Disappointment is a learning tool

It’s something first-year Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables would preach about in the spring, preseason camp and the first three games of the season.

Just because you got the end result right doesn’t mean you did all the little things correctly to earn that outcome.

That hit the Sooners in the face last weekend in the upset loss to Kansas State. Whatever mistakes had been made previously were camouflaged, at times, because of the good.

The bad showed up, and for the first time in Venables’ time as head coach, he’s trying to get his team together after a setback.

“Sometimes in a loss, things get exposed. That brings more awareness to those particular issues. Scheme. Fundamentals. Personnel. All of those things,” said Venables at his Tuesday press conference. “But no different. Again, you start completely over every single week. That’s the way that I know how to do it and has proven over time that that’s the right way.

“You learn from your past. That’s how you grow and improve. This is the greatest opportunity to teach and lead is right now through a loss. I know that without question. As we’ve had success early in the season, you’ve gotta take the bad with the good, too. It just goes with it.”

Venables said a key this week will be to lean on a foundation of accountability and discipline and being physical while keeping the fundamentals.

Nothing earth-shattering. No reinventing of the wheel. But whatever Saturday was against the Wildcats cannot show up at TCU, or OU will quickly be staring down an 0-2 start in Big 12 play.

Looking at the tape

Venables had a pretty good idea of what he saw in the moment during the KSU defeat, and he was able to expand upon some of those points after reviewing the game tape once again.

““What I saw was guys afraid to make mistakes. We played on our heels. We weren't physical at the point of attack,” Venables said. “We haven't been that way. That's what I saw. I saw guys pressing; trying to do a little bit too much.

“I didn't think we played very well… from just having situational awareness. I didn't think that we did a great job of that. Again, there's a level of anticipation when you know the situation and I just didn't think we put it all together for whatever reason. We didn't do that.”

He said maybe handling the success of Nebraska was an issue, but he remained firm in his conviction that things are fixable and said the team’s response Sunday and Monday has been a step in a positive direction.

Frogs firing on all cylinders

Fort Worth is going to tell everybody a whole heck of a lot because this isn’t a wounded TCU team that OU is facing.

The Frogs, especially offensively, have been one of the best in the country to this point as quarterback Max Duggan has been sensational since taking over for the injured Chandler Morris.

“One of the top offenses in the country, got a quarterback that leads the nation in passing efficiency, 77 percent completion percentage, eight touchdowns, no interceptions,” Venables said. “Max Duggan’s really playing well.

“Got a great offense up to this point in time in the season. Done incredibly well, second in the country in yards per play with 8.1 yards per play. A bunch of seniors and juniors on their offense. They’ve done a great job in systemically putting them in position to be successful.”

And they’ve had an X-factor in Derius Davis, who has made several game-changing plays already in the first three games.

Same Venables

If Venables is going to preach about keeping your cool and using the loss as a motivation tool, then it’s going to be paramount he does the same thing.

He hasn’t really worn his emotion on his sleeve too much as head coach, and he explained how a loss as a head coach, at least for him, hasn’t stung much differently than as a loss as a defensive coordinator.

“I don't honestly feel any different than I have before. I've always beared the responsibility of failure and losing,” Venables said. “It's no different. I'm responsible for a part of the team. You take it personally. There are emotions involved, frustration, anger, all of those things. But also, trust in how you do what you do.

“Sometimes you're on the right side of it and sometimes you're not. It certainly doesn't take much to be on the wrong side of it. You have to have perspective and composure and leadership skills. It's no different for me whatsoever.”

Linebacker depth a dilemma

Nobody has really pointed toward fatigue as an issue for the Sooners, but it was a bit telling that linebackers David Ugwoegbu, Danny Stutsman and DaShaun White all played every single defensive snap vs. KSU.

The trio played all 85, only Billy Bowman did the same.

Venables has been quick to point out the lack of depth at the linebacker position, and he gave some insight that it wouldn’t be fair to ask freshmen Kobie McKinzie or Kip Lewis to be thrown into the fire right now.

Both are expected to redshirt.

“Kobie (McKenzie) is redshirting. Kip (Lewis) is redshirting as of right now, too,” Venables said. “And, as I said earlier in fall camp, Kobe missed most of fall camp. And so there's a learning curve there. So, unfortunately, he's got a ways to go from a mental standpoint, like most freshmen. So, Kip, same thing. He's just got to functionally get stronger in the weight room. He needs a redshirt from that standpoint.

“Depth’s not great there. And guys got to earn their opportunities based on what they do on the field at practice. There's a lot of new things that they saw on the field last Saturday. No excuse but those guys…it's one thing for a guy that's played a little bit to make adjustments on the fly. It's another thing for young players to go in and throw them in the lion's den.”

You add in the loss of T.D. Roof for the season with the biceps injury and Joseph Wete entering the transfer portal, the room is thinned out and will be interesting to watch how they manage game and practice reps the rest of the way.