Brent Venables: Oklahoma has 'some regret' after fight during game vs. West Virginia
Oklahoma shook off two straight losses last weekend with a big 59-20 win over West Virginia at home highlighted by outstanding performances from quarterback Dillon Gabriel and wide receiver Drake Stoops.
Gabriel did it all for the Sooners, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for five scores on the night, finding Stoops for three of those touchdown passes. But their last touchdown connection of the day was followed with a scuffle, as Stoops took a hard hit from West Virginia defensive back Anthony Wilson who stood over Stoops in the end zone following the score.
A brawl between both teams broke out afterward as a result, and following the game, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables addressed the fight.
“Had a couple moments where we didn’t represent ourselves the right way from an emotional standpoint and there’s some regret there,” Venables said. “Guys took good ownership in the locker room, but how we do what we do’s really important to me, a lot people counting on us to represent Oklahoma the right way.”
No penalties or ejections were doled out following the scuffle, likely due to how hard it was to identify the players involved due to the flickering strobe lights in Memorial Stadium following Stoops’ touchdown. But on the following play Oklahoma offensive lineman McKade Mettauer could not let go of the hit on his teammate, continuing to go after Wilson during the extra point resulting in him being ejected.
Mettaur apologized to the team following his ejection according to Stoops, as the actions during and after the skirmish don’t represent what the Oklahoma program stands for in the eyes of Venables.
“There was a couple moments we’re not really proud of and we gotta learn from, grow up, it’s an emotional, intense day but we can’t lose our poise in those moments,” Venables said. “That’s not representative of who we’ve been.”
Fighting in the midst of a game is never what any coach wants to see from their team, but there is a certain level of admiration for how Stoops’ teammates came to his defense following the malicious hit and actions of Wilson. Which Stoops talked about after the game sharing his perspective of the altercation.
“That’s my guy, Dillon’s my guy for sure, I love that guy. Jalil [Farooq] too I love him,” Stoops said. “I got the wind knocked out of me honestly, so I was like I’m just gonna lay here for a second I scored so I earned it. So I was like I’m gonna lay here and I look up and there’s brawl going on. I was just like man, I just love my team, and I alluded to that Monday. That just shows it right there.”
Oklahoma hits the road this weekend in their next matchup as they’ll take on BYU at noon ET in a game airing on ESPN.