Oklahoma's offense is stuck in neutral, and no midseason quick fix is going to make it go

The Oklahoma Sooners have what they have. 

When a college football team’s season is going as poorly as the Sooners’ is right now at 2-2, fans are desperate for a change that can make everything better. The hard truth to swallow, though, is that there’s nothing head coach Brent Venables can do over the bye week to make OU a different team that is suddenly productive on offense. 

Venables has dug the Sooners into a deep hole, with not only no shovel to dig out, but no one on the way to drop him one. 

He didn’t foreshadow any staff changes during his postgame press conference after the Sooners’ 41-13 embarrassment to No. 2 Georgia on Saturday, then doubled down the next day during his coach’s show, saying that he believes OU already has everything it needs. 

“If we get out of our own way, continue to make the incremental improvement, we have what we need to have a heck of a season,” Venables said. “We’ve got a really good football team. 

“We haven’t been a really good football team yet.”

Brent Venables firing Ben Arbuckle or benching John Mateer won't make the offense better

Venables sounds awfully optimistic, but he has to be. The Sooners still have eight grueling games left on their SEC schedule that’s just getting started. But the root of what Venables is saying is correct: there are no changes to be made. 

I was also guilty of having an instant reaction that firing offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and replacing him with Kevin Wilson would fix OU’s dormant offense after the loss to Michigan and the terrible showing against New Mexico. 

But then Arbuckle actually called a heck of a game against Georgia. Yet, his unit still scored only 13 points, as a turnover-prone quarterback and leaky offensive line killed any sort of production. 

We were seconds away from eating crow about Arbuckle when the offense cruised 73 yards to get two yards away from getting into the end zone and cut the lead to 14-7. But then the ball slipped out of John Mateer’s hands while trying to throw to an open man in the end zone, and Georgia returned the fumble for an 85-yard touchdown that instead made the count 21-0. 

That early deficit compromised Arbuckle, with a lot of ground to make up and also influencing Mateer to try to force big plays and make more mistakes. He turned the ball over three possessions in a row in the second quarter to put the Sooners down 28-0 at halftime. 

It’s still worth questioning whether an OC as experienced as Wilson could mend the offense, and Arbuckle deserves blame for being attached at the hip to Mateer, but Saturday confirmed there are deeper problems than play-calling and scheme. 

Even if Arbuckle did decide to move on from the quarterback he brought with him from Washington State, there are no better options behind Mateer. There’s either Mercer transfer Whitt Newbauer, who wasn’t outstanding at the FCS level, or freshman Bowe Bentley, who’s clearly not ready after being unable to beat out Newbauer for the backup job. This failing offense would eat up both inexperienced quarterbacks. 

The Sooners also have the No. 129 rushing offense of 138 teams in the FBS. They’re averaging 99 yards per game. Stanford and Arkansas are the only Power 4 teams worse than OU in that stat. 

It doesn’t matter what scheme that Arbuckle conjures up, film breakdowns show OU’s offensive line consistently missing assignment after assignment. That same O-line, per PFF, has allowed more pressures this season than any other unit in the SEC. The Sooners can’t run or pass behind this offensive line. 

So just fire offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh then. His time should come to an end when the season does, but firing him midseason still wouldn’t fix the position overnight. It’s still the same players with the same habits. 

Get rid of everybody four weeks into the season, and Venables might as well wave the white flag. 

You’re realizing the dilemma here. Everywhere the Sooners have a problem on offense, any solution uncovers another problem underneath.

The Sooners offense does not need a Band-Aid, it needs surgery. It will take an offseason of improvement that we thought was just accomplished this past offseason.

There are problems all the way to the top. There are no replacements behind the quarterback. The offensive coordinator is compromised by a dreadful offensive line. Firing the offensive line coach won't instantly make the players better. Plus, both Venables and general manager Jim Nagy, who make all these roster and staff decisions, recently signed new extensions.

It’s a depressing thought, really, especially after a blowout loss and with Texas next up, but Venables has the Sooners stuck in park on a crowded highway. There’s no jump-starting it as other programs like Mississippi State and Kentucky zoom by. 

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