Why Brent Venables expects a bounce back year for Oklahoma
The last time the University of Oklahoma finished below .500 in football, The Waterboy was the No. 1 movie in the United States and Lauryn Hill had the No. 1 song in the country.
That was 1998, by the way, as John Blake’s tenure came to an end after a 5-6 season. That’s why saying that Brent Venables and Sooners came up short in a 6-7 year is the definition of an understatement.
The proud university isn’t used to losing so many games in one season. Venables was keenly aware of how his team fell short when he spoke at Big 12 media days on Thursday.
“It goes without saying, we went 6-7 last year and fell well below our expectations and our standards at Oklahoma,” Venables said Thursday at the Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium. “But man, we learned and grew a lot as a football program.”
It’s imperative for a coach to sell optimism in the preseason, especially when you have a roster brimming with talent like the Sooners. But is that optimism warranted?
“In five of the seven losses, it goes down to the last minute, two minutes of the game in the fourth quarter with a chance to win,” Venables said.
When you look at it that way, it’s a fair point. Just look at TCU, who went 6-1 in games decided by a possession or less. That doesn’t include the crazy comeback against Kansas State or the road game at West Virginia when the Horned Frogs scored a touchdown with 20 seconds remaining.
Luck is hard to quantify in sports, but it plays a part. There’s a reason we have a saying that you can create your own luck right?
But the Sooners’ problems went much further than an unlucky bounce here or there. Oklahoma was one of the worst defenses in the country last year, allowing 30 points per game and more than 461 yards per game.
That was the most jarring aspect of last year’s disappointing season. Venables coordinated some of this century’s best defenses at Oklahoma and Clemson, so to see his unit be so underwhelming was shocking.
Venables knows there must be progress on that side of the ball.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’ve got a lot of faith in both our players, our staff,” Venables said. “And certainly how we do what we do and our developmental processes. But we led the Big 12 in interceptions. We led the Big 12 in tackles for loss. Those are building blocks, things you can build from.”
Preseason All-Big 12 edge rusher Ethan Downs, senior defensive lineman Reggie Grimes and former Denton Ryan standout Billy Bowman are talented individuals and are part of the building blocks Venables referenced. But while the Sooners were disruptive at times, on a down-to-down basis it was a defense that got pushed around physically.
“I think leading the country last year you’ve got to be around 2.4 yards a carry,” Venables said. “We were at (4.5) yards a carry. So how do we shave off a couple of yards? A couple of yards is a lot. I get it. I know what that looks like.”
Venables was aggressive in the transfer portal to beef up the run defense as the Sooners signed a top-10 transfer class. Of the 17 transfers, five are on the defensive line and another was all-purpose weapon Dasan McCullough.
“We’ve got six guys up front, two All-American linebackers,” Venables said. “A hard-hitting safety in (Texas Tech transfer) Reggie Pearson. I believe we’ll be better up the middle of our defense, and I look at where we were at really at every single position, and we didn’t have the competitive depth a year ago.”
Better depth and better coaching from him and the staff are the keys to a much different outcome this season for the Sooners. Venables coached at Oklahoma for over a decade, he understands how quickly the fanbase will turn if the Sooners limp to another middling season.
If Venables can’t deliver on the improvements on that side of the ball, then Oklahoma could have a new leader when the Sooners join the SEC next season.
