Brent Venables has fixed biggest issue from Oklahoma’s 2024 season, and it will pay major dividends moving forward
Despite the play of John Mateer, Ben Arbuckle is proving he was the right hire for the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Oklahoma Sooners have done it. After a nail-biter win over the LSU Tigers, the Sooners have punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff. All there is left to do now is wait to see how the chaos unfolds as Oklahoma looks to host a game in the first round of the playoffs.
The defense obviously showed up and played a massive role in Oklahoma’s comeback win over the Tigers, as they have done all season, but I think the other side of the ball deserves credit for delivering its part late. Last season, Oklahoma’s offense couldn’t finish games when the defense delivered. Time and time again, the Sooners’ defense did all it could to keep them in games, and the offense would blow it. This year, despite their struggles in some areas, Ben Arbuckle has laid the foundation of success with Oklahoma’s offense, and that has paid off and will continue to pay off in big ways down the line.
Ben Arbuckle is the right man for the job
I know me saying this on the heels of back-to-back games where the offense hasn’t scored more than 20 points is immediately going to draw some backlash. I get it. The offense has been far from perfect. Arbuckle is still growing as a play caller, figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of his personnel, and is trying his best to get blood from a stone from a fairly lifeless quarterback who seems determined to lose a game.
But think of it like this: As bad as Oklahoma’s quarterback play has been, they still put up nearly 400 yards of offense on an elite LSU defense. LSU ranked top 10 in virtually every metric, and the Sooners had plenty of drives where they moved the ball seemingly at will before a terrible Mateer turnover would occur. They haven’t had a healthy starting running back in two weeks, they didn’t have any centers on the team at all, and the quarterback turned the ball over three times. And yet, they still put up almost 400 yards of offense. All season long, only Ole Miss and Texas A&M have put up as many yards as the Sooners did on LSU on Saturday.
As frustrating as the quarterback play of Mateer is, would you believe me if I told you he was averaging more yards than potential No.1 pick Fernando Mendoza? Arch Manning is averaging 265.5 yards per game. Mateer? 272.1. Heisman contender Julian Sayin? 259.3. Obviously, context has to be applied because Mateer has more or less been the offense, but it’s not like Mendoza, Manning, or Sayin haven’t been their teams’ entire offense for most of the season either.
Don’t mistake this as an endorsement of Mateer. Quite frankly, he might be my least favorite quarterback I’ve seen in an Oklahoma jersey to watch (and I’ve been around for awhile). Take it as a testament to Ben Arbuckle and his prowess. He’s getting blood from a stone with what is under center and the personnel issues the Sooners have had. The concepts are working, the execution from the quarterback hasn’t.
Let him cook. I promise you the results will be worth it in the long run. Brent Venables made the right call.
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