Oklahoma’s Brent Venables Faces the Texas Question in Pivotal 2025 Showdown

If Brent Venables wants to right the wrongs of 2022 and 2024, this Saturday is a must-win for the fourth-year head coach.

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025 Red River Rivalry is unique. 

No one will know if John Mateer will be able to play until kickoff. In the event he is unable to play, Michael Hawkins Jr. will make his second start in this series in an effort to further distance himself from the dreadful performance in his first. 

Despite Oklahoma’s No. 6 ranking, better record, and stronger defense — plus Texas’ struggles — there’s still a very real chance the Sooners will hit the road north on I-35 Saturday night as the losers.

For Brent Venables, that cannot happen.

While the fourth year head coach has answered a handful of offseason questions coming into a pivotal 2025 season, there is still much to learn. One of those questions is simple: Can you beat Texas? Especially a Texas team that is down and has taken a step back from previous seasons.

The Longhorns opened as the betting favorite in Las Vegas. Despite being a technical underdog, there are many reasons why Oklahoma should be confident going into this game.

That’s something you couldn’t say about two of Venables’ first three Red River Rivalries.

In order to recover from the faults of 2024 and truly get the program on the right track, Venables cannot see his OU-Texas record drop to 1-3. History has not been kind to Sooner coaches with such porous starts in the series.

Gary Gibbs got off to an awful start in the series, dropping his first four contests against Texas. Both programs in the late-80s and early-90s were in similar standing, making those albeit close losses sting. John Blake didn’t even get a fourth game in his tenure, he finished 1-2 against the Longhorns.

While Chuck Fairbanks is fondly remembered for how he helped build back the program before he left for the NFL in 1972, he even started 0-4 against Texas.

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Simply put, those coaches had a Texas problem. None of them helped put championships in the Sooners’ vault. That’s not where Venables wants to be. In the event Venables goes 1-3 against the Longhorns on Saturday, the conversation of “Venables has a Texas problem” will begin.

Should Venables and the Sooners win on Saturday, a 2-2 start in the series would recover a fair amount of good will. It would help show that his two losses to Texas – while embarrassing in their margin of victory – were the result of unfortunate injuries and an overmatched opponent in the Longhorns. 

If Venables wants to be closer to the big three of Oklahoma coaching, Saturday has to result in a victory – even with another potential injury at quarterback.

Bud Wilkinson took over as Oklahoma’s head coach in 1947 and quickly set the tone in the rivalry with Texas. After his first four meetings with the Longhorns, Wilkinson owned a 3-1 record against the rival program from Austin.

Barry Switzer followed a similar path in 1973, opening his head coaching career with a fast start against Texas. Powered by Switzer’s wishbone offense, the Sooners went 3-0-1 and helped usher out the Darrell Royal era in Austin.

Bob Stoops' initial loss to the Longhorns in 1999 gave way to a similar 3-1 record.

If Venables wants to cement his place among Oklahoma’s coaching greats and set the program on a new path, this Saturday’s showdown is more than just a game — it’s a defining moment. 

With the weight of Sooner history on his shoulders, and a Longhorns team ready to prove that their season is far from over, the Red River Rivalry in 2025 promises to test everything Venables and his squad have built so far.