COLUMN: Brent Venables, Oklahoma Fans Have New Appreciation for Bob Stoops' Consistency

In his 17 years in Norman, Stoops never lost three straight games, and only lost two in a row once. His teams excelled at making sure one loss didn't become two ... or three.

Oklahoma’s rough start under Brent Venables has given Sooner Nation at least one gift.

A renewed appreciation for Bob Stoops.

In all his 239 games as OU’s head coach, Stoops never lost three consecutive games. In fact, after the midway point of his first season, way back in 1999, he never again lost two straight regular season contests.

Even Lincoln Riley, for as little as OU fans might think of him today, dropped back-to-back games just one time, during the uneven 2020 COVID season.

Winning is hard, they said. But winning all the time, consistently, and not letting the program fall into a black hole, is way harder.

Venables is learning that on a weekly basis.

Falling 41-34 to Kansas State sent up red flags. Losing 55-24 at TCU set off alarms. But collapsing 49-0 to Texas felt like a requiem.

Where does this team go from here? Can the Sooners rebound as a program? Did Venables hire a good staff? Is he the right man for the job?

Bob Stoops

Tim Heitman / USA TODAY Sports

For a proud program, a college football blue blood — a program that has achieved the highest level of success and has sustained startling consistency, these last three Saturdays have been tough to swallow.

“When you’re a competitor and you’re used to success,” Venables said Saturday, “whether it’s this game or any game, there’s a standard of performance that you’re fighting and competing for every single day. So when you come up short as a coach or certainly as a team, it’s incredibly disappointing, like you would expect.”

Which makes Stoops’ run all the more remarkable.

It took Stoops three years to experience his first home loss, six years for his second, and 13 years for his third. (He finished with just nine in 17 seasons.)

Stoops was the only man to coach in the BCS Championship Game and all four New Year’s Day bowls.

His teams won 10 games 14 times, 11 games 12 times, 12 games six times and of course still holds the school record with 13 wins in 2000.

And he did it all without breaking NCAA rules. Stoops never had a losing record. Never won less than eight games after going 7-5 in his rookie season.

But that’s just the macro look at Stoops’ resume. Drill down to find the real magic.

• After dropping an early lead at Notre Dame and an early lead against Texas in his first season, Stoops never suffered consecutive regular-season defeats again.

• After winning the national title and 20 games in a row, the Sooners suffered a crushing setback at Nebraska — then bounced back with three straight double-digit wins.

• OU had back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 2003 and 2004, only to experience championship defeat to end both years. When the 2005 season started out sideways with a home loss to TCU, Stoops made a few drastic changes to the lineup and put together a tight victory over a very good Tulsa team the following week.

• That same season, following a 45-12 loss to Texas — previously the biggest loss to the Longhorns before Saturday — Stoops gathered the troops, reorganized and orchestrated a 19-3 win over Kansas in Kansas City, a double-overtime win over Baylor and a one-score victory at Nebraska.

• Later in 2005, after multiple replay reviews went against them in a loss at Texas Tech, Stoops’ Sooners demolished Oklahoma State in the season finale.

• The replay debacle at Oregon in 2006 didn’t linger; OU crushed Middle Tennessee 59-0 the following week.

• In 2007, after an inexplicable fourth-quarter collapse at Colorado, Stoops’ squad put together a 28-21 win over Texas to start a five-game winning streak.

• In 2008, following a disappointing 45-35 loss to Texas in an epic showdown, the Sooners responded by running the table with an unprecedented offensive flurry and getting back to the national championship game.

• There were multiple opportunities for back-to-back losses in 2009, especially after injuries to Heisman winner Sam Bradford and so many others. OU lost five games that season, but Stoops’ Sooners followed each one with victories of 64-0, 33-7, 35-13, 65-10 and 27-0.

That was Oklahoma’s pattern for most of 17 years under Stoops: suffer a rare but jarring loss, bounce back with an important or impressive win.

Bob Stoops at the Alamo Bowl.

Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

Even when the losses stacked up, like ’05, ’09 or 2014, Stoops’ squads wouldn’t let defeat linger.

Another good example was in Stoops’ final season — his final defeat, actually — when the Sooners dropped a 21-point home loss to Ohio State, then followed that up with a riveting 52-46 victory at TCU and another 45-40 thriller over Texas.

OU didn’t lose again that season, and Stoops retired the following summer.

Five years later, Venables followed his first home loss with a failed trip to Fort Worth and another failed trip to Dallas.

Venables and his staff will continue to seek answers this week as the Sooners (3-3) return home to host an upstart Kansas team that has tasted success but is now coming off its first defeat. It won’t be easy.

Venables can turn things around. He was on staff with Stoops for most of those bounceback games. He’s lived this. He knows what it takes. He might have to make some difficult choices somewhere, whether it’s in the starting lineup or at the quarterback position or in the staff room. But he knows it can be done.

Winning is hard. It shouldn’t feel impossible.

Brent Venables, Bob Stoops and the magic visor.

Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Stoops came out of retirement for the Alamo Bowl after Riley quit last November. Already a sainted figure in the eyes of OU fans, Stoops' status was elevated when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, then beat Oregon, then famously placed his sideline visor atop Venables’ head, a symbolic gesture that will resonate for years.

Those Sooners had lost their previous game, too, 37-33 at Oklahoma State. The program could have fallen into utter turmoil.

Stoops came back to make sure they didn’t lose another one, and to make sure the Sooners didn’t descend into chaos.

And yet, nine months later, chaos has somehow ensued.

Venables can’t fix this by handing the visor back to Stoops. He can’t officially add Stoops to the existing coaching staff. This is Venables' job now. He's the man in charge.

Venables left Oklahoma after the 2011 season to spread his coaching wings and see how good he could be without Stoops. He was good at Clemson. All-time good.

But leaning on his mentor for guidance through this darkness is something he can and should do. Now he's back in the "nest" that Stoops tended so well for so long. Pride can't be an obstacle.

The best resource Venables has is Stoops’ experience — and maybe a new and profound appreciation for just how hard winning actually is.