Elite Preparation Powered Oklahoma's Defense to Another Outstanding Performance Against LSU

NORMAN — In the game’s most chaotic moments, Brent Venables defaults to the preparation during the week.

Needing one last stop with Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff hopes on the line, the Sooners beat LSU on Friday night.

Down 17-13, the Tigers had to convert on fourth-and-2 from the OU 29-yard line.

“(Michael Van Buren) kind of scrambled for a couple yards there and we got 'em down,” Venables recalled leading up to that play. “I’m like, 'Oh, we got 'em.' I'm saying this super humbly. But we worked really hard on what was gonna go down on fourth-and-short, fourth-and-one, fourth-and-two, fourth-and-three. Each one of those scenarios, it was like, oh my gosh. Got the right personnel, right everything.”

Defensive tackle Gracen Halton was able to get a good pass rush in Van Buren’s face, and the LSU quarterback was unable to connect with Bauer Sharp because of a great play on the football by OU safety Peyton Bowen.

Oklahoma went over that exact scenario in the team’s final walkthroughs at the team hotel on Friday night in the final moments of preparation that Venables knew would be essential in securing the victory.

"We walked it through last night,” Venables said. “It was getting a little chitty chatter going on. Just a little bit loose. I'm standing back watching everybody and I blow the whistle. Got the whistle on me at the hotel and challenged the guys. You guys wanna win the game? There ain't another time. This is the one of one time to get the details down one last time to go win the freakin' game on this side of the ball. This is the moment. So get your eyes where they belong.

“… This is the moment to freakin' lock in, have laser focus. They did and finished up in a great way. The moment came to fruition.”

Read More Oklahoma 17, LSU 13

Halton said it’s never fun when Venables hits the whistle in the middle of a hotel ballroom, but his coach’s point was well taken.

“That whistle, yeah. Somebody’s got to take that away from him, especially inside when we’re meeting because he blows it every time just to keep us locked in and he does because he blows it loud,” Halton said. “But yeah, just keeping the main thing the main thing the whole month, going 1-0 every week we knew what we had to do to get to the playoff.

“There was a chance so we had to take that chance and just go 1-0 every week.”

Oklahoma Sooners, David Ston — Oklahoma defensive lineman David Stone celebrates after making a tackle against LSU. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In all likelihood, that stop sealed a College Football Playoff spot for the Sooners.

But Oklahoma’s defense earned the team’s 10th win with another resilient showing.

OU quarterback John Mateer threw three interceptions, forcing the defense to repel multiple advances from the LSU offense.

Standing tall even when the offense sputters has become a defining feature for the 2025 Oklahoma defense, and on Venables’ fourth Senior Day as the head coach, it showed just how far his side of the ball has come in his four years at the helm in Norman.

“I think my freshman year, think we had a lot of special dudes,” Bowen said. “I think we could have done way better, but I think what hurt us was handling the success part.

“… Last year was hard, had a lot of stuff go wrong. It was a hard year for everybody. Coming into this year with what we built and all the work we put in, I’m just so happy for this team.”

Oklahoma’s defense is not burdened by the pressure.

Bowen and his teammates just view their role as having the offense’s back on every drive.

“We have to play complementary football,” he said. “We didn’t do hot some games. They didn’t do hot some games. that’s just football. We haven’t had a great game altogether. We’ve had each other’s backs on multiple occasions. That’s just what we have to do.

“That’s what championship teams are built on, not wavering at the adversity that’s in front of us. Keep going full throttle, no matter the circumstances.”

Oklahoma hasn’t put many style points on the board in November, but wins at Tennessee and Alabama speak for themselves, as do the gritty performances against Missouri and LSU.

The Sooners know what it takes to win at the end of the year, and Venables is excited to see how far his team can go in the CFP.

“Tonight was really about kind of persevering, getting out of our own way,” Venables said. “You know, between the turnovers and penalties, some things you’d like to get back as coaches at times, our guys are just able to figure it out and find a way.

“The stat sheet’s kind of grimy; that’s what the stat sheet is, and that’s really the DNA of who we are.”