NORMAN — After yet another display of bad offense on Saturday, OU coach Brent Venables had to acknowledge the state of his program.

"What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma," Venables said following the Sooners' 35-9 loss to South Carolina.

The Sooners not meeting the standard wasn't necessarily because of a lack of effort. But the result was the same — a second consecutive blowout as the offense mustered just two scoring drives.

The coaching staff made a ton of changes, and a lot of them came before the game. Co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley coached from the press box alongside Seth Littrell for the first time this season. Bill Bedenbaugh made significant changes to the offensive line, inserting Troy Everett at center for his first start of the season, Heath Ozaeta at left guard while sliding Jacob Sexton to left tackle. The Sooners even replaced Tyler Keltner as the starting kicker with Zach Schmit.

But the most noticeable change came at quarterback.

It was simply a disastrous start for true freshman Michael Hawkins, who threw an interception on the first play of the game that set South Carolina's offense up at OU's 41-yard line, eventually leading to a score. Five players later, he was strip sacked and the Gamecocks returned it for a 36-yard touchdown. Three plays later, Hawkins threw a pick-six.

At the 9:30 mark of the first quarter, the Sooners had run nine offensive plays, committed three turnovers and found themselves trailing 21-0. Venables essentially had no choice, as he benched Hawkins for Jackson Arnold.

"First and foremost, it's unacceptable to come out and play that way early," OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said. "We've got to do a much better job of taking care of the football and give ourselves an opportunity to stay in the game... the biggest thing we talked about every week is making sure we have great ball security and win the turnover margin. We just put ourselves in a really unfortunate spot early on.

"Once you get in a spot like that, we weren't able to dig ourselves out of a hole. I hate it. It's unfortunate. It's not acceptable. We have to be much better. I have to be much better."

Arnold came into the game, but the offensive struggles continued. The Sooners picked up just three first downs over their next four drives. But he eventually found something resembling momentum, leading the Sooners on an 11-play, 53-yard drive to end the first half. The Sooners' scored their lone touchdown on an eight-play, 90-yard drive to open the second half.

That play was capped off by a 54-yard touchdown from Arnold to Brenen Thompson — the Sooners' second-longest offensive play this season, and the first touchdown by a receiver since Week 2.

It was encouraging for Arnold, who was benched against Tennessee in Week 4 after three first-half turnovers. Arnold finished with 225 passing yards on 18 of 36 attempts, and his day marked the first time this season that an OU quarterback had thrown for more than 174 yards. Walk-on receiver Jacob Jordan, who hadn't played in a game this season, was inserted into the game early in the second quarter and led the team in receptions (6) and yards (86).

"In a way, honestly I felt a lot more free," Arnold said. "I don't have anything to lose, just went out there, had fun with it."

There were better moments with Arnold. But despite all of the changes, the day finished as yet another miserable outing for the offense. The Sooners, which has statistically been one of the worst offenses in the country, finished with 291 yards while averaging 3.5 yards per play and 1.3 yards per carry. The offensive line had its worst outing of the season, surrendering nine sacks — all by nine different players — and 13 tackles for loss. Those 22 plays accounted for -166 yards.

And it was particular gutpunch considering it was another great outing for OU's defense. The Gamecocks scored just 18 offensive points and 254 total yards, averaging 3.7 yards per play and 1.8 yards per carry. They scored on just four of their 13 offensive possessions.

But that early deficit, and the Sooners' repeated offensive woes, were just too much to overcome.

"Who knows what it would’ve been, but take care of the ball better you give yourselves a chance," Venables said. "We went toe to toe a week ago with Texas when we were doing things we need to do. We still weren’t moving the ball like we need to. We weren’t able to sustain drives like we need to. But giving ourselves a chance to win. Today, we didn’t give ourselves a chance.

“The problems are easy to identify. Fixing them isn’t always quite as easy, but that’s what we’re working relentlessly to do. We’re not doing it fast enough.”

It's difficult to see how things get easier for the Sooners, who travel to No. 18 Ole Miss next week. The Sooners attempted to change things up before the game, and then made their third quarterback change of the season. OU wide receiver Deion Burks went through pregame warmups but ultimately didn't play, and it's unlikely the other injured wideouts return anytime soon. The Sooners have scored 47 offensive points through its four SEC games (12.1 per game) and is averaging just 260.25 yards per game in those contests.

Now, the Sooners (4-3, 1-3 SEC) have yet another decision to make regarding who starts at quarterback before next weekend.

Does Littrell believe the offense can improve?

"Obviously I do believe that," Littrell said. "I believe that. Obviously, you're got to. Do I believe in our guys? Absolutely I do. Some of this is youth, some of this is inexperience. Sometimes I feel like I believe in them more than they believe in themselves at times. You have to have that success and you have to gain that confidence in each play you make independently and with the guys around you. Looking out there, there's not a lot of veteran guys who have done a lot of veteran things.

"We've got to be better. I've got to grow. I got to continue to mature. Listen, I'm a fighter. I always have been. I'm going to continue to fight. I love this place. I hate it. It's unacceptable. But I love where I'm at. I'm going to keep fighting. I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as a coach. I believe in our guys. That won't change."

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