Halfway Through 2024, Oklahoma's Offense is No Closer to Finding an Identity

The Sooners offense again struggled to move the ball as OU fell to No. 1 Texas 34-3 at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday.

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is sacked by Texas Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. in OU's 34-3 loss to Texas. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DALLAS — Halfway through the regular season and Oklahoma’s offense is still stuck in the mud. 

Texas’ defense smothered the Sooners on Saturday, as the top-ranked Longhorns (6-0, 2-0 SEC) throttled OU 34-3 to drop Brent Venables’ team to 4-2 on the year and 1-2 in conference play. 

It’s the second time in three years that Oklahoma failed to score a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl, and a continuation of the frustrations that have plagued the Sooners all season. 

OU has yet to have a quarterback pass for 200 yards, a player rush for 100 yards or a receiver log 100 receiving yards in a game. 

The calendar flipped to October nearly two weeks ago. 

“Obviously, we haven't been very good (on offense) this season,” Venables said after the loss. “We've got to get better everywhere.”

True freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., just like the entire offense, struggled in his second start. 

He completed 19-of-30 passes for 148 yards. Hawkins finished the game with 27 rushing yards, partly because he was sacked five times, and he committed his first turnover of the year on a fumble right out of the two-minute warning in the first half. 

Coming out of the bye week, OU’s offense was put in fantastic positions early to have success. 

Billy Bowman Jr. intercepted Quinn Ewers on the third play of the game, setting Seth Littrell’s unit up at the plus-45. 

Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. reacts after making an interception during the first quarter against the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Five plays later, the Sooners had to settle for a 44-yard field goal, which Tyler Keltner missed. 

The defense forced another three-and-out and OU got the ball at midfield. Six plays and two penalties later, Luke Elzinga punted the ball from the Sooners’ own 37-yard line. 

“We couldn't get anything sustained,” Venables said. “…  When you lose the momentum, you've got to do a good job of getting the rhythm back, we didn't do a good job and they did a good job on their part."

Perhaps the only consistent thing about the Sooners’ offense through six games has been its ability to kill drives with negative plays. 

Penalties, blown assignments and missed receivers have popped up all season, and Saturday was no different. 

Four of Oklahoma’s seven penalties against Texas came against the offense, with two other flags coming on OU’s punt coverage unit. 

There’s not a single thing the offense is executing at a high level halfway through the season. 

Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. was sacked five times in the Sooners' 34-3 loss to Texas. / Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“There’s some positives throughout every game. Just not enough of ‘em,” Littrell said after the loss. “And that’s the biggest thing. It’s the consistency of overall execution. Again, it gets frustrating for everyone. Listen, it’s a great group. They work extremely hard. 

“Eventually, we gotta carry that execution over to the game plan, and on Saturdays you gotta be able to perform at a high level. For whatever reason, we haven’t been able to do that yet.”

Injuries have been backbreaking this year. 

The offensive line didn’t get its full starting lineup healthy enough to play until the win over Auburn. OU’s top five receivers have all missed time. 

But the expectation for Littrell’s banged up offense isn’t to be a top 15 unit. 

After kicking the field goal to go up 3-0 over Texas at the end of the first quarter, the offense punted twice and fumbled twice. The third quarter brought two more punts, as Oklahoma looked no closer to an answer for the Longhorn defense after making halftime adjustments, and the Sooners finished with 237 total yards of offense. 

“It's challenging. You see some of the flashes of what it can looking like and what it should look like,” Littrell said. “Again, it's the consistency overall of making and finishing off those drive. … Throughout the weeks, you go back two weeks ago, penalties killed drives and really hurt us. They hurt us today at times. We have to do a much better job of staying poised in those situations and making sure we stay in front of the chains. We don't want to have to be in third-and-long. We've been in too many third-and-long situations.”

The Sooners have to find answers quickly, but the road ahead doesn’t suddenly get easier. 

Up next, OU will host South Carolina who has a front seven that Venables labeled as the best for the Gamecocks in nearly a decade. Beyond that, Oklahoma will have to travel to Ole Miss. 

That’s just October. 

Littrell is running out of time to get the offense rolling. 

“Obviously, it’s frustrating, because we all hate to lose,” he said. “We’re all competitors. The frustrating thing is the hard work you put in throughout the week, and for it not to flourish on gameday is—yeah, it’s challenging.

“… It’s my job to get them in rhythm and get them in positions to make those plays. Again, it’s always going to start with me. I’m never going to ever point my finger at another player or another coach. At the end of the day, I call the plays. I’m the leader of the offense, so again, it starts with me, and I got to figure a way to get them in those situations.”