Venables – Soonerguys

Dave: Injuries abound, time to get creative

Published on September 12, 2024 by Dave

Houston…. we have several problems.

Oklahoma came dangerously close to being the second big upset of the day when they escaped the Cougars 16-12 last Saturday night at Owen Field.

Venables made the comment at his press conference that it was probably not a good thing that he was bragging on his punter who had to take the field eight times.

But the punter and the defense won the game for the Sooners that night as the offense was a no show. And of course, that is extremely concerning.

Being a 28-point favorite and only posting 14 points, the other two points provided by the defense by way of a safety, against a bad Houston team is not good.

Some over all offensive stats after 2 games are startling: 109th nationally in passing offense, 108th nationally in total offense, and 131st in 3rd down conversion percentage, against less than stellar competition. Sounds suspiciously like rankings the Sooners defense had when “he who must not be named” was at the helm.

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Dave: Trust in Venables — Sooners gain confidence with each win

Published on November 3, 2022 by Dave

On October 15th the Sooners beat Kansas in Norman. After a bye week the Sooners then beat Iowa State on October 29th. That my friends constitutes a winning streak.

Although the streak came against a couple of teams that are ranked in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings, we will take it.

Because unfortunately the Sooners are in the bottom half right now as well.

But a win on the road is always a good win no matter who the team. Even though Iowa State has a very questionable offense, their defense was stout and gave OU fits.

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Dave: Crazy stuff happens in OU vs. Texas — but not optimistic this year

Published on October 5, 2022 by Dave

New season goal: Become bowl eligible.

And that won’t be easy considering the way the Sooners have looked that past two weeks.

There is no guaranteed win left on the schedule. We can’t even count on Kansas to be a push over anymore.

The defense is lost right now. And it may take a few years before it is found.

I saw some stats from the first few years of Venables’ tenure as Defensive Coordinator at Clemson.

His defenses ranked in the 50’s the first two years. Then in the third year they were a top 10 unit, and consistently stayed there throughout his time with the Tigers.

He is head coach now, so he has many more things that need his attention. Also, we need to realize that the Sooners lost more talent than anyone is willing to admit through graduation and the transfer portal.

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