Bad Offense/Good Defense or Vice Versa? As Oklahoma's Offensive Woes Continue, the Question Mounts

COLUMN

NORMAN — Brent Venables was brought to Oklahoma to fix a problem.

He fixed that one, but another issue has taken its place.

The Sooners’ defense has thrived under Venables, becoming one of the best not only in the SEC but in the country.

Recruiting on that side of the ball ramped up significantly, particularly among the defensive front.

The pass rush that was mostly dormant during the Lincoln Riley years quickly grew teeth.

But as the defense has risen, the offense has receded.

So which is better — having an offense that stinks with a disruptive, hard-nosed defense, or having a record-setting without much of an ability to stop opponents from scoring?

That’s a question that once again reverberated after Oklahoma’s 14-6 win over New Mexico on Saturday night.

In the game, the defense, while far from perfect, parried the load. They held the Lobos to just a field goal in the two possessions created by the three Sooners’ turnovers.

David Stone, the type of player who the Sooners struggled to attract under RIley, came up with a pair of plays that helped save OU’s bacon.

On third-and-goal from the 15 in the second quarter, Stone teamed up with Adepoju Adebawore to sack Toa Fa’avae and force a field goal.

Then, more importantly, on fourth-and-2 from the OU 17 in the final three minutes, Stone broke through the backfield to stop Scottre Humphrey for a loss and all but wrap up the victory.

The Sooners’ defense stunk under Riley.

The offense was otherworldly, setting records and winning Heisman Trophies.

The defense was bad, though.

Under Mike Stoops, six games of Ruffin McNeil and three seasons of Alex Grinch, the Oklahoma defense couldn’t turn a corner significantly.

During Riley’s five seasons as head coach, the Sooners were never outside of the top six nationally in points per game.

Only once were they inside the top 60 in points allowed per game.

In 2020 under Grinch, Oklahoma was 29th in the category, allowing just 21.7 points per game.

So when Riley bolted for USC — taking Grinch with him — following the 2021 season, defense became the priority.

And under Venables, the defense has not only turned a corner but thrived.

After a rocky start, playing with mostly players recruited under Riley and Grinch in 2022, the defense took significant strides forward each of the next three seasons.

Oklahoma went from being 99th in points allowed in 2022 to 49th the next year, 29th in 2024 and seventh last season.

Through three games (small sample size alert), Oklahoma is 11th in points allowed, giving up just 23 total points.

“Man, they really responded and saved our butt,” Venables said of the Sooners’ defense after the latest offensive embarrassment.

Venables was asked about defense just twice during his postgame press conference, and both related to the offensive struggles.

After falling to 33rd in scoring in 2022, the Sooners rebounded to finish fourth in 2023 under Jeff Lebby’s direction with Dillon Gabriel at quarterback.

Drake Stoops, Nic Anderson and Jalil Farooq combined to give Gabriel varied targets in the passing game and Gavin Sawchuk and Tawee Walker ran for a combined 1,200-plus yards.

But after Lebby’s departure, and Gabriel’s transfer, the offense fell off a cliff.

It was 97th in scoring in 2024, 79th last season and looming around the same area this season — even with a 51-point opener vs. UTEP.

Of course, the ideal would be a blend of both offense and defense — ”complementary football,” as Venables says so often.

But while the Sooners under Riley couldn’t get over the hump and win playoff games, and least they often made the playoff — and that was in the four-team era.

And even with the defensive woes, at least Oklahoma games then were entertaining.

Every week. Viewers held their breaths waiting to see what records would be set as the Sooners piled up touchdown after touchdown.

While defensive dominance is nice, it’s harder to gloss over offensive woes than it is defensive struggles.

And sitting through three-and-out after three-and-out, multiple turnovers per game and a complete inability to run the ball is tougher than sitting through shootouts like the Baker Mayfield-Patrick Mahomes affair in 2016 in Lubbock.

About the only saving grace is that, at least, games in the style the Sooners are currently playing finish much faster.

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