The scene involves an exchange between Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (portrayed by Brad Pitt) and one of his players, an outfielder named Jeremy Giambi. Billy walks into the locker room after a loss to see Jeremy dancing on a tabletop to loudly blaring disco music, at which point he — Billy, that is — takes a bat and smashes the stereo. The conversation that ensues is as follows:

Billy: Is losing fun?

Jeremy: *silence*

Billy: IS… LOSING… FUN?

Jeremy: No.

Billy: Then what are you having fun for?

I share this excerpt every so often in this postgame column when the requisite scenario arises. Losing is not fun, for you or for me. It’s not fun for you to root for a team that loses, and it’s not fun for me to cover a team that loses. Those of you that have been around the OUInsider community for longer than a few months know that I generally don’t make the same effort to fill this column with humor and wit after an Oklahoma loss, let alone a drubbing. And this was a drubbing.

A drubbing means that you’re not getting the same structure or the same prose that you usually get in my postgame column. After a loss like this one, the overwhelming majority of you simply want to know that you’re heard. You don’t have any particular desire to see me get cute with the column. So rest assured that I hear you, and I am going to make a good-faith effort to answer as many of your questions as possible.

This Drubbing Edition postgame column will simply consist of one giant mailbag. It’s past 1 a.m., and I’m not in the mood to try and be clever. So we’ll keep it real and we’ll keep it raw.

First, three observations:

1) This is the worst offensive team Oklahoma has fielded in my lifetime.

2) Eli Bowen is a dawggggg. That kid was awesome today. Unfortunately, no one else was.

3) If the Sooners can’t beat South Carolina next weekend, they’re not going to be playing football of any kind in December.

Now, without further ado, to your questions we go. May the midnight oil burn bright.

adamtom00: How can anyone defend this offense? Same players for about the past 3-4 weeks and nothing that resembles an offense with purpose or direction. Blaming all this on injuries is not an excuse anymore. Coaching is supposed to develop the players and it’s not happening. I say coaching roles need to change and I’d like to see EJ or DM get a chance as OC. Can’t get any worse, right?

First off, Adam, NEVER say the words “it can’t get any worse.” It can ALWAYS get worse. But you’re absolutely correct otherwise, and I’m fresh out of excuses for Oklahoma’s offensive ineptitude. At its core, it’s a coaching issue. You can’t pin it all on lack of talent and experience at receiver. Every single wideout that touched the field for Oklahoma on Saturday was a blue-chip recruit. OU isn’t trotting out walk-ons to catch passes. The playcalling lacks any semblance of creativity or diversity, the offensive line in its peak form is mediocre, and the entire unit is susceptible to backbreaking penalties.

But as I mentioned in the postgame podcast, the solution isn’t to clean house and fire everyone. And if you want to pin the blame on just one individual and run him out of Dodge, that’s scapegoating in its purest essence. The offense’s struggles don’t fall on any one individual. Sure, you could fire Seth Littrell. But I’ll tell you right now that Oklahoma’s offense isn’t going to experience some sort of magical turnaround with Littrell out the door. To use an example from my own personal life, firing Littrell would be tantamount to popping ibuprofen for a torn elbow ligament during baseball season. Will it help in some capacity? Probably. But it doesn’t fix the problem; it just diminishes the pain.

JeffSaintPatrick: Why was Jacobe Johnson hyped up by your guys sources and then barely used? I know yall were just reporting what you were told but damn, that was a bit of a let down. Also, 2 weeks to prepare and that’s the best playcalling/gameplan that Littrell can come up with?

I’m at a loss. It’s the definition of insanity. And I’ve referred to the definition of insanity in THREE consecutive postgame columns. Either let Jacobe Johnson play receiver or keep him at cornerback. This one-foot-in, one-foot-out charade does no good for the offense and is directly detrimental to the defense. And yes, apparently that was the best gameplan Littrell could come up with. Meanwhile, Steve Sarkisian was on the opposite sideline dialing up double passes and end arounds and backside screens to the tight end. Oklahoma has no shot game, no consistent rushing attack and a a complete inability to establish any sort of rhythm.

aggask: Why not bring in Casey T in the 4th? Nothing through the first 3 quarters….can’t be any worse.

Once again — it can ALWAYS get worse. Don’t tempt fate with the Football Reaper. And you don’t bring Casey Thompson in because you don’t do anything that would even run the risk of undermining Michael Hawkins’ confidence. You’re building around Hawkins through at least 2026. Pulling him for a seventh-year senior in a hopelessly lost football game does more harm than good. The kid is better off taking his lumps than riding the pine and ceding mop-up duty to a guy who’s older than I am (true story).

NellySooner: Parker: 1. Did you ever think this game was winnable? 2. What is your honest, unfiltered, and unapologetic reaction to how the offense is coached (disregarding injuries)? 3. What is your honest prediction for rest of the season? 4. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) what would you rate the play calling today?

I’ll address your questions in the order that you asked them.

1) yes, I did think the game was winnable, and that was evident in the early stages. Texas’ first three offensive possessions were all three-and-outs, yet the Sooners managed to turn three relatively short fields into a total of three points. If Hawkins connects with JJ Hester in the end zone on the Sooners’ first drive, maybe — MAYBE — things unwind differently. Texas gave OU opportunities to seize the momentum early in the game, and the Sooners squandered those opportunities time and again.

2) I’m going to reserve my big-picture opinions until after the Ole Miss game. I vowed to give Seth Littrell until the end of October before I passed judgment, and as difficult as it may be to adhere to my word, I’m going to do it.

3) I think this team goes 6-6, maybe 7-5 if a healthy Jalil Farooq proves to be a real difference-maker.

4) I would give it a 3, maybe a 3.5. At times, I didn’t hate it. There was no point at which I liked it. And that’s flat-out inexcusable when this team had an extra week to prepare. You could tell that Steve Sarkisian had an extra week to prepare for OU. No one who didn’t know any better would have imagined that the Sooners spent two weeks on game prep for the rivalry tilt that often defines their season.

Alamanque: If Seth and JJF aren’t fired today (or soon), do OU fans need to start to doubt BV? BV clearly fixed the defense but the incompetence on offense is unacceptable

Difficult as this may be, I would encourage everyone not to lose sight of the bigger picture here. Brent Venables has engineered Oklahoma’s best defensive unit in 15 years. The offense sucks right now and there’s no two ways about that. But if nothing else, you have a dynamic quarterback whose arrival came ahead of schedule, as well as a freshman running back who can be a legit three-down weapon in the very near future. Those are two critical cogs in the machine that are locked in for at least two more seasons beyond 2024. You can build around that. Yes, 2024 itself is more about salvaging than contending at this point. But that doesn’t mean the outlook can’t be much, much brighter in 2025 with the right personnel and formula.

Dallas Sooner: Do you think this season will light a fire for the donor folks this offseason for NIL? Especially with regard to OL?

If there is one position group for which you back up the truck this offseason, it’s the O-line. The complication is that it’s not as simple as one input and one output, i.e. Pay Big Man Big Money —> Big Man Make Big Blocks. Has Missouri gotten its money’s worth from Cayden Green? Has Tennessee gotten its money’s worth from Lance Heard? Has SMU gotten its money’s worth from Savion Byrd? Just because you spend big doesn’t mean you see ROI that’s commensurate with the expenditure. There’s a widespread perception that any weakness on a roster can be shored up with a big bag of money for transfer acquisitions, and that just doesn’t always hold true. But at this point, you have to go and do what you did with Damonic Williams. Drop the bag for a couple big-name dudes and hope they can stabilize your line.

Lake_636: Did Alex Grinch start coaching our players on how to tackle again?

I referenced it in the postgame podcast, but the singular play that summed up the Sooners’ afternoon of futility was the fumble-recovery touchdown by the Longhorns’ Silas Bolden. First, Tre Wisner pops a long run because both Robert Spears-Jennings and Billy Bowman whiff on tackles. Then Woodi Washington gets crossed up and pretty much runs himself out of the play, but winds up chasing down Wisner around the 5-yard line and punching the ball free. Then Danny Stutsman seems to inexplicably ease up in his pursuit of the loose ball, allowing Bolden to dive on it for a touchdown. Spears-Jennings, Bowman and Stutsman are almost inarguably the top three defenders on this roster, and they all screwed up on one play. And I have no idea what’s happened to Woodi Washington. He’s regressed so gradually — albeit steadily — that it hasn’t been noticeable one week to the next, but it’s certainly been noticeable one year to the next. The Woodi Washington of 2020 is ten times the player that the Woodi Washington of 2024 is.

ram52jr: Why wouldn't you bring Arnold in with 5min to go when it was 34-3. Game was over already, I don't get it, he really needed to make the change at halftime just to see if there was any life there. This team is hard to watch on offense.

You don’t go to Arnold because you made your bed when you sat him down against Tennessee. If at any point you pull Hawkins and re-insert Arnold, you run the risk of losing BOTH dudes’ trust. And at that point, they could both very realistically hit the transfer portal come season’s end. It’s bigger than one game.

aggask: Why did we not try to hire the Kansas OC during the off season? Look at Penn State and their offense

Okay. I need to straighten this particular wrinkle out. No, the Seth Littrell hire simply hasn’t worked thus far. That said, Seth Littrell was also the most sensible hire that Venables could have made at the time. These two facts are NOT mutually exclusive, as incongruent as they may seem. Littrell was already in the building. He already had the trust and respect of the players. For that reason, he could help maintain roster continuity and the commitments of several top-flight offensive recruits (not the least of whom was Hawkins). He has a long and distinguished track record of success as a play-caller. He comes from the same air-raid discipline that has been foundational for so many explosive Oklahoma offenses in years past. He’s a friend and contemporary of numerous other members of this staff that were involved with the 2000 national championship campaign. Sometimes you can make the right decision for the right reasons and still not get the desired results. Hindsight is always 20/20. But last November, when you had a very small and unforeseen window to replace an offensive coordinator, Littrell was easily the guy that made the most sense for the role. Brent Venables’ livelihood is tied to the viability of Oklahoma football. He’s not going to hire someone that he believes is less than optimal for a given position.

keithppd: Is it better to throw the ball away on 4th down or throw it to the other team 20 yards down field?

Yeah, I don’t know what the hell that was. I’m not really mad at Michael Hawkins’ fumble; stuff happens. You take enough hits, sooner or later the ball’s gonna pop out, unless you’re Kennedy Brooks. And Hawkins has taken a ton of hits this year. He was due for a turnover at some point. But I have no idea why he threw the ball away on fourth down. You just don’t do that, ever. That’s a white flag. We all watched the play in question; there was really nowhere to go with the ball. But you have to give one of your guys a chance to go make a competitive catch. I truly wonder how much of Hawkins’ natural freelancing ability is being coached out of him, because it was almost as if he reverted to default settings in that moment — and the default settings in question stipulated that he throw the ball away if there isn’t a conspicuously open window. We saw it time after time today. And I’ve watched Hawkins for years; I know he’s not the type of dude to wave the white flag. I found that play to be quite alarming.

Landthieves: No questions.. Just facts.. We need to move on from SL/JJF/DM and BB

This is the type of post I’d expect from this particular poster, who is characteristically cynical and unreasonable. Look, I frankly can’t defend Littrell and Joe Jon Finley right now. I can’t do it. I don’t want them gone right this second; again, I’ll make that judgment at the end of October. But to fire DeMarco Murray and Bill Bedenbaugh would be truly asinine. Murray’s unit and Bedenbaugh’s unit aren’t performing up to par right now. That’s undeniable. But you don’t fire a position coach because their unit underperforms for six games, especially when you’re talking about two of the absolute best in the country in their respective roles. You’re not upgrading from Bill Bedenbaugh and you’re not upgrading from DeMarco Murray. This reality will be impossible for more than a few folks to digest, but those are likely the same folks that fought me tooth and nail when I explained to them last November that OU wouldn’t be able to just go out and upgrade from Jeff Lebby.

AggieSooner: Can we start the veteran Casey Thompson and just see what happens? Can't be any worse. Not a knock on Hawk, but he's a true freshman. I think he will be a studd in the coming years.

Good grief. This is the third time in this column that I’ve read the words “can’t be any worse.” And for the third — and hopefully final — time, it can ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get worse. I can recall when some of you were using the “can’t be any worse” logic with Micah Bowens in 2022 during the 49-0 game, despite the fact that Bowens *wasn’t even on the travel squad* for that game. That poor soul could barely throw a spiral. He transferred to Charlotte for the 2023 season, rode the bench all year, then got in the portal again and landed at Bethune-Cookman University. In the year of our Lord 2024, folks, Micah Bowens is 3-for-11 for one (!) yard and an interception. At Bethune-Cookman. I did not make those statistics up; they are real.

So keep this in mind next time you’re tempted to say that it “can’t get any worse” than XYZ. Because believe it or not, it could indeed have gotten worse than Davis Beville in 2022.

ERC1988: How has this offense fallen so far in a year that it is now averaging less yards per game than the 1998 5-6 Sooners team? I understood that there would be growing pains but wow. An Oklahoma offense, until this year, has not averaged less than 300 yards per game since 1998. I understand that there are 6 games to buck that trend, but unless we put 1000 yards on Maine, I don't see it happening. We are literally talking about worst case scenarios on all fronts. Coaching, development, execution , health, playcalling.

Yep. It’s a disaster. And the worst part is that you’re watching a CFP-caliber defense get wasted. If Oklahoma could have paired this defensive unit with last year’s offense, they’re squarely in the mix for a national title. I’m not even sure that’s debatable. That team is certainly undefeated in the Big 12, and no worse than 10-2 in the SEC.

Nhines57: Assuming it’s going to be hard to keep a certain 5* star offensive tackle after the no show from the offense again and how much Texas will open their wallets and keep showing him replays of the game. How can BV fix the offensive issues? I’m not sure with our top 5 receivers the game would’ve been much different

First off, don’t sweat Fasusi. He’s not going to be swayed by a couple of losses. Heck, if you’re in his shoes, you have to be chomping at the bit to get to campus and compete for a starting role. Because at this rate, a kid of his caliber can absolutely start for this program as a true freshman. And with regard to the second half of your question, I think you hit on the most concerning aspect of all of this. Even with a healthy WR group, is Oklahoma seriously in that game? Nic Anderson and Deion Burks and Jalil Farooq are really talented. Are they worth 31 points?

TCNGUYEN: Has the game passed by BV? I mean most of his success were in the 2000s and 2010s.

Are we seriously asking this question when the only reason this team is 4-2 is because Venables has completely transformed the unit that he was personally tasked with transforming?

Seriously?

StlSooner19: Someone has to answer for this right? Like this has to have consequences doesn’t it? I’ve been getting sh** all day long in part because Seth Littrell can’t game plan with 2 weeks notice. This has to stop… right?

If one or more members of the offensive staff do indeed get the pink slip before the conclusion of the calendar year, you’ll be able to trace their departures back to this football game. Because there is no excuse whatsoever for concocting such a flat, predictable and repetitive gameplan for the Red River Rivalry, of all games — especially with Texas ranked No. 1 in the nation and an extra week of preparation at your disposal.

Pearljammer10: Give Sark or Lincoln OU’s offensive personnel. Even with the injuries they might not win but they could scheme guys open and be competitive. Am I wrong?

I don’t think you’re wrong. And we saw a noticeably different version of Brent Venables in his postgame press conference. To me, it seemed apparent that Venables was actively coming to grips with the reality that change is needed, which is always a difficult thing for a head coach to reckon with. Heck, I can’t imagine Venables was all too eager to bench Jackson Arnold. What does change look like in this scenario? I don’t know. Venables doesn’t strike me as the sort of reactionary individual that would fire one of his assistants midseason, but I concede that it’s well within the realm of possibility. He’s the head ball coach, and he has to watch out for his own neck above all else.

Mrs.Nesbitt: What is worse? Watching a guy up and leave, leaving the program in a worse spot than when he came in, or watching a guy who cares deeply about the program come in and not produce, resulting in a worse program than when he came in? (TBOW vs. our OC/OCs)

From the standpoint of human empathy, the latter is unquestionably worse. Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley wore the uniform. They understand the standard at Oklahoma, and I hardly think they’re in their offices doing anything other than their darnedest to elevate the program. And this is the peril of assembling a staff that’s primarily comprised of coaches with direct — and deep — ties to the university. When it’s all in the family, it’s all the more enjoyable when things are going well and all the more excruciating when things are going poorly. A staff rich with OUDNA is a double-edged sword, because if change is deemed necessary, you essentially get to the point where you have to fire a family member. And boy, I hope I never have to fire a family member. That doesn’t sound like a fun place to be.

Sooners_Illustrated: Dillon Gabriel just lead the Oregon ducks to beat Ohio state with the following stats: 22/33, 370 Total YDS, 3 Total TDs. Tawee Walker had these stats for Wisconsin today: 24 car, 198 yds, 3 TDs. My question is, why did the coaching staff let these guys leave OU given our current situation at QB and RB, both underperforming severely. We could really have used these guys on the team. Did the coaches whiff in their evaluations of our current roster? How does this happen?

We’ve been over the Gabriel departure umpteen times at this point. The Sooners bet on Jackson Arnold, and it was a perfectly understandable bet to make at that point. They lost that bet. It is what it is. And I’m not convinced Walker was ever coming back to Oklahoma after his midseason spat with DeMarco Murray. The Sooners offered Walker a full scholarship after the 2023 season (remember, he walked on at Oklahoma). He had the opportunity to return to Norman; OU certainly wanted him to return to Norman. He chose to go elsewhere. And you can’t make a guy stick around if he has unwavering designs on leaving.

holakyle: How would staff changes now vs the end of the season impact recruiting?

It would absolutely have an impact, and this is a crucial aspect of the process that inhibits the gung-ho FAHRE EVERYBODY approach that so many of you message-board denizens espouse. If Oklahoma fires Seth Littrell, then Jaden O’Neal is probably back on the open market. And you’re not out of it with Peyton Houston at that point, but it’s definitely going to take the right hire to stay out front in his recruitment. There will be complications on the recruiting trail. To relieve a coach of his duties is to willingly accept the ramifications of that decision, both on the field and on the trail. Is that something you’d be ready to do if you were in Brent Venables’ shoes?