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Oklahoma

Brent Venables reveals where Oklahoma has been improving

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•11/09/22
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Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables chats with officials before a game against Baylor on Nov. 5, 2022. (Brian Bahr / Getty Images)

Oklahoma has struggled in its first year under Brent Venables, having lost four games and trying to find a way to secure bowl eligibility with some challenging games down the stretch. But Venables has seen areas Oklahoma is improving, too.

The major one is simply the buy-in he’s seen from players, despite the rough season.

“I’ve seen consistency on the investment part, which is where it starts, the work that you’ve got to put into it,” Venables said. “Been really pleased with the investment part top to bottom.”

Now, there are also areas on the football field where Venables thinks the Sooners have made some strides.

Those improvements haven’t always directly translated to wins, evidenced by Baylor‘s 38-35 win on Saturday in a close contest in Norman, Okla. Still, Venables acknowledged some areas of growth.

“We were better on third down this last week, so that was an improvement from the week before,” he said. “Last two weeks have been pretty good from that standpoint.

“We’ve been running the football well all year. We’ve been a good unit not dropping the football. Marvin (Mims) had a few, Brayden (Willis) had one or two against Iowa State. But again, we’ve done a really good job catching the football.”

Oklahoma improving practice habits, too

The Sooners certainly aren’t where they want to be right now, though after the tumultuous offseason and the departure of Lincoln Riley and a few star players that’s not altogether surprising.

For Venables, the task at hand is really about making sure there is positive momentum going forward. As long as Oklahoma is improving there can be reason for optimism he can turn things around long-term.

“I like how our guys have, again, practiced,” Venables said. “Thought we a little better in some of our coverage stuff the last few weeks. Gotten our hands on some balls the last several weeks. Last three games there’s a lot of things we got better at.”

Still, making a bowl game needs to be a focus at this point. And it’s no given.

Oklahoma has three games remaining, starting with a noon ET game on Saturday at West Virginia (on FS1). Following that a final home game against Oklahoma State, then a road trip to Texas Tech close out the slate.