Oklahoma Sooners OC Ben Arbuckle opens up about what has everyone upset after the win over Missouri Tigers
Ben Arbuckle and the Sooners have to fix the offense.
The Oklahoma Sooners are one win away from making their first College Football Playoff in the Brent Venables era. If they want to win games past that, though, the Sooners have to fix their offense. It’s a little too late to fix it completely, but it has to be better.
On Saturday against the Missouri Tigers, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle thinks it was much better than what we have seen recently.
“The first thing I’m most proud of is that we didn’t turn the ball over one time,” Arbuckle told reporters after beating Missouri at home. “We didn’t turn the ball over one time, that’s two weeks in a row, and that’s a huge key to victory. The ball may get a little risky from time to time, but ultimately, we didn’t give the ball to them.
“When you look at the game, I think there was a lot of good, but especially in the third and short, you have to execute better. I have to do a better job as a coach. The kids were ready. The kids were dialed in. At the end of the day, I’m proud of the effort they put in, turnovers margin, and physicality.”
Sooners can’t afford to be one-dimensional on offense
The run game has been the Sooners’ main avenue of offense. When they discovered that Xavier Robinson was good, the whole run game opened up. The young offensive line is in a good groove right now, and the run game has worked well.
But that cannot be the only thing they rely on. The Sooners have to figure out a passing game because the run game won’t always be there. In fact, outside of what quarterback John Mateer did with his legs, the run game wasn’t really on Saturday. Not to mention, the Sooners are pretty banged up in the RB room.
The pass game on Saturday accounted for both offensive touchdowns, with Mateer hitting wide receiver Isaiah Sategna for an 87-yard pass and throwing a nice RPO TD to Javonnie Gibson. Outside of those two drives and the drive that got kicker Tate Sandell into field goal range, the offense was bad.
There were times when the Sooners were trying to force a pass that just wasn’t there. The run game had been working, and Arbuckle went completely away from it. They ended up going what felt like two straight drives, albeit short drives, without a run called.
The teams in the College Football Playoff will be much better, and just simply running the ball or having these miracle plays created by Sategna won’t always get it done. It’s now or never.
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