NORMAN — Brent Venables was as candid Tuesday as he's been all season.

And in the middle of his weekly press conference, Venables took blame for how OU's offense has played for much of the season.

"I hired the wrong guy," Venables said, referring to former offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said. "It obviously wasn't the right guy. That's not centered on Seth. I failed, and I own that. That's not earth shattering news."

Venables' honesty comes within the context of arguably Oklahoma's best offensive performance of the season on Saturday.

Despite missing their top five receivers, and three starting offensive lineman, the Sooners' offense dominated Alabama en route to a 24-3 win. The offense was unconventional but effective, finishing with 325 yards while totaling 257 yards on the ground — 215 in the first half — on 5.1 yards per carry. Jackson Arnold attempted 11 just passes and finished with 68 yards passing, as the Sooners were content to fully lean on the running game.

Most notably, the Sooners possessed the ball for 34 minutes and 11 seconds of game time, their highest mark of the season. They held the ball for the final seven minutes of the game, completing dominating the flow of the game.

It was an unimpressive, and unexpected, performance for an OU offense that has been historically bad all season. Through the first four conference games, the Sooners averaged just 77 rushing yards per game and failed to reach 300 total yards in any contest. Littrell was promptly fired following the team's 35-9 home loss to South Carolina.

The Sooners' offense hasn't fully turned it around with Joe Jon Finley as the primary playcaller, but they've found an identity — running the ball. They've averaged 226.7 rushing yards over the last four contests and have rushed for 122 yards or more in their last three conference games, including their dominant performance against Alabama.

As the Sooners' search for a new offensive coordinator continues, could the Alabama win have an impact on what Venables is looking for?

"I think that's a great way to win," Venables said. "I don't think, 'Oh, that hasn't been in alignment with what we wanted before.' I think this staff has done a really good job the last month of taking kind of a messy situation for all the right reasons, not just — OK, coach Venables made a mistake, if you will.

"I think this staff had done a really good job with trying to figure that out, get better every week, put together a great game plan but also figure out OK, what does this group of guys, what does this team, what do we need to do?... What they were able to do and keep Alabama off balance and the efficiency, the physicality, the precision, the discipline that we played with on offense and how that aligned with what we were doing on defense, the end result is what you want it to look like."

While Venables didn't specify if he's looking to hire a new offensive coordinator with a specific offensive system, he knows how he wants things to look. More importantly, Venables is looking for the next offense to have an identity — which is something the Sooners have now, and something they didn't have through the first seven games of the season.

Venables acknowledged he made a mistake with the Littrell hire. But Saturday's win gives him a better road map on how to improve things with the next hire this offseason.

"(I'm looking for a system) that's efficient, that's going to attract great players, that has a reputation in a scheme-friendly system that's going to attract great quarterbacks and skill guys, running backs, tight ends, receivers," Venables said. "I think that's really important. How can we win? What style of offense that we can win in this league? You look at the styles through the years that have been successful and we've seen them all, something that you know that can transition quickly with the roster that we have.

"I don't mind having a generational five-star, best-guy-in-the-country quarterback, but (looking for) something that maybe people have proven have some type of a track record that shows if we lose that guy, this is an offense that still produces and puts stress on the defense and scores points, moves the ball, yardage may or may not be important. We look at the things I just said, efficiency in all the right spots, good in the red zone, good on third, fourth down, has good ball control, can make all the explosive plays, can win games, do the things that's necessary to win games. But I like an offense that has some flexibility and can win different ways."