From Mateer to Arbuckle to Dabo, Our Takeaways from Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables' Press Conference

NORMAN — Coming off a bye week, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables held his weekly press conference Monday ahead of Saturday's matchup at No. 4 Alabama.

"it's going to be a fantastic matchup between two of the most iconic brands in college football history," Venables said.

Venables said there wasn't much carry-over in his eyes from last season's 24-3 win over the Crimson Tide, good or bad.

"I don't think that, a year ago (matters), good or bad, I've never carried over wins and losses," Venables said. "You learn from all of it, but I think it can paralyze you holding onto something. ... The season for both of us is impacted by the result at the end of the night."

OU's weekly press conferences are normally held on Tuesday, but was moved up due to Tuesday's OU Board of Regents meeting.

Venables touched on a variety of topics, including John Mateer's improvement, his bye week visit to Clemson, the late interception vs. Tennessee, Danny Okoye's recent development and more.

Here are several takeaways from Venables' press conference:

John Mateer's Bounce-Back Performance Critical

Mateer showed plenty of improvement against Tennessee, most notably in the second half.

Venables said that bounce-back performance going into the bye week was important for the quarterback.

"I think it's important for any player, for the team as you develop your identity and guys start to gain confidence as the season goes on from improving and going through the challenges of gameday and everything that presents," Venables said. "You learn from it. I think John's got great self-awareness. We've got a team that's got a lot of awareness and a team — John included — that wants to be coached and willing to have tough conversations so you can improve and get better.

"That's the only way you can do it is by going through it."

Brent Venables: Late Interception vs. Tennessee Addressed

After the win over Tennessee, Venables criticized the play call that led to a late Volunteers' interception.

The play was a run-pass option call, which led John Mateer to go with the pass, giving Tennessee tha ball down nine with 4:18 remaining.

Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle took responsibility for the call earlier Monday, saying he shoudln't have given Mateer an option on the play if he wasn't wanting that utilized.

"That was my fault," Arbuckle said. " ... I got to be better in that moment, in that situation. And I know that. And you know, it's a good learning moment right there. But that one was on me."

Venables said the play call was addressed in the aftermath of the game to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.

"We've got a small window to communicate. We've got to be very clear about what we want," Venables said. "We do a lot of self-scouting. Certainly that, situational football, we discussed it immediately."

Danny Okoye's progress 'Incredibly Exciting'

Redshirt freshman Danny Okoye hasn't played a ton of snaps this season, but is making a bigger impact as the season progresses.

"Really hungry," Venables said of the defensive end. "He's got a ton of energy, loves to be coached, shows up every day with just a willingness to go to work."

Okoye had a first-quarter sack of Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar in the Sooners' last game, though he played just 11 snaps in total.

"He's really taken another big step from a confidence and from a consistency standpoint," Venables said. "Playing the level of football that he played to where he's at now, just incredibly exciting."

Venables Remembers 2003 Trip to Alabama

This won't be Venables' first trip to Braynt-Denny Stadium.

Venables was the Sooners' defensive coordinator in 2003 when OU beat the Crimson Tide 20-13 in Tuscaloosa.

"Electric atmosphere, tremendous game-day pageeantry," Venables said of his memories of that game, the Sooners' lone visit to Tuscaloosa before Saturday. "There's a few more people in the stadium now, over 100,000."

Venables On His Return to Clemson

Venables spent his bye-week Saturday still surrounded by college football, watching his son Tyler play for Clemson in the Tigers' 24-10 win over Florida State.

Venables revisited Tyler's decision to stay at Clemson instead of joining his father at OU when Brent accepted the job nearly four years ago.

"He was like, 'What should I do, dad?," Brent said. "This is your decision. This is what kind of going from boyhood to manhood's all about. Follow your dreams. This is mine."

Venables said the decision has been the right one for Tyler.

"A lot goes into that," Venables said. "Would I have loved to see him every day? Selfishly speaking, absolutely. I think as Julie and I look back at it, we've seen more growth and maturity that's taken place in the several years that we've been here, where things aren't as comfortable for him having mom and dad right there. You've just got to figure out things and build your own opportunity, own name, so to speak. It's been a lot of fun for us to watch that take place.

"Chase your dream and what you want in life, and you know, we'll always have your back. That's what FaceTime's for."

Dabo Swinney’s impression of Brent Venables may have been the highlight of last night. pic.twitter.com/Qc1AJqjLBw
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) November 9, 2025

Venables also saw Clemson coach Dabo Swinney's impersonation of him after the game.

"He's got me down," Venables said with a chuckle. "He's got about everybody down."

John Mateer's Bounce-Back Performance Critical

Brent Venables: Late Interception vs. Tennessee Addressed

Read More Oklahoma Football

Danny Okoye's progress 'Incredibly Exciting'

Venables Remembers 2003 Trip to Alabama

Venables On His Return to Clemson