OU's bounce back challenge
The first cracks for Oklahoma under Brent Venables were there for the world to see last Saturday in the upset loss to Kansas State.
In the most unanticipated spot for that week, yet at the same time, a very familiar scene with the defense.
After a stellar outing at Nebraska, you could feel OU fans maybe take that sigh of relief in believing the defense had turned the corner. Not just baby steps, but fully taken that turn and going forward to trying to be elite.
Nobody saw KSU’s offense, that had been sputtering through the initial three games, as the one that was going to shake the foundation.
Adrian Martinez, Deuce Vaughn and the rest of the Wildcats, of course, did just that. Venables had a hard time comprehending what the heck he just saw, but OU fans had seen it all too many times in recent seasons.
Then Venables used a word Tuesday for the first time – scars.
“From the defensive side of the ball, we've got a lot of guys who have been scarred up,” Venables said. “And so our job is to create belief and to create a process in how I play at a high level. And then to get guys to play well together. And that's not an easy thing to do for anybody in any sport.
“But our guys are hungry, they're eager and they're willing to put the work in. So that's where it starts, and have not been disappointed in that. And so that gives you hope and that's how you want them to have belief in themselves and the team and again what we're asking them to do, which they do.”
It’s the first reference about the tumultuous defensive years that have transpired in Norman. Venables has been quick to look forward, but that outing was a reflection of what has happened in the past. And just exactly what Venables and this staff are trying to put in the past and have that ‘windshield mentality.’
Bad angles. Lack of discipline. Poor tackling. Error after error.
Venables talks about respecting the game because it will make a fool out of you if you don’t do that 100 percent of the way.
Preached and preached and preached. Maybe now it has hit home?
“You know when you always hear like the same – when you're growing up you always hear the same life lessons from your parents,” defensive end Ethan Downs said. “You gotta hear it like three or four times before you finally get it.
“I think that's where we're at right now is we're being shared this wisdom and it's not clicking just yet until we go through those hard times, we go through those struggles. And we're like, 'man, we really need to rely on what Coach BV said' because he's so experienced and he's a legend… So we're kind of like those little kids growing up, figuring out we've got to listen to mom and dad right now.”
TCU’s offense has been explosive through its initial three games. Quarterback Max Duggan has been incredibly efficient. Quentin Johnston is an elite receiver, and Derius Davis has the potential to change the game in the blink of an eye.
If last Saturday truly was a blip and an aberration, the Sooners defense will respond Saturday. And it will give everybody an idea of how Venables can get his message across.
That message reinforced Sunday and all throughout this week. The players gave an idea of how Venables and staff are reacting to the poor outing.
“Previously, it was ‘alright guys, we lost. Let's just go back and let's see what we did wrong.’ And it would be harping on all the things we did wrong,” defensive end Reggie Grimes. “It’d be kind of demeaning and diminishing as opposed to focusing on the good that comes from the bad.
“I think that's what this coaching staff, this group and our team leaders as well, just our team. I think that's what we also focus on.”
Grimes said he could start to see the cracks last week, starting to believe their own hype. Yep, rat poison was back in Norman. Grimes didn’t do what he felt he could to stop it last week, but he won’t hesitate to step in again the rest of the way.
You have to flush it, but you have to learn. If the worst of the worst happens in September, well, you still have a lot of time to get it right and show who you are.
“It's a big confidence thing for us,” safety Key Lawrence said. “As cliché as it may sound, we honestly needed that to be humbled. We started getting ahead of ourselves. I'm glad that we lost early in the season. Football is a sport where it's better to lose early than later. We've taken the coaching points in all the areas and fix it so it won't happen again.”
We’ve seen it, though, happen again and again. Will this time be different? We’ll all find out if Venables has been able to find the secret formula and leave those scars, once and for all, in the past.