Column: When Will Oklahoma Break This Cycle of One-Way Football?

Last Saturday's edition of the Red River Rivalry was much of what we've come to expect over the last four years.

Save for a heroic performance by Dillon Gabriel and a balanced 2023 Oklahoma team, Brent Venables' Sooners have been outclassed, out-coached and outplayed in three of his four games against the Texas Longhorns.

There have been different causes and factors that led into this unholy triumvirate of losses: 49-0, 34-3 and now 23-6. Some of the commonalities are hard to ignore: Awful quarterback play due to losing a starter, benching a previous starter for a true freshman, or spending three weeks worrying about if the starter is going to be able to play.

But Saturday's 23-6 loss brought back an old specter that has haunted the program seemingly for over a decade: One-way football.

John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners — Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the 2010s, the mantra was always about the Sooners chasing an average defense to complement their earth-shattering offenses. The 2018 Rose Bowl, 2018 Red River Rivalry and the 2019 Orange Bowl stand out as the damning examples of the program neglecting one side of the ball.

Through years of poor recruiting, shaky development and questionable game plans, the once-proud Oklahoma defenses of the early 2000s devolved into bend-but-don’t-break units that broke more often than not during the 2010s.

That's one large reason why Joe Castiglione went to Venables when Lincoln Riley left for USC — to save the Sooner defense.

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Venables has done just that. The Oklahoma defense has become the strength of the program. Even after a disappointing loss against Texas, the Sooner defense played well enough to win the game.

"Played well enough to win" was a thought that often accompanied Oklahoma losses in the 2010s, but for the offense. Whether it was Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray, often times in big games against quality opponents, those two future-NFL quarterbacks were undone by having to lead game plans with the unrealistic expectation to score a touchdown on every drive.

Fast-forward back to 2025 and the program is staring at what Steve Sarkisian reminded the world last Saturday evening: The Sooners have failed to score a touchdown against his team three of the previous four meetings.

So what, is Oklahoma stuck in the opposite end of the cycle it suffered under before Venables returned to Norman? Judging by Venables' teams' performances against the Longhorns and some of his comments last weekend, it appears so.

"Start of the fourth quarter, it’s a one-score game," Venables said. "We hadn’t played great football. But we had our opportunities despite not playing well and doing the things that winning requires.

"Just the basic blocking and tackling, fitting gaps, making good decisions, catching the ball. Those types of things. Couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half."

While there were reasons in 2022 and 2024 for terrible offensive showings, the 2025 addition to Venables' Texas résumé gives the impression that poor recruiting, shaky development and questionable game plans on offense have led the program to being a one-way football team once again.

Oklahoma Sooners Michael Hawkins — Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (9) in 2024. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Fortunately for Oklahoma, they have the tools to dig themselves out of this reality. Ben Arbuckle's game plan appeared to be strong, considering the — and this is the unfortunate part for Oklahoma — number of players schemed open that John Mateer missed.

"I was ready to go, physically," Mateer said following the loss. "Mentally, I just didn’t perform. My eyes weren’t as good as they needed to be. When your quarterback doesn’t play good football, hard to win in this league. That’s what happened. Honored to play in the game and see the atmosphere. I just didn’t play good enough."

That makes sense considering Mateer performed no "good-on-good" work during their week of preparation for Texas. Timing for a quarterback comes from repetition, something he wasn't afforded by recovering from his surgery.

That should mean that the Sooners should have a good chance to rebound from the loss and avoid being a team that the defense carries water for.

Ben Arbuckle, John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners — Oklahoma offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Ben Arrkbuckle talks with quarterback John Mateer. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That being said, the 2025 Sooners are still quite a ways away from where they need to be in order to achieve lofty goals.

Oklahoma's offense currently sits with a rating of 39 per ESPN's SP+. Prior to the game in Dallas, OU's offense was a top-25 rated offense. Good, but not great.

While good, but not great, pairs well with a great defense, this program will need the offense to pick itself up from a disappointing loss against Texas and find ways to improve to heights it hadn't shown all season.

It's a tall task, but if Oklahoma is going to win games against a brutal schedule, they'll need more than "good enough to win" performances from one side of the ball to navigate October and November.