It wasn't much, but the Oklahoma Sooners' offense provided some reasons to be encouraged in their 26-14 loss to Ole Miss today. 

While 14 points isn't lighting the world on fire, it's more points than the Sooners had scored in their last two games combined (yes, really). 

Oklahoma's offense had multiple successful drives throughout the game, especially in the first half. They finished 8-18 on third down for one of their best games converting on third down all season. The Sooners also boasted a team total 44% success rate, which is better than what they had produced in recent weeks. 

Entering the game, the Sooners were 114th in the country in rushing yards per game. They crossed 100 yards on the ground in the first half to become just the second team to run for over 100 yards on Ole Miss. 

Oklahoma had two drives that got into the Ole Miss red zone, one in the first and one in the second half, but turned the ball over on downs on both drives. 

Jackson Arnold looked more confident than he had been in previous games. While he wasn't overly productive through the air, he produced over 250 yards from scrimmage this week, throwing for two touchdowns, and kept the offense moving better than it had all season. 

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Unfortunately, an injury to starting left tackle Jacob Sexton late in the second quarter forced an already banged-up offensive line to shift again. The Sooners already entered the game without starting right tackle Jake Taylor, and Ole Miss is too talented to have backups hold out for long. 

After putting up just two sacks heading into the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Ole Miss rattled off seven sacks in the Sooners' final ten plays of the game, including five in a seven-play span, to finish with a total of nine sacks on the day.  

Did the decision to fire offensive coordinator Seth Littrell help? Yes, in some aspects. The offense felt like they actually had a workable game plan and weren't blowing their assignments as frequently as they had in previous games. 

Is it passable yet? Not remotely. I would have maybe felt differently if new play-caller Joe Jon Finley didn't have some of the worst timing for trick plays I've ever seen, as he actively derailed a scoring drive with one late in the second half. 

Still, the signs of life were there, and it felt like for the first time the offense was actually competitive. They were able to play complementary football in a game they were 20-point underdogs in. There's something salvageable if they can keep building this up, and might provide some optimism for the Sooners' next offensive coordinator to turn this thing around. 

They've got games against Maine, Missouri, Alabama, and LSU to continue to prove it.