More Questions Than Answers
Three weeks ago at Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables’ weekly press conference, he was able to take himself out of the moment and just go down memory lane with his battles against Nebraska.
Following OU’s 49-14 win in Lincoln, it was a pretty strong bet we’d be doing that same song and dance Tuesday as it pertains to Texas and the Red River Rivalry and Venables first game vs. the Longhorns since a 55-17 victory for OU in 2011.
But a whole heck of a lot has changed since Lincoln, and OU is coming in wounded at 3-2 and back-to-back losses. Essentially, no time for nostalgia.
It will be Venables’ 14th appearance in the Red River Rivalry, and obviously, it’s his first as head coach. But there are so many other questions about the Sooners than just how a first-year head coach will handle the environment.
Unfortunately, not a lot was answered by Venables. He stayed committed to his belief the team will turn it around and nobody has jumped off the ship yet.
The injury situation, though, Venables said it was just a little too early in the week to address what’s going on there.
“There's some injury situations going on right now that are still up in the air, and I'm really not going to talk about any of those right now until I have clarity and I'm 100 percent sure on who's going to be available and who's not,” Venables said. “Today is not that day for that.”
Everybody knows safety Damond Harmon won’t be available. More than anything, it’s just constant prayers for him after leaving the game on a backboard midway through the fourth quarter.
But all the other in-game injuries? Nothing decided with quarterback Dillon Gabriel, wide receiver Theo Wease, offensive tackle Wanya Morris, defensive end Ethan Downs and safety Billy Bowman, among others.
Running back Marcus Major and defensive end Marcus Stripling both didn’t make the trip to TCU last weekend, and Venables did confirm that is an injury situation and not a disciplinary or conduct matter for either of them.
The offense is in a to be determined status without knowing the quarterback. The defense is TBD after two dreadful outings to begin Big 12 play.
You might just say OU is TBD at this point. And it’s just a weird feeling all over Norman about what to expect Saturday in the Cotton Bowl.
Quarterback quandary
Let’s take one of those TBDs with the quarterback position. Gabriel continues to recover and no update has been given about where he stands with the concussion protocol after taking that vicious hit in the second quarter.
Video showed Gabriel at practice Monday wearing a blue jersey without any pads and not interacting with teammates.
Teammates have been talking to him, and it does sound positive for the long run. But it’s just too early to know if he will pass all the necessary tests to take the field Saturday.
If not, there are three guys in Davis Beville, General Booty and Nick Evers waiting to see who would get the opportunity. Venables didn’t rule any of them out.
“We’ll have three quarterbacks taking reps this week just in case, and we'll see how the week goes,” Venables said. “By game time, we'll have that figured out. And, I would assume, even before that.”
Beville got the call Saturday, and Booty played the final series of the loss against the Frogs. A lot of OU fans are wondering if Evers could be the answer.
Everybody knew entering the season, the plan was to redshirt Evers. Well, plans definitely could have changed. And Venables has seen some positive growth from Evers, including during the season.
“He’s done really well. Thursdays, we scrimmage for a few series,” Venables said. “We go live, all of our young guys, Future Freaks, and he’s done incredibly well all season. Matter of fact, he’s done better being a part of those than he did in fall camp. He made improvement in fall camp, but he did really well.
“We saw all of that potential throwing, running, decision making, really come to fruition over the last several weeks. Coach Lebby would probably get up and tell you he’s not near ready, all of the things he needs to do better. I’m just standing back watching him play football. He’s done a really nice job.”
Strangely enough, OU has played two quarterbacks in each of the last two meetings against Texas. Spencer Rattler was momentarily benched vs. Texas in 2020 for Tanner Mordecai before Rattler played hero in the 53-45 4OT victory.
Then Rattler was sat down again for Caleb Williams, and Williams led the greatest OU comeback in Red River Rivalry history, winning 55-48.
Defense starts with discipline
No other way to say it because Venables said it that way about 5-10 times during the 32-minute press conference.
It’s not effort. It’s discipline. The discipline that was there the initial three weeks has been incredibly inconsistent the last two games.
Effort without technique doesn’t work.
“Foundationally, that’s where it all starts. You’ve gotta play with better discipline,” Venables said. “Again, things that I’ve said countless times, and it can be the smallest things. It can be one guy. It can be him being inside as opposed to being outside. It can be an underneath as opposed to on top of. Just we’ve got to play with better discipline.
“That’s where it all starts. If we don’t do that, we’ll have the same kind of inconsistent results. The first three weeks, I thought we played with really good discipline. The last two weeks, not as much.”
You keep showing belief in your guys and showing them the good they’re doing but holding them accountable to fixing what have been glaring mistakes in the two losses.
No special teams changes coming
To go with the injuries suffered on offense and defense, OU lost one of its best defenders on a special teams play. Safety Billy Bowman suffered a knee injury in the first quarter on a kickoff return and didn’t return.
But if you want special teams to be special, you need those types of guys on the field.
“It’s part of the game. There’s always risk,” Venables said. “One of our starting linebackers is the guard on the punt team. Billy is a very dynamic player. I hate that it’s happened. You’re always massaging everything with every decision you make. Really unfortunate. First time he’s ever been hurt in his career. He hasn’t been injury-prone. Thankful that it wasn’t worse.”