Why Oklahoma's Offense has Brent Venables 'Fired Up' Ahead of the CFP

Brent Venables was fired up about how Oklahoma’s offense closed down practice on Monday.

“The offense finished the day with a two-minute (drill),” he said on his weekly Coaches Show on Monday night. “They had 38 seconds, one timeout, they needed a field goal to go win. And man, they went.”

Closing Monday’s practice on a high note ahead of Friday’s College Football Playoff matchup with Alabama will build confidence in any unit, but Venables said that Ben Arbuckle’s unit has been building momentum on the practice field since OU’s win over LSU.

“This is kind of how the last week and a half has gone, the offense is just taking these big steps that get me fired up and excited,” Venables said. “And it ain’t been doing it over against the scout team. They’re doing it against good people and maybe where they haven’t had as much consistent success, they’ve had more of it since we played last.”

Oklahoma Sooners, John Mateer — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer rolls out to his right against Alabama. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Oklahoma’s offense taking a step forward would be a great sign for the Sooners.

OU enters the CFP 88th in total offense, averaging 353.7 yards per game.

During Oklahoma’s Red November run, Arbuckle’s offense averaged 308 yards per game as the Sooners leaned heavily on their defense and special teams.

John Mateer and the offense did produce in clutch moments throughout November, but more consistent performances on that side of the ball could transform OU into a CFP dark horse.

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There’s been no magic fix for the offense, though running backs Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock getting time to heal and get closer to 100 percent health has certainly helped.

The improvements have come as a result of self-scouting and continued development throughout every practice in December.

“What does that look like? Well, get the ball out on time,” Venables said. “Be accurate. Catch the ball in tight coverage, being physical through the top of the route. It’s moving the double-team, like physically watch the double-team get knocked off the ball.

“And it goes both ways. I’m like, ‘What in the hell? Get your pads down! Fight back! Get your cleats in the ground!’ And you don’t want nobody getting knocked off the ball but you do. And running backs running with more purpose.”

In the Sooners’ first matchup with the Crimson Tide, Alabama outgained Oklahoma 406-212 in total yardage.

OU was able to convert three turnovers into 17 points, and while the team emerged out of its tough November stretch 10-2, Venables said his team has remained humble and receptive to the areas in which every unit can improve.

“Coachable teams fix mistakes,” Venables said. “(It’s) a hungry, driven football team which is what we’ve developed as one of the things that kind of defines this team and its identity is this is a group of guys that have got great self-awareness. Nobody is too big for their britches. Even through all the success, man, this has been a group of guys that are like, ‘Man, coach me like I’m a freshman.’ And they’ve taken on that personality.

“So I love that. That gets you excited to get to game day as much as anything because of this incremental improvement that you’ll have and experience as a result of having that kind of an attitude.”

Oklahoma enters the CFP riding a four-game winning streak and with plenty of confidence, but the Sooners know they’ll have to execute at a high level to take down Alabama again and advance to the Rose Bowl to take on No. 1 Indiana.

“That’s what good teams do. Good teams execute at a pretty dang good level at this time of the year,” Venables said. “And again, I just gave you a snapshot… But all three phases shared in that. So those are the things that get you excited in what you’re seeing.”