Oklahoma news: Brent Venables shuts down talks about replacing Ben Arbuckle
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Winning in college football usually cures everything, but the University of Oklahoma Sooners left their home crowd deeply frustrated Saturday night. Despite grinding out a 14-6 victory over the New Mexico Lobos, another sluggish offensive performance drew loud boos inside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and sparked immediate speculation surrounding offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
When reporter Greg Stoia III pressed head coach Brent Venables during postgame availability regarding his confidence in Arbuckle moving forward, the Sooners coach abruptly shut down talk of a shakeup.
“I’m not going to talk about confidence. He’s our offensive coordinator… We have to be better,” Venables stated directly.
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Venables’ blunt response aimed to douse early firestorms, but the anxiety surrounding Oklahoma’s offense is very real. Coming off a disappointing 17-10 loss to the University of Michigan Wolverines the week prior, Arbuckle’s unit sputtered continuously against New Mexico. The Sooners committed three first-half turnovers and limped into the locker room clinging to a razor-thin 7-6 halftime lead.
Quarterback John Mateer completed 76% of his passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with tight end Hayden Hansen on a 29-yard score and wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III on a 53-yard strike. However, Mateer also tossed two ugly first-half interceptions. To make matters worse, Oklahoma’s ground game completely evaporated, managing a paltry 81 rushing yards on 1.9 yards per carry.
Oklahoma’s elite defense rescued the evening by racking up six sacks and limiting the Lobos to just 185 total yards. Still, reliance on defensive heroics isn’t a sustainable formula with a brutal Southeastern Conference schedule looming. With heavyweight matchups against the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns right around the corner, Venables knows backing his assistant coach publicly is only the first step. Arbuckle must fix this stagnant offense quickly before patience in Norman completely wears thin.
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