Oklahoma Will Stink, And Brent Venables Will Be The Fall Guy

Oklahoma Will Stink, And Brent Venables Will Be The Fall Guy

Serious question. What are the expectations at Oklahoma? Most sportsbooks have the Sooners at 6.5 on the over/under win total. Is that going to be good enough? If Oklahoma wins six or seven games, Brent Venables is going to be the fall guy. We all know it.

Venables, 54, isn’t terrible at what he does. He’s just not a real head coach. There’s no question that Clemson misses him as a defensive coordinator. There’s also no question he’s recruiting well, and his defense is miles better than when Lincoln Riley was the head coach. The problem is, we know at this point he’s nothing more than an independent contractor and needs someone to save him on the offensive side of things.

We saw that play out last year. Jackson Arnold won the Elite 11. He’s actually talented. He couldn’t have looked more lost, and Venables totally threw the guy under the bus. The offense never got better when they went to Michael Hawkins Jr, who can’t throw the ball a lick. It was a six-win season, but here’s the worst part. If and when Arnold thrives with Auburn, it’s going to reveal a lot of truths.

The pressure isn’t on Venables. We already know he’s not a real head coach. The pressure is on Ben Arbuckle and John Mateer to save Venables’ job. I genuinely like Mateer. I think he can play. Life is just going to be very different playing at Washington State compared to the rigors of the SEC.

There are really only two scenarios at play here.

A: Mateer stinks because of the landscape of the SEC, and being a quarterback who thrives under Venables just isn’t a realistic ask.

B: Mateer thrives, but only to a certain level.

Look, there’s a reason why 6.5 is the win total. The schedule is cheese. OU plays Michigan, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU. They need to win four of those games to hit the over win total. Again, Mateer could be awesome, yet they fall short because that schedule is ridiculous. Maybe it’s a different story in the Big 12, but asking Venables to compete against the top dogs in this conference? They’re probably in for a rude awakening.

Are We Sure Brent Venables Is Head Coach Material?

I’m genuinely asking. Does Venables keep his job if they don’t win at least nine games? If not, we know what’s coming. Jim Nagy will run the blame game playbook. He will get to handpick his next guy and start all over. And when that happens… good luck.

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