Oklahoma Coach Admits He ‘Did a Poor Job’ in Red River Showdown Loss

After Oklahoma’s second consecutive blowout loss, this time at the hands of archrival Texas in the Red River Showdown, first-year Sooners coach Brent Venables was blunt in his assessment of his team’s performance in the postgame press conference.

“Really disappointed in how we coached and played today. …I obviously did a poor job,” Venables said.

Oklahoma’s 49–0 loss featured a second consecutive poor defensive performance, which Sooners fans have to be disappointed with considering Venables’s background and how heralded he was as a defensive coordinator at Clemson.

The Sooners allowed 585 yards of total offense, and they allowed Texas’s top options on offense to do most of the damage. Longhorns’ star running back Bijan Robinson carried the ball 22 times for 130 yards and two scores. Quarterback Quinn Ewers, who has not played since the Alabama game in Week 2, returned to complete 21-of-31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns.

For as bad as Oklahoma’s defense played, the offense was equally as disappointing. Without quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who missed the game due to injury, the Sooners were shuffling options at quarterback for most of the day. The end result was 39 passing yards and two interceptions as a collective group, “led” by Davis Beville’s 6-of-12 passing for 38 yards and an interception.

The Sooners are 3–3 and seem to be in a free fall. Meanwhile, Texas appears to have their mojo back with their star quarterback back in the fold.