Brent Venables and Co. disappointed Oklahoma fans big time last season. In 2023, he managed to show the CFB world that he still had what made him such a great coach, given his impressive record at Clemson. In 2024, Venables went back to where he started: a poor 6-7 finish, paired with a bowl loss. This year, the HC is out to redeem himself for the second time. Nobody is going as hard at prep as Venables. He’s got a new quarterback, John Mateer, along with some key staff changes. The question is, can Venables come back from the disaster of last year’s performance?
A plethora of things went wrong for Oklahoma in 2024. Topping that list is the offensive show. The wide receiver room started looking bleak after some key injuries. Nic Anderson was one of several key wide receivers to deal with injuries in 2024, along with Andrel Anthony, Jayden Gibson, and Jalil Farooq. Then there were the glaring quarterback issues. The problems were getting so serious that Venables had to fire then-OC Seth Littrell mid-season. Both Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr. struggled in the season, as bad coaching further hampered their game. Arnold was finally benched against the Tennessee game, after throwing one interception and suffering two fumbles. Hawkins, who briefly breathed some spirit back into the offense, also faltered against South Carolina, with three turnovers.
Now, Venables has a John Mateer with a total of 3,139 yards and a completion rate of 64.6% in 2024. Mateer followed the new OC Ben Arbuckle from Washington State. Both are a formidable duo that produced a productive season for the Cougars. On3’s J.D. PicKell points out how Mateer stands to improve the Sooners’ game this season. “[The offense] couldn’t protect the quarterback,” PicKell noted as the No. 1 problem of the struggling offense. “John Mateer, when you turn on the tape and watch that dude play, he deals with pressure, I think, as well as anyone else in college football,” the analyst said.
“He has a great knack for finding the answer in a pressure.” PicKell alluded to some of the QB’s plays from before, where he used a linebacker or a safety off the edge. “He stands in there, knows he’s going to get hit, delivers a strike or he’s too quick with it, gets the ball out before the pressure is even able to get to him,” PicKell highlighted. Now that Mateer is equipped with a familiar OC who delivers results, Venables can finally steer the offense to safety. “I have to believe that Oklahoma’s going to cut that sack rate number in half,” PicKell added further. That number was a worrying 13% in 2024.
The Sooners also had a worrying stat when it came to third downs. “35% on third down. It’s 110th in the country. There’s only 136 teams,” A frustrated PicKell said. “The fact that you have now another answer on third down, the fact that you have somebody else that can help you move the chains, at the very least, it’s going to help your defense out.” John Mateer is a great solution to a lot of problems. But he will need the right coach to also help him maximise his potential.
Brent Venables knows how poorly he fared last season. So, he’s adopted a no-nonsense mindset and started working on attacking all his problems. His quarterback solution looks good. But in the WR room, Venables suffered a serious blow.
Injury troubles continue for Brent Venables
The HC struggled with depth issues as receivers kept going down like flies. “They were basically down their top seven wide receivers,” Eddie Radosevich of The Sold Verbal College Football Podcast said. They lost Deion Burks, Gibson, and Farooq. As a result, Venables had to rely on freshmen Zion Ragins, Zion Kearney, and more to take up the job, who were not up to the mark. So Venables went portal shopping and scored JaVonnie Gibson.
Gibson, from Arkansas Pine, tallied an impressive 70 receptions for 1,215 yards and also scored 9 TDs. However, the injury saga continued at Norman. Venables lost the promising WR as a result of his breaking his foot at spring practice. The practice schedule at Oklahoma is one of the toughest, which extends up to the season opener. Venables, however, remained optimistic. “If he just stays on schedule, he’ll be back to start the season and be back with us,” he told the press.
Venables didn’t waste time on star power at the transfer portal. He’s learnt his lesson from 2024 and worked on bulking up the WR room as much as he can. Gibson is joined by fellow transfers Isaiah Sategna, Keontez Lewis, and Josiah Martin. Freshman recruits include Elijah Thomas and Emmanuel Choice, who will join returning WRs Jayden Gibson and Burks.
The Oklahoma offense performed so poorly last season that people are yet to be convinced that 2025 will be a great year. “The bar is set so low for Oklahoma to just be better offensively that they really don’t have to do much,” Radosevich declared. But, Brent Venables knows what’s at stake this year and is truly working hard to keep his 2024 woes in the past. With John Mateer and a better-looking offense, can change come forth at Norman in 2025?
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