NORMAN — If there was anything Brent Venables communicated during his 46-minute press conference on Tuesday, it's that there a lot of options on the table.
One of them, however, doesn't appear to be mid-season changes to the coaching staff.
The historic struggles on offense were the main theme of the press conference, as Venables attempted to diagnose the fundamental issues from the coaching staff to the players. But as far making any changes to the coaching staff between now and the end of the season, that isn't likely going to be on Venables' radar.
"You go back and look at where I’ve been, I’ve not been a part of any staff changes in the middle of a season," Venables said. "Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops or at Clemson with Dabo (Swinney). There’s always problems. Sometimes people know about ‘em, sometimes they don’t. There’s always some level of struggle and you gotta work through your problems, find the best possible solutions, and if you have success, it’s everybody, and sometimes when you don’t have success, people want to point to one guy. And sometimes that’s probably appropriate, to blame one person. But most of the time, it’s not. It’s a combination of a lot of things, why you’re struggling."
The implied person in this discussion is co-offensive coordinator and playcaller Seth Littrell, who has drawn the most ire from Sooner fans as the offense has struggled all seasons. Those issues were really in the spotlight against Texas, when the Sooners mustered just three points and 237 total yards, including just 136 yards through the first three quarters.
Most national statistics have painted OU's offense as one of the worst units in football. The Sooners rank 96th in scoring offense (24.3 points per game), 125th in total offense (287.7 yards per game), 101st in rushing offense (122 yards per game) and 123rd in passing offense (165.7 yards per game). And heading into a must-win home game on Saturday (11:45 a.m. CT, ESPN) against South Carolina, there is a ton of pressure for the Sooners to fix things quickly.
Venables made it clear that the Sooners have to be willing to adapt and change course as the season continues. But if there are any potential forthcoming changes for Littrell or anyone else on the coaching staff will likely have to wait.
"So, again, you try to put it all together and have a perspective," Venables said. "Not make any rash decisions based on the information that you have. At the end of the day, there’s nothing easy about any of it. But I’ve been a part of those staffs, too, where decisions were made at the end of the year, but nothing mid-season."
Deion Burks fighting to return this weekend
Injuries have been at the center of OU's offensive struggles, particularly at wide receiver. The Sooners' presumed top-five options — Jalil Farooq, Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony — have combined to play 24 snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus. Deion Burks has missed the last two games and still leads the Sooners in receptions (26) and yards (201).
Burks' absence has been particularly hurtful, considering he was by far the most productive offensive player through the first four weeks. But Venables expressed some optimism about his progress.
"We’ve got a handful of receivers that are dying to play," Venables said. "If they can’t make it back from a health standpoint, they have every intention to be here. They’re at practice every day.
“Deion’s hoping to play this week. He wants to defy all odds and be ready to play this week. He got up to 80% of his max volume yesterday, and these guys are working relentlessly to put themselves in a position to help us this year."
The SEC availability report, which will be released on Wednesday night, will be important to monitor for Burks' status.
Sooners not moving away from Taylor Tatum
The true freshman running back missed the Auburn game and didn't make an appearance against Texas until the 2:21 mark of the second quarter. On his first snap, he ran the ball for 13 yards before he lost a fumble.
But the Sooners didn't move away from Tatum, who finished with 18 snaps against the Longhorns. Tatum has struggled at times this season, particularly with pass blocking, but he's easily been OU's most explosive running back. He's carried the ball 20 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and he leads all running backs in yards per carry (6.7).
Venables made it clear the Sooners are going to have to be willing to put up with some growing pains from Tatum.
"He's got tremendous talent," Venables said. "As soon as he fumbled, I said, 'Hey man, don't bury this guy.' And (running backs coach DeMarco Murray was) on the same page. Those are terrible timing, terrible things to have happen. That's how you lose games. But there's too much talent. He's an incredibly competitive kid. He's tough minded. He's a guy that bounces back quickly through adversity and a guy that we completely believe in."
