DALLAS, Texas — Given how poor the offense had looked through five games, it was the top question for the Sooners heading into a pivotal showdown with No. 1 Texas.

Could the offense do enough to keep the Sooners in the game, and potentially give them a chance to win?

Once the final whistled sounded on Saturday, the answer was emphatic. The offense spiraled and never seriously threatened the Longhorns, and it resulted in a 34-3 loss.

And it was the same issues that have plagued the offense all year.

"Texas is a good football team, obviously," OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said. "You've gotta give them a lot of credit (with) who they are and the season they’re having. But at the same time, we gotta moreso look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we need to do better. How we need to play at a higher level and how we need to execute better."

The broad numbers by themselves show the Sooners didn't execute. The offense finished with 237 total yards, averaged 3.4 yards per play and were held scoreless over the final 45 minutes of the game. But taking a closer look reveals even bigger issues, particularly considering that opportunities for success were there.

The game plan was clear for the Sooners coming into a game they were favored to lose by two touchdowns — lean on the defense, chew the clock on offense and hope they keep it low scoring, and they executed that perfectly early. OU's defense took the field first and immediately got pressure on Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, which led to a Billy Bowman interception three plays into the game that set the offense up at Texas' 45-yard line. The offense picked up one first down before failing to convert on a third down, and Tyler Keltner missed a 44-yard field goal.

But the defense kept fighting and forced back-to-back three-and-outs that set the offense up in good field position. The offense finally took advantage with an 11-play, 38-yard drive that lasted nearly five minutes and ended in a 42-yard field goal from Keltner, giving the Sooners a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter. After 15 minutes, OU had outgained Texas 54-13 in total yards and had nearly doubled Texas in time of possession (9:53, 5:07).

From there, things fell apart.

The Sooners were forced to punt on their next two drives after converting just two total first downs, and the Longhorns offense found a rhythm and took a 14-3 lead. On the next drive, Hawkins fumbled for his first turnover of the year, which led to 43-yard rushing touchdown from Texas. On the first play of the next series, Taylor Tatum fumbled after picking up 13 yards on the ground.

All of a sudden, the Sooners' dream-scenario was gone. They trailed 21-3 at half and the offense had totaled just 107 yards.

"We couldn't sustain some of the momentum we had from the first quarter," Venables said. "Thought we started out in a great way on defense (with the) interception, and when you go against a really team you have a very small margin of error... We couldn't get anything sustained, we had our opportunities in the first quarter, first half.

"They got up and put a lot of pressure on us. We had some good moments on defense today and we had some really bad moments when we need to be at our best we weren't so whatever we did bad on that field whether its offense, defense or kicking game, it starts with me. I've got to do a better job having these guys ready to play."

The Sooners gained just 38 yards on their first four drives of the second half, and never threatened after halftime.

The offense simply didn't do anything well. There was no explosiveness in the passing game as Michael Hawkins completed 19 of 30 passes for just 148 yards, averaging 7.8 yards per completion. Hawkins had just one completion of 15 yards or more, and it was a 15-yard completion to Zion Kearney. That's been a problem all year — the Sooners came into the game averaging 9.9 yards per completion, which ranks 100th nationally.

Even with the top-five options at receiver out, the Sooners had opportunities down the field. Sometimes Hawkins didn't have time in the pocket, as he was sacked five times. Other times, he just missed receivers down the field.

"I just could've came out a little harder," Hawkins said. "Saw little things I could've fixed on the sideline after plays. Got to do better, could've gotten through it better and just leading my team in a better way. The biggest thing for me is just coming back harder, my mindset of working and leading my team when things go left."

Without any threats in the passing game, Texas dialed in on OU's rushing attack. Littrell had clearly tinkered with the running game during the bye week, dialing up formations that utilized different players in the backfield and different schemes. But the offense again struggled to generate anything successful.

The Sooners finished with 89 yards on 39 carries, averaging 2.3 per carry, and the Longhorns recorded 11 tackles for loss. The ball carriers combined for just four carries of 10 yards or more, and the longest carry went for 13 yards. Meanwhile, the Longhorns averaged 5.9 yards per carry.

The inability to run the ball has been the main issue all year, as the Sooners ranked 87th in rushing offense and 90th in yards per carry.

Venables put it simply — the offense hasn't done anything well all year, and that continued against Texas.

"We haven't been very good this season," Venables said. "We've got to get better everywhere. I like the leadership, the will of this team and the hunger. We've got to help guys. We've got to continue to help them, get them to know what to do every play, be able to play in a competitive way against whoever we're lined up against. I thought we flashed. There were a lot of really good things that we saw in the first half and again, being able to sustain those things is what we missed today."

It's been the same themes for the Sooners all season. They can't run the ball consistently and there's no explosiveness in the passing game. And against Texas, they committed two costly turnovers that proved to be too much to overcome.

Considering the path ahead, there's not a lot of time to get those issues fixed.

"There’s some positives throughout every game," Littrell said. "Just not enough of ‘em. And that’s the biggest thing. It’s the consistency of overall execution. It gets frustrating for everyone.

"Listen, it’s a great group. They work extremely hard. Eventually, we gotta carry that execution over to the game plan, and on Saturdays you gotta be able to perform at a high level. For whatever reason, we haven’t been able to do that yet. Again, that’s why you bounce back and work hard to get it right."

Not an OUInsider.com premium member? Sign up today to get loads of inside information on Oklahoma football, softball, basketball, and recruiting, all for just a few dollars a month. Click HERE to get started!