NORMAN — Oklahoma may have come away with a win over Houston on Saturday, but there was a glaring issue.

The offense was more of a detriment than a help in a game the Sooners won 16-12 and managed just two offensive scores. And it didn't take long for OU coach Brent Venables to address it in his postgame press conference.

"I thought overall, our body of work on offense was not very good today," Venables said. "... We have to get a whole heck of a lot better, quickly.”

Instead of the Sooners celebrating a win, the offensive struggles took centerstage.

There were warning signs that there was trouble. The game's opening possession resulted in a three-and-out that gained the Sooners zero yards, forcing an early punt by Luke Elzinga. But the Sooners were given a gift after they recovered a muffed punt by the Cougars at the Houston 10-yard line. On the next play, Jackson Arnold found Brenen Thompson for a 10-yard touchdown, seemingly erasing the first-drive miscue.

That was one of very few positives for the offense. The Sooners punted on four of their next five possessions as they went into halftime with just 139 yards of total offense and a narrow 14-6 lead. 81 of those yards came on the Sooners' only highlight-worthy drive of the game, when they marched down the field in eight plays early in the second quarter and capped it off with an 11-yard connection from Arnold to Jake Roberts.

The struggles were concerning against a Houston team that had a below-average defense in 2023 and lost to UNLV 27-7 last week.

“Just a bad night in general," Arnold said. "A lot of mistakes. A lot of sloppiness. A lot of misses by me. Stuff we’ve gotta get better at and improve on this next week.”

The second half only brought more struggles. After Houston scored on the first drive after halftime cut the lead to 14-12, Arnold threw an interception that halted a nine-play drive that had some momentum. On the remaining four drives of the second half, the Sooners gained 56 yards, converted four first downs and scored zero points. Even after an interception from Robert Spears-Jennings early in the fourth quarter set the offense up at the Houston 28-yard line, the Sooners went three and out and the drive ended in a 45-yard missed field goal by Tyler Keltner.

The Sooners had just enough success on a six-minute drive late in the game to help bleed the clock, which included Arnold finding Roberts for a pivotal first down, but none of those efforts resulted in points. OU's only points after halftime came on defense, when Gracen Halton forced a Houston safety with under two minutes to go.

Had it not been for the defense, which only gave up 318 yards and 12 points despite the Cougars posting a time of possession over 35 minutes, the Sooners might've really been in trouble.

The Sooners finished the game with 249 total yards, their lowest output in a game since 2022 against Texas.

"We have to make the plays that are out there to be made and we're not consistently doing that, which is frustrating," OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said. "And listen, it always starts with me. I'm never going to throw our guys under the bus... Week in and week out, it's my job to put them in the right situation to be successful and so I'll take that.

"But at the same time, when there's plays to be had, you got to be able to make it, especially against a team that's hungry. The longer you let them stick around, the hungrier they get, the more confident they get. And as you know, you're now in a dogfight."

The Sooners never found a rhythm with any part of the offense. In the running game, they finished with just 75 yards on 29 carries (2.6 yard per carry), with the running backs accounting for just 50 yards. Jovantae Barnes led the way with 40 yards on 12 carries, but starting running back Gavin Sawchuk had just four carries for yards.

Arnold never had his footing as a passer, either, completing just 19-of-32 passes (59%) while throwing two touchdowns and an interception. With both areas struggling, there was no explosiveness to the offense as the Sooners had just two plays that went 15 yards or longer.

But the most glaring issue came on third downs, which bit the Sooners last week against Temple. They converted just four of 15 attempts, and most of those were third and longs — their average distance was third-and-9. As a result, the Cougars had 18 first downs to OU's 15, and the Sooners had possession for only 24:57 of game time.

Through two weeks, the Sooners are 5 of 27 on third downs.

"You've got to be able to stay on the field, move the chains in order to have success," Littrell said. "You can move the ball, you can get in the rhythm, but if you're not consistent enough within a drive to continue to move the chains, then it's going to be hard. And the other thing is, when you take your opportunities down the field, at times, you have to make those opportunities work and you've got to get off the field right there with touchdowns. You're not going to always be consistent going on 14,15-play drives. You've got to be explosive and I don't think we've been near explosive as up to date.

"I do believe we have a great group of men that work their ass off, I do. But that's not good enough. We got to make sure that they're being coached the right way. and we've got to be more consistent."

Injuries certainly haven't helped things. The Sooners were without Branson Hickman, and Geirean Hatchett and Troy Everett on the offensive line, and Jake Taylor left the game with an injury and didn't return. In addition to Jalil Farooq and Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson didn't suit up and Andrel Anthony didn't log a snap as the depth at wide receiver continues to be tested.

But the Sooners aren't using that as an excuse.

"Obviously we have some dudes out," Arnold said. "That’s more adversity for us to face. But I really don’t want to make excuses for that. I thought we had all the pieces we needed to play good today, and we just didn’t play that good.”

The Sooners are 2-0 and did just enough to beat the Cougars, but it's clear that the offense hasn't been good enough through the first two weeks. And as they prepare for a tougher test next week against Tulane — the final non-conference game before the SEC schedule begins — the offense has to find answers quickly.

"You are hoping from week one to week two there's a huge improvement," Littrell said. "And listen, I'm never going to make excuses or allow anything to make them for us. We just weren't consistent enough tonight. We have to do a much better job all the way around.

"I promise you this. I'll work hard to correct it but at the same time, it takes everybody. Everybody has to man up and look at themselves in the mirror, coaches and players alike."

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