Brent Venables might have spent the offseason slapping some paint on things and renovating the Oklahoma Sooners' football program for a visible sign of improvement, but the foundation is still the same.
The No. 11 Sooners showed in their 17-10 loss to unranked Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor that nothing has actually changed for Oklahoma from 2025 to now. The season opener against a weak UTEP team might have previewed a new-look Sooners team that made progress, but a little bit of competition from another Power Four opponent uncovered all the same problems.
There's still no functioning run game. Quarterback John Mateer is still inaccurate and prone to making bad decisions when the ball leaves his hand. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle still makes head-scratching moves at the worst times. Venables' elite defense will still have to carry the dead weight of a dormant offense, and if not, the Sooners will lose to any opponent worth anything.
We did not travel back in time, but Sooner Nation is still stuck in 2025, and maybe even 2024, when OU was 6-7 and barely made a bowl game.
Oklahoma's loss to Michigan reveals same problems under Brent Venables
The Sooners ranked 113th out of 134 FBS teams last season with 118.5 rushing yards per game, which was also the worst that stat had been since 2001. Venables repeated all offseason that the running game had to improve, and multiple OU players even gave hope that running the dang ball was a massive emphasis over the offseason.
Venables made a change at tight ends coach by bringing in Jason Witten and the entire room was overhauled with massive bodies who could block and had experience doing so in the SEC. The Sooners in Week 1 came out in packages of 12-, 13- and even 14-personnel with Mateer under center. The sight had OU fans truly believing the Sooners were going to run the dang ball in 2026.
The offensive line even returned four starters and added Arkansas transfer E'Marion Harris, although starting left tackle Michael Fasusi was sidelined with a shoulder injury on Saturday. The 1-2 punch of Tory Blaylock and Xavier Robinson also returned to the backfield, with Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant immediately impressing and freshman Jonathan Hatton Jr. looking ready to be an immediate star.
All that, but against Michigan, the Sooners rushed for 100 yards while averaging 3.4 per attempt. That's actually even worse than the 138 rushing yards OU put up last year in its 24-13 win over the Wolverines in Norman.
As for the passing game, 2026 was supposed to bring a much-improved Mateer since he's now healthy and apparently had an extremely productive offseason. He broke the thumb on his throwing hand in the fourth game of the season in 2025, and that was to blame for much of his struggles. He also just made some flat-out bad decisions, which even Mateer admitted was his biggest flaw, so he spent time over the offseason studying film with Sam Bradford.
On Saturday, Mateer completed 52% (17-for-33) of his passes for only 189 yards and one touchdown. He also threw an interception in the fourth quarter that Michigan returned to OU's six-yard line and got into the end zone the next play. That ended up being the game-winning touchdown.
John Mateer with the game on the line pic.twitter.com/8XU1hoB68Q
— No Context Sooners (@nocontextsooner) September 12, 2026
Mateer's footwork was horrendous at times, and he consistently overthrew targets as his arm motion again came from the side. He was most inaccurate the few times he looked deep. Again, all the same problems we watched week after week in 2025.
Comfort in Year 3 in Arbuckle's system was supposed to be another benefit for Mateer. SEC defensive coordinators cooked Arbuckle throughout 2025, but his first season in the conference after leaving Washington State in the Pac-12 was supposed to be a learning experience that made the young OC better in 2026.
The play that infuriated OU fans the most on Saturday was when Arbuckle called a Mateer run up the middle for a two-yard loss just across midfield right before halftime, when the Sooners were desperate for points, down 10-0. The negative play left the Sooners just beyond field-goal range, even with the best kicker in college football in Tate Sandell.
Ben Arbuckle and Brent Venables deserve extensions pic.twitter.com/7uPukhf9tS
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) September 12, 2026
The only positive was after a sloppy Week 1 performance and still being imperfect on Saturday, it's clear Venables' defense is still one of the best in the country. The Sooners gave up just 75 yards the entire second half. But they still lost while being unable to make up for an incompetent offense. Call it Sooner Magic, but if one of Venables' defenders weren't able to pull a rabbit out of a hat with a game-changing turnover, there were plenty of wins that would have been losses for OU last year.
The Sooners still went 10-3 and made the College Football Playoff in 2025, even with all these same issues. These 2026 Sooners are also still CFP contenders, even after that early non-conference loss. But Team 132 was supposed to not just make the playoff, but actually contend for a national title.
There's a difference between a playoff contender and a title contender, and right now, there's still nothing different about the Sooners.
Add us as a preferred source on Google