Brent Venables analyzes Oklahoma's offensive showing under Seth Littrell

Oklahoma had an unusual set of circumstances heading into the Valero Alamo Bowl against Arizona. Due to a coaching hire, the Sooners had to replace their offensive coordinator just before the game, tapping Seth Littrell for the role.

Littrell had been on staff as an offensive analyst in 2023, so he had some level of familiarity with the team’s offense already. Then he put on some of his own twists.

Head coach Brent Venables pointed out one thing, in particular, he really liked from the Alamo Bowl.

“I thought we had good balance running and throwing and had a lot of opportunity throwing the ball, threw it well a lot, and so I think some of that was there,” Venables said. “And then some of it’s RPO world, and that’s just his decision by the quarterback, whether he pulls it out of the belly or not. But I thought we had really good balance.”

Despite losing the contest 38-24, Oklahoma thoroughly outgained Arizona. The Sooners piled up an impressive 562 total yards of offense, with the split being 201 yards on the ground and 361 yards through the air.

It was key mistakes in costly areas that kept Oklahoma from scoring more.

“Hard to stay in rhythm, again, when you have some of the things that were happening maybe, whether it’s penalties or, again, turning the ball over, but we continued to fight together,” Venables said.

Oklahoma turned the ball over six times in the contest, losing three fumbles and three interceptions. New starting quarterback Jackson Arnold had a bit of a tough go in his first real look as the starter.

But the Sooners will likely learn with time, and there wasn’t much to be disappointed about when it came to Littrell’s performance. Venables remains high on Arnold’s potential, especially under Seth Littrell’s tutelage going forward.

“Defense responded several times, and offense would come right back, and that’s what I love is just even in moments of adversity or when things were going dreadfully wrong, we can continue to respond, and on both sides of the ball,” Venables said.

“But especially on offense and with Jackson as the leader … when you’ve got the right stuff, it’s just second nature, and he does. Shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, but it’s certainly not for us.”