Less than two months ago, Oklahoma rewarded head coach Brent Venables with a new six-year contract through the 2031 season after the Sooners reached the College Football Playoff last season for the first time since 2019.
But four games into this season, Venables is once again facing pressure.
It’s the latest swing on a seesaw that has defined much of Venables’ tenure in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners went 6–7 in his first season before rebounding to 10–3 in 2023. Then, another 6–7 season followed, only for them to bounce back and finish with 10 wins and a playoff appearance in 2025.
Now, the Sooners are 2–2 after losses to Michigan and Georgia, still searching for the consistency that has eluded them throughout the Venables era.
“We’re certainly not where we want to be as a football team right now,” Venables said. “Winning is a byproduct of doing what winning requires. It’s taking care of the football, running the football and playing well as a football team. … We need to create some momentum.”
Finding that consistency starts with an offense that has struggled since its 51-0 season-opening win against UTEP.
The Sooners have scored just 37 points across the three games since then. The run game has provided little relief. Since rushing for 170 yards against UTEP, Oklahoma has managed 226 yards on 96 carries, an average of just 2.35 yards per carry.
Oklahoma’s leading rusher, junior running back Lloyd Avant, has not eclipsed 35 yards in any of those contests, and his rushing totals have steadily decreased game by game.
Oklahoma’s issues don’t stop with the ground game. The Sooners have turned the ball over 10 times. Fifth-year quarterback John Mateer has accounted for over half of those with four interceptions and two lost fumbles.
That has placed even more pressure on a passing attack largely concentrated around two targets.
Fifth-year wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III and sixth-year tight end Rocky Beers have combined for 522 receiving yards, nearly 60% of Oklahoma’s air production. While both have caught at least 18 passes, no other Sooner has caught more than six.
Although Oklahoma’s offense has struggled to find consistency, the Sooners’ Venables-led defense has largely provided it. Since taking over defensive play-calling duties before last season, Venables has continued to produce one of the country’s most reliable units.
Oklahoma has allowed just 16 points per game and has also recorded 13 sacks this season. The Sooners rank third nationally in pass defense, allowing just 122.5 passing yards per game.
Opposing offenses have struggled to sustain drives against the Sooners, averaging just 12 first downs per game, the fewest in the Southeastern Conference. Oklahoma has also been especially effective in killing drives on third down, allowing a third-down conversion rate of 23% — the best mark in the conference.
Now, Venables will try to turn that defensive success into a win against a team that has given him some of his lowest moments at Oklahoma.
Venables is 1–3 against Texas, a record that carries added weight in a rivalry where public perception can change dramatically based on a single Saturday in the Cotton Bowl. He has the opportunity to shift that perception while steadying a season that has already begun to tilt in the wrong direction, much like Texas did at this point last season.
For a coach whose Oklahoma tenure has repeatedly swung between progress and regression, a win over No. 1 Texas could tip the seesaw back the other way.
“Winning kind of cures a lot,” Venables said.