Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Says ‘Honest Conversations’ Coming After 2-2 Start

ATHENS, Ga. — The Sooners are skating on very thin ice.

Oklahoma lost 41-13 to No. 2 Georgia on Saturday and dropped to 2-2. The Sooners have been unable to find any semblance of an offensive identity, and they have committed 10 turnovers through four games.

Though discouraged, the players in the locker room still have plenty of belief among themselves.

“We just have to keep leaning on each other because we know what we’re capable of, and this wasn’t a great representation of the best of our abilities,” junior cornerback Eli Bowen said.

OU is ranked 16th in the SEC in scoring offense, scoring only 22 points per game. That number is inflated by the Sooners’ 51-point effort against middling UTEP in Week 1.

The Sooners, playing their second season under offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, also rank last in the conference in total offense at 321.3 yards per game. They’re 15th in rushing offense (99 rushing yards per game) and 13th in passing offense (222.3 yards per game).

Specifically, quarterback John Mateer has struggled mightily. Though he is completing 66.2 percent of his passes, he has already thrown four interceptions.

Center Jake Maikkula believes that it’s important for the Sooners to band together, rather than pointing fingers, amid the struggles.

“Just keep encouraging them,” Maikkula said. “We have a talented group and we just have to come together and keep pushing.”

After Saturday’s 28-point loss, OU coach Brent Venables described the team as a “family.” He knows that the discussions held within the facilities won’t necessarily be easy ones over the next few weeks.

“People are pissed,” Venables said. “You have to be able to have honest conversations within your family. That's what a normal family should do.

“I would be disappointed if they weren't (pissed). But you can speak your mind, speak your heart, and you don't have to have an alignment in the moment for your team to still stay strong and believe in each other and have each other's back.”

Oklahoma will get a bye week before taking on No. 1 Texas in this year’s Red River Rivalry. The Sooners have lost two in a row and three of their last four against their arch rivals from Austin.

Considering how the Sooners have played over the last three weeks, there’s not much harm that can come from a week off of the field.

“We have to look back at ourselves over these first four weeks — what are our tendencies that we have, what’s been good for us, what’s been bad for us, how can we get better at the things we struggle with?” Arbuckle said. “We’re going to be pushing forward, trying to get better in every facet.”

The schedule ahead is brutal for the Sooners. In addition to the Texas game, OU will battle several teams that seem like College Football Playoff contenders, including No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 19 Missouri, No. 21 Florida and No. 24 Mississippi State

Last year, the Sooners won four games in a row to finish the regular season 10-2 and reach the CFP. This year, they’ll have to round out eight wins in a row against quality competition to realistically make it back.

It’s a tall task, but it’s one that Bowen believes he and his teammates can live up to.

“We can’t let these moments define our season,” Bowen said. “We still have eight games left. We can make the most of that and leave it up to the committee.”

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