Brent Venables Pulls No Punches After Oklahoma's 'Embarrassing' Loss to South Carolina

NORMAN — Count Brent Venables among the Oklahoma contingent irate with how Saturday’s contest went.

“I’m not going to say a whole lot other than just the obvious,” the OU head coach said after the Sooners lost to South Carolina 42-25. “I’m not going to sit here and try to explain or excuse or anything else. Got our ass whupped tonight in every way. Really disappointed.”

The game was essentially over when Nyck Harbor hauled in an 8-yard score to put South Carolina up 28-10 at halftime.

It was definitely over after LaNorris Sellers’ 79-yard bomb to Mazeo Bennett Jr., which extended the lead to 42-16 with 13:13 left in the fourth quarter.

That served as Sellers’ curtain call, and OU’s only real success on the night came in the garbage time that followed.

Oklahoma’s offense was abysmal again, something that in itself was not a surprise.

What did come as a shock was how the OU defense, which forced three turnovers, was easily shredded.

“We're not built to overcome some of the ineptness as a football team that we displayed out there tonight,” Venables said. “Let them throw the ball over our head and didn’t tackle great. We're in position several times and played on our heels.”

Following the loss to Kentucky, Venables emphasized the incremental improvement that he saw out of his team.

He didn’t have any time for that kind of talk Saturday night.

Venables pointed the finger squarely at the coaching staff.

“I believe in these guys (in the locker room). I love them. I ain't mad at them,” Venables said. “Nobody went out there and sh-- the bed on purpose. You know, just didn't coach them well. Didn't have them well prepared. Didn't play good. Very poor performance in every way.”

Oklahoma has a difficult challenge ahead.

The Sooners must find a way to fix their hapless offense — a group that ebbs and flows drive-to-drive, quarter-to-quarter and week-to-week.

Oklahoma heads to The Swamp next week before hosting Ole Miss and Texas A&M. OU closes out the regular season in Missouri, and the team now faces the reality that it is fighting for bowl eligibility, not to have a heroic November.

The staff — especially on the offensive side of the ball — is coaching for their jobs, though Venables didn’t entertain any of that speculation.

“I’m not talking about anything like that,” he said.

If Venables and his staff knew how to get the team playing more consistently, they would.

They’ve run out of time to save the season. If they can’t find a way to stabilize things on both sides of the ball, more long days are ahead in 2026.

“I love our guys. I don't love them any less, or respect them any less, or believe in them any less,” Venables said. “None, none whatsoever, but incredibly pissed at myself and for all of us.

“Just embarrassing. It's embarrassing in every way.”

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