Oklahoma-Nebraska: One Big Thing

After two comfortable victories at home to start his career, Brent Venables wants his team to get comfortable in road games, starting with Saturday in Lincoln.

John E. Hoover | Sep 16, 2022

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Oklahoma Sooners

LINCOLN, NE — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said he wants his football team to become comfortable being uncomfortable.

That’s another way of saying, “Do what Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley used to do when they took the Sooners on the road.”

Between them from 2013 to 2019, Stoops and Riley’s teams won 22 straight road games. Whatever it was — their formula, their mindset, their methodology — worked brilliantly.

Saturday marks Venables’ first road trip. The Sooners play an 11 a.m. game against Nebraska in Lincoln.

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OU-Nebraska Fanalytix

"This will be our first opportunity to travel," Venables said, "so another small challenge going on the road. Early game. Staying an hour away (in Omaha). I like that because it gives our guys an opportunity to get get uncomfortable. An opportunity to grow through this. We're going to need all that, experience wise down the road. This won't be the last time we play early. None of that stuff matters. So it's exciting."

Historically, Memorial Stadium can be a snake pit.

But in recent years, it’s significantly less so. In their last four-plus seasons, the Huskers are only 12-14 in Lincoln.

OU climbed to No. 4 in college football history last week in all-time total victories with 940. OU most past Texas (939) and tied Notre Dame (940) and now trails only Ohio State (942), Alabama (944) and Michigan (978).

The Sooners are climbing so fast recently because they’re piling up so many road wins. Including his last two flubs last season, Riley’s teams were 17-4 in true road games. That's an incredible percentage.

If Venables can get comfortable doing that — starting Saturday as an 11.5-point favorite — his career arc at OU will turn out just fine.

Published Sep 16, 2022

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.