC play hasn't even started yet for the Sooners, and with nothing but ranked teams on the menu, the meat of OU's schedule could go rotten quick.
But Venables is doing and saying all the right things. He made the right hires. He donated $1 million to get more talent. And most importantly, he's winning football games.
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