Has it happened once again? For whatever reason, it has felt like the offensive line under Bill Bedenbaugh needs the Texas game to find its groove.

When you look at the 662 yards of offense against the Horns last Saturday, it’s hard to argue the group wasn’t playing at an extremely high level.

Through the first month of the season, the only thing that was consistent about them was their inconsistency.

“Very inconsistent,” said Bedenbaugh on Tuesday. “Some really, really good things and some really, really bad things. Some of it is inexperience at Some important positions. Some of it is preparation. Some of it is obviously coaching, as it falls on me. I do think we’ve gotten better.”

The rock bottom part of the season was against West Virginia, a home game that saw the OU crowd boo the offense sporadically throughout the game from the second quarter on.

Bedenbaugh put the blame on himself, saying he thought his guys could handle certain pass protection calls. Turns out, not just yet. He simplified the plan the last two weeks, and the positive results have followed at KSU and vs. Texas.

One thing Bedenbaugh said it has not been about is effort. He’s not seeing any sort of loafing or half-hearted attempts out there.

“Our effort has not been a problem one time this year, in my opinion,” Bedenbaugh said. “Everybody has their own opinion. Effort, playing hard, trying hard, that’s not an issue. If that was an issue, we’d have some big problems. All the other things, myself and those guys, we can fix.”

The offensive line has routinely played six or seven guys per game so far. Bedenbaugh would love to have a set five, but he’s been happy with how the group has progressed. He’s happy with the versatility of someone like an Erik Swenson, who played left tackle and right guard vs. Texas.

Even better than have a firm quintet is being able to count on someone to come in at a moment’s notice and do the job effectively.

“Ideally, you always want to have a set five that can go but you need to have guys that can go in there and play when they’re not performing,” Bedenbaugh said.

This offensive line, right now, seems to be focused on three names in Tyrese Robinson, Andrew Raym and Wanya Morris.

Raym was the talk of preseason camp in taking over the center position. A medical hiccup with COVID-19 interrupted Raym right as the season was about to begin, and it took a while for him to get back to where OU needs him to be.

He’s not there yet, but Bedenbaugh is OK with the work in progress and things continue to trend in the right direction.

“He’s extremely inexperienced,” Raym said. “He just has not seen the things that previous guys have… He’s getting better, but unfortunately, it’s a process. I mean, it’s his first time playing center and we see different things. People, they obviously do what they do for the most part, but people are gonna scheme us, too. And he just hadn’t seen those things as much as you would like up to this point.

“Plays extremely hard, tries really, really hard, to the point a lot of times, he’s out of control. But again, the effort’s not the problem. Playing hard, it’s not the problem. It’s relaxing, settling down, having the conference in what we are doing and what you’re calling, and then those things will come together.”

The one transfer a lot of OU fans had penciled in as making an immediate impact was Morris at one of the tackle positions.

But like a lot of players, it hasn’t been quite what was first expected. The talent and ability is there, but it’s going to be about what Morris does away from Bedenbaugh as much as anything else.

“Doesn’t totally grasp everything we’re doing right now. Has got to continue to work at it harder outside of here, which a lot of guys have to, too,” Bedenbaugh said. “I’ve gotta coach him better. Obviously, everything starts with me. But if you just put in the four hours a day here, and that’s all you do, you’re never going to reach your potential. I think they’re getting better at doing that.”

He’s played 115 snaps so far in the four games he’s played.

To close it out, nothing but positive things about right tackle Tyrese Robinson. After playing guard his time at OU, Robinson made the move to tackle for this season.

In terms of performance, in terms of leadership, this is Robinson’s group.

“He’s been the leader. Tyrese has done awesome. He’s really probably exceeded my expectations at tackle. Really has,” Bedenbaugh said. “He’s not probably the length, he’s got the athleticism, he probably doesn’t have the length. But he has a really, really good pass set. He’s really playing good. He’s playing at a high level. And Tyrese was a leader from the beginning. That hasn’t changed much.”

Robinson has 388 snaps this season, and it was huge when he returned to the lineup after being briefly banged up in the second half vs. Texas.

In answering SoonerScoop.com’s question about Robinson, though, Bedenbaugh brought up another topic. Robinson is the leader, sure, but everyone has to follow Raym’s direction.

Even if you know that call isn’t what is needed at that time, follow it and everyone can work together and try to correct it.

“They’ve got a trust and they’ve got to listen to the center,” Bedenbaugh said. “Even if he calls something wrong, and you know it’s wrong, you’ve got to do it, we can make it work. And that’s what they’ve got to do a better job of. That’s been some of our issues.

“This guy knows what the call should be. He may make another call. I don’t care. Do what he called. We’ll make it work. Know what I mean?”

As we reach the second half of the season, the offensive line is coming off its best performance of the season. If that continues, should be a lot of fun for OU fans the next couple of months.