Oklahoma-South Carolina Video Review: Another Disastrous Outing Means Big Change

After spotting them 21 points, the Sooners had more yards and more first downs than the Gamecocks, then eventually made massive changes to the offense.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

It’s a new day in Norman. Is it a good day, or a bad day? Time will tell.

Brent Venables’ decision to fire offensive coordinator Seth Littrell on Sunday came just over 24 hours after the Sooners’ latest miserable offensive performance, a 34-9 home loss to South Carolina.

Now, OU goes to No. 18 Mississippi on Saturday morning with Joe Jon Finley calling plays and Kevin Johns coaching quarterbacks.

The consensus is that Oklahoma is a 20.5-point underdog (ESPN Bet is offering OU +21.) That would be the biggest point spread against Oklahoma since 1996, when the Sooners went off as a 22-point underdog to Texas — and shocked the world with a 30-27 overtime win.

Whatever changes come to the Oklahoma offense structurally at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Sooners need to start fast. In their three SEC losses thus far, slow starts have doomed them to defeat.

Against Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina, OU had just three points at halftime, and the game was essentially over — the Vols led 19-3, the Horns led 21-3, and the Cocks led 32-3.

In the first half of those games, OU averaged 1.5, 2.4 and 1.7 yards per rush, respectively. The offense gave up a total of eight quarterback sacks and lost eight turnovers — again, in the first half alone. OU quarterbacks completed just 22-of-45 passes in the opening two quarters of those three games.

And as a team, Oklahoma only averaged 2.68 yards per play in the first half of those three losses.

In Ole Miss, the Sooners face a defense that ranks No. 4 in the nation in third down percentage, No. 3 in red zone defense, No. 1 in rushing defense, No. 2 in scoring defense, No. 7 in quarterback sacks and No. 2 in tackles for loss.

Here’s the Sooners On SI video review of the South Carolina game.

FIRST QUARTER

In his pregame sideline interview, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer says, “Certainly, turnovers are gonna be huge in this game.” Even Beamer has no idea of the carnage that’s just minutes away.

It’s Jacob Sexton at left tackle, Heath Ozaeta at left guard, Troy Everett at center, Febechi Nwaiwu at right guard and Jake Taylor at right tackle for the Sooners up front, but it’s not going to stay that way.

On the first play, tight end Bauer Sharp is left to block All-SEC defensive end Kyle Kennard, and Kennard blows past him uncontested to pressure Michael Hawkins. Jovantae Barnes also steps up as if to pick up a blitzer, but he  doesn’t read the pressure and ends up blocking no one. Hawkins first steps up in the pocket, then slides left and floats an intermediate pass to J.J. Hester at the numbers, but SC safety Nick Emmanwori easily steps in front of Hester and intercepts the throw at the OU 41. It’s a decent throw, but perhaps a split second late as Hawkins made no account for Emmanwori’s ability to close ground and make a big-time play on the ball.

The Oklahoma defense does a nice job surrounding and collapsing the pocket on Gamecocks QB LaNorris Sellers, but he bounces around in the pocket on the opening play of the drive and then scoots through broken field traffic for a 25-yard run. SC attacks the right edge with Rocket Sanders, and he gains 7 in the hole vacated by R Mason Thomas. Sellers’ keeper for 2 yards is dropped short of the first down, but Sanders smashes through a huge hole for 4 yards on third-and-1. On first-and-goal from the 3, SC brings in two tight ends and two backs, and while the linebackers flow to their left, Sanders takes it to their right and bounces outside of Jaren Kanak and scores untouched. The PAT makes it 7-0 with 12:33 to go in the first quarter, and the route is on.

Hawkins starts the next drive right with an 11-yard completion to Hester off a play-action fake. Another play-action quick pass goes to Jake Roberts wide left for a gain of 5, and things seem to be clicking. On second-and-4, Hawkins moves the formation around three times pre-snap, offers another play-action fake to Barnes, then feels immediate pressure off the edge when Roberts can’t block edge rusher Dylan Stewart (again, a tight end is one-on-one, although Barnes also tries to engage Stewart and has zero effect). Hawkins steps up to escape Stewart and desperately tries to break out to the right, but linebacker Demetrius Knight is coming with delayed pressure — “a trigger blitz,” ESPN’s Cole Cubelic calls it — and smashes into Hawkins, dislodging the football. Tonka Hemingway scoops it up and rumbles 36 yards uncontested into the end zone for a 14-0 lead. 

Hawkins’ body language isn’t good as SEC Network’s TV cameras zoom in on Jackson Arnold and the commentator asks, “How soon will No. 11 burn the redshirt and enter the game?” Arnold and Casey Thompson are standing at the ready, but one more time, it’s Hawkins who jogs onto the field — to a cacophony of boos from the fan base.

Barnes screams up the sideline with a quick toss sweep to the left, and it’s a gain of 7. Another new-ish play (this year) from Littrell. Barnes picks up the first down with a 5-yard smash behind Everett, Taylor and Nwaiwu. Barnes’ third straight handoff, however, goes nowhere as Bam Martin-Scott comes behind the initial blocking untouched for a 1-yard loss. Hawkins play-actions to Barnes and sprints right to fit a tight throw wide right to Sharp for a 2-yard pickup. Brenen Thompson lines up wide left with the formation to the right hash, and Hawkins tries to hang in the pocket long enough to find him. But Stewart — this time from the right side of the defense — dips his shoulder and gets under Sexton clean and slams into Hawkins while he’s trying to deliver the throw. Thompson isn’t even in the picture when Emmanwori brings down his second interception of the game, and he heads upfield. South Carolina sets up the runback like a punt return and Emmanwori scores untouched up the right sideline.

OU hasn’t even played 4 1/2 minutes and the Sooners trail 21-0.

Taylor Tatum gives OU a brief spark as he gets good blocking on the kickoff return and returns it 36 yards cross-field. It’s wiped out by a holding penalty, however, and Arnold — who was booed off the field in his last action against Tennessee — comes in to a chorus of desperate cheers.

Michael Tarquin is now at left tackle as Sexton kicks inside to guard. Smart play calling by Littrell here as Barnes gets the handoff on three straight plays to start the drive, including an 11-yard burst behind Tarquin on second down. No reason to put too much on Arnold too soon. Arnold’s quick slant to Hester is batted down by Hemingway, and he’s sacked by Martin-Scott on third-and-10 — the first of eight times Arnold will be dropped behind the line.

Sellers freezes against OU’s base 4-3 as all three linebackers drop in coverage. He tries to scramble but Jayden Jackson brings him down for a loss of 2. Sellers hits Larvadain Gage for 7 yards, then finds Dre Jacobs over the middle in front of Robert Spears-Jennings for 15 yards. Credit Trace Ford for coming off the edge to shove Mazeo Bennett out of bounds for a 2-yard gain. On third-and-8, OU stacks the line and Danny Stutsman drags down Sellers on an option keeper for 5 yards, forcing a punt.

More toughness from Barnes, who spins away from trouble but gets smashed for a gain of 1 on first down, then plows through contact again for 6 yards. OU converts on third down when Judge Collier is flagged for pass interference on Arnold’s quick-slant throw to Thompson. Arnold keeps on an RPO to the left but gets hammered for a 1-yard gain. On second-and-9, Littrell goes tempo and Arnold has to escape initial pressure again. Roberts can’t block Stewart again, and Stewart latches onto Arnold’s undershirt, but Arnold keeps running and gets away a throw down the right sideline. Hester has broken open behind the coverage and it looks like a touchdown might be coming, but Arnold’s throw sails over his head incomplete. On third-and-9, Arnold is ambushed, hit from the front by Debo Williams and from the side by Bryan Thomas and loses the football, although Nwaiwu recovers.

Kip Lewis and Damonic Williams stuff Oscar Adaway for 1 yard on first down, and Williams and Thomas pressure Sellers into a bad throw on second down. Stutsman and Dasan McCullough come on a wrap blitz to pressure Sellers into another incompletion, and once again, the Oklahoma defense has put together a strong stop.

Spencer Brown is now in at right tackle as Taylor, limited by injury, couldn’t hold up on the edge.  Tatum picks up a good 3 yards into the SC sideline, then slices through contact up the middle for 6 hard yards behind Nwaiwu and a pulling Everett. OU is running tempo again and this time Tatum takes the handoff up the middle and immediately bounces out to the right for a 3-yard run and a first down on the final play of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Barnes keeps it going with a tough 4-yard run behind Sexton, and then plows for 2. On third down, Arnold slips a quick throw outside to the motion man, Sharp, but Sharp drops what should be an easy first-down catch. On fourth-and-4 from his own 30, Venables elects to try the Sooners’ first fake punt of the season, and it’s a disaster. Luke Elzinga throws a nice pass wide left for a screen to Sharp (who just dropped a pass on the other side of the field). Jacobe Johnson misses a block, however, and Sharp is smothered immediately by Knight, who slings him down for a 5-yard loss, setting up the Gamecocks at the OU 26. 

South Carolina gets 3 yards from Sanders, but Ford comes clean on a slant from the right side and blasts Sanders in the backfield. Sanders momentarily keeps his feet, and P.J. Adebawore, Jacobs and Stutsman clean it up for an 8-yard loss. Sellers scrambles for 9, but Peyton Bowen knocks him out of bounds short of a first down. Alex Herrera’s 39-yard field goal puts the Gamecocks up 24-0 with 12:05 until halftime.

Arnold hangs in the pocket for a second, then escapes pressure for a 3-yard scramble and slide. On second down, Arnold fakes a jet sweep handoff to Zion Ragins and keeps for no gain. Ragins catches a quick-hitch from Arnold and has nowhere to go as Brown doesn’t get out quick enough to block Emmanwori, who slings down Ragins for a 4-yard loss.

Lewis and Stutsman bring Sanders down for a 1-yard gain, and Sammy Omosigho smothers Joshua Simon for a 1-yard loss after a short throw from Sellers. On third down, Omosigho nearly intercepts Sellers’ sideline throw after more pressure by Ford, and SC’s Kai Kroeger comes in for another 57-yard bomb.

Jacob Jordan makes his debut at wide receiver, and he motions left to right and immediately throws a winning block to spring Barnes. Barnes gets slung to the ground after a short pickup on another quick toss. Barnes rolls over the tackler, however, and keeps going for a 60-yard run to the OU 12. But replay shows Barnes’ elbow and knee were briefly on the ground, so it’s a 4-yard run — and more bad news follows when Sexton is flagged for a questionable illegal blindside block. On first-and-18 from the 12, Arnold takes a shot but just barely overthrows Hester down the right sideline. Jordan has arrived now as the true freshman walk-on catches a slant from Arnold for 10 yards. On third-and-8, Arnold escapes a Gamecock blitz and scrambles out of bounds for a 9-yard run. Jordan flashes again as Arnold gets a clean pocket and delivers a first-down throw on the sideline, and then Jordan jukes his man for another 15 yards, picking up 27 yards on the catch. On first down, Jordan takes a quick hitch screen from Arnold and rides blocks from Thompson and Ivan Carreon for a gain of 5. Jordan signals to come out of the game, but he’s made to stay in — because he’s suddenly the Sooners’ best offensive option. Jordan motions out of trips left behind the formation as Arnold takes the snap and fakes a handoff to Tatum, and Tatum sneaks up the left sideline behind the wideouts and catches a pass from Arnold that nets 18 yards. After a South Carolina timeout, Arnold’s throw to Carreon in the end zone is well-defended by Collier. On second-and-10, Arnold rolls right and throws it away, and on third-and-10, Hemingway beats Nwaiwu and Everett and sacks Arnold for a loss of 8. Zach Schmit, who retook the starting job in practice during the week, Venables said — he made two kicks at Auburn with Tyler Keltner out, and Keltner missed an easy one against Texas — twists through a 44-yard field goal to finally put the Sooners on the scoreboard.

South Carolina answers with an emphatic drive — its only actual touchdown drive of the game — that begins with a 20-yard throw to Jacobs. Stutsman tackles Adaway on first down, and he and Jayden Jackson stuff him for a 1-yard gain on second down. Sellers throws incomplete on third down as Ethan Downs pressures an early throw. On fourth-and-5, Thomas jumps offsides as Sellers’ deep throw over Eli Bowen deflects off Larvadain’s fingertips. Stutsman, Damonic Williams and Woodi Washington drop Sanders for a gain of 2, but Sanders catches a short throw from Sellers and pinballs off three OU defenders for a 7-yard gain. After Sanders pushes forward for 3 yards on third-and-1, Sellers comes out of the 2-minute warning and catches the Sooner defense napping. Joshua Simon comes off the wing position like he’s blocking, and Stutsman, Lewis and Peyton Bowen seem to lock in on the motion man behind the formation. That allows Simon to leak out uncovered, and Bowen and Billy Bowman recognize too late as Simon is wide open down the left sideline for an easy touchdown. Beamer isn’t content with a 28-point lead, so he goes for 2 — a wildly clever formation straight out of Mike Leach’s playbook: three linemen split wide right, three more split wide left and a direct snap to Maurice Brown, who follows two blockers up the middle against an unprepared OU defense for a 2-pointer and a 32-3 lead with 1:54 to play in the half.

Arnold takes a quarterback draw for a 15-yard pickup on first down and fumbles, but is able to recover it himself as the ball bounces right back to him. Arnold isn’t so lucky again, however, as his next two passes to Thompson and Sharp are incomplete, and on third down, T.J. Sanders blows past Everett and sacks Arnold for a loss of 7, forcing a punt.

South Carolina takes over at its own 30 with 1:14 left, but still has life and wants to attack. Sellers hits Simon for 10 yards into the soft OU zone, and Sellers scrambles for 7 before throwing incomplete deep right. On third-and-3, Sellers finds Jacobs for a gain of 5 on the SC sideline, and then escapes pressure from Thomas and Caiden Woullard and floats a sideline throw to Adaway for 27 yards. With 31 seconds left. Omosigho and Stutsman bring down Simon for a gain of 1 on a short throw from Sellers, and on second-and-9, Sellers is sacked by Thomas, Spears-Jennings, Stutsman, McCullough and a few others for a loss of 8. Sellers spikes the football with five seconds left and Beamer sends out the field goal team, but on the final play of the half, Kroeger, the holder, spins out of his crouch and tries to throw to Brady Hunt, but Bowman hurries Kroeger into an incomplete pass. 

OU begins the second half facing its largest home deficit since 1998 — the first of many references to the John Blake era for the Sooners.

THIRD QUARTER

Sellers has a clean pocket to start the second half and finds Nyck Harbor for 14 yards in front of Kani Walker. Sanders goes nowhere on first down as Spears-Jennings, Stutsman and Damonic Williams stuff him for 1 yard. But Sellers finds Michael Smith in front of Spears-Jennings on a corner route for 25 yards. A quick hitch screen throw to Jacobs is blown up by Eli Bowen for no gain, and Sellers escapes a blitz by Bowman, scrambles and jukes Stutsman and steps out of bounds for a gain of 7. On third-and-3, Sellers picks up the  first down on a speed option right, but USC is flagged for holding. After a false start, Sellers is sacked by Gracen Halton for a loss of 8. David Stone nearly swallowed Sellers for his first career sack, but came in too high and let him escape. 

OU gets the ball back at its own 10 with 10:59 on the clock, and the offense shows a spark of life. Barnes takes a counter up the middle behind a block from Sharp for 5 yards, and Arnold goes tempo and keeps for a yard. Hester comes out of trips right on a short drag route and catches an easy throw from Arnold, then as a defender gets caught up by the umpire, Hester explodes upfield for a gain of 23 yards. Barnes takes another dive up the middle as Sharp comes across with an effective wham block for 6 yards. Tempo again as Arnold play-actions to Barnes and gets it out in rhythm to Thompson on the OU sideline for a 5-yard completion. Arnold is sacked again, but this time it’s Tatum who gets shoved aside by Debo Williams as Jatius Geer drags Arnold down from behind. Arnold scrambles away from heat again but only nets a yard on second down. Then on third-and-14, lightning strikes: Brenen Thompson lines up wide left as Arnold takes a two-step drop, has a clean pocket and just chucks it deep — where Thompson has sprinted past his man and is wide open behind the defense for a 54-yard touchdown. It’s the kind of basic, pass-skeleton, 7-on-7 play that teams practice a thousand times every fall and then rep again every day in spring practice, and it works more often than not. But for this Oklahoma offense, plays like that have been a cascade of missteps and errors that prevent even the simplest things from working. Venables wants a 2-point conversion, and Littrell dials up a solid call — a shovel pass from Arnold to Sharp — but as Sharp catches it and turns up, he’s stuffed at the goal line by the Gamecocks front. He also fumbles.

Sanders goes backward on the first play as Thomas drives him back with a big hit, but keeps his feet and gets away to mitigate the damage to a 2-yard loss. Stutsman shoves Sellers out of bounds on a second-down scramble, and after an OU timeout (the Sooners had too many men on the field), Sellers finds Bennett in front of Spears-Jennings for an 11-yard pickup and a first down. Sanders gets downhill for 5, 7 and 1 — the last one a brick-wall tackle by Jayden Jackson — as the OU defense seems to be wearing down a little. Sellers scrambles out of a near-sack by Jackson for 4 yards, and then Sellers escapes a corner blitz by Jacobe Johnson and floats a pass just over the reach of Smith downfield. Back-to-back false start penalties push Kroeger back for a 41-yard punt.

Tatum finds a small crack in the SC defense for 4 yards, but Arnold’s throw over the middle goes through Hester’s hands incomplete on second down, and Arnold has to run for his life for no gain on third-and-6. Spencer Brown is flagged for illegal hands to the face, but the penalty is declined and Elzinga punts it away.

Sellers is sacked again, this time by Halton and Ford, for a loss of 8 to start the drive. It’s a thunderous collision and Sellers goes down hard, but he shows real toughness and resilience in bouncing right up. After Ford nearly cuts down Adaway for a loss, Stutsman and Kip Lewis team up to bring him down for a 2-yard gain. Sellers finds Harbor on a safety valve across the middle, but Stutsman blows it up for a 1-yard loss.

After Peyton Bowen throws a shoe on a 6-yard punt return, Arnold steps out of the tackle box and spikes the ball at Barnes’ feet. On second-and-10, Arnold throws on time to Hester on a quick slant to the right for 9 yards. On third-and-1, Barnes smashes ahead for 2 yards and a first down.

FOURTH QUARTER

Arnold again has a clean pocket and throws on time to Sharp, who catches a quick out on the SC sideline for a 12-yard gain. Arnold’s sprint-out right goes 3 yards to Barnes, who takes a hard hit in the hip and chest and needs help getting up. With Barnes out, Kalib Hicks gets his first action and takes his first carry of the season up the middle for 7 yards. Hester gets away from coverage by David Spaulding as Arnold escapes pressure and launches a deep ball to the goal line. Spaulding is flagged for pass interference and the OU drive continues at the USC 26. Barnes is back and bangs ahead for 4 yards, and on second down, Arnold throws it out of bounds under duress. On third-and-6, Barnes catches a screen from Arnold and gets upended by Debo Williams for a loss of 2. On fourth-and-8, the drive ends like so many others as Arnold is sacked by Kennard, who simply speed-rushed past Brown on the right side and drops Arnold for a loss of 11.

On second-and-8, Sellers drops back to pass and is sacked hard by Downs, who bull-rushes Hunt. Juju McDowell breaks one for 13 on third-and-17, bringing on Kroeger for a 55-yard punt.

Devon Jordan’s punt return goes for 6 yards to the OU 10. With Tarquin now at right tackle and Logan Howland at left tackle, Arnold dumps off to Barnes for a gain of 3. But on second down, Gilbert Edmond overpowers Tarquin and smothers Arnold for a loss of 9. Barnes then catches another checkdown from Arnold rolling out of the end zone and gets upfield for a 17-yard gain — but then loses a fumble at the end of the play. 

OU’s defense responds to the quick change this time, with Jackson and Stutsman stuffing Sanders for 2 yards and then Jackson and Kobie McKinzie pressuring Sellers into a throwaway on second down. On third-and-8, Sanders takes a speed option pitch to the left and is driven down hard by McKinzie for a gain of 4. Herrera’s 33-yard field goal puts the Gamecocks up 35-9 with 7:48 to play. It’s more progress by the Sooners as that’s the only points South Carolina scores after halftime. 

Arnold rolls right and throws to his new best receiver, Jcob Jordan, who comes back for an 18-yard pickup in traffic. Arnold then finds Jordan again to the right for an 8-yard gain. On second-and-2, Arnold hits Hester on comeback to the right for a first down, but Hester fumbles and is able to recover for a gain of 1. On third-and-2, Barnes slams it up the middle for 7 yards behind a crushing lead block by tight end Kaden Helms. Stewart beats Tarquin around the edge and drops Arnold again — SC’s ninth sack of the day by nine different players, and the eighth endured by Arnold — for a loss of 8. Barnes gets 2 more yards and Arnold throws incomplete to Zion Kearney on the SC sideline (replay confirms Kearney is out of bounds). On fourth-and-16, Arnold sprints out right again and hits Jordan one more time with a tip-toe sideline catch for 18 yards. Arnold’s next four throws — to Jordan, to Sharp, to Hester and to Kearney — fall incomplete. Two of those throws deflect through receivers’ hands and are nearly intercepted.

OU is down 26, but Stutsman is still thumping ballcarriers, dragging Jawarn Howell down for a gain of 3 on first down. Adebawore drops Howell on second down, but after an OU timeout with 3:58 to go, backup QB Robby Ashford throws to Dalevon Campbell for 5 yards and a first down in front of Jacobe Johnson. Kip Lewis drops Howell for a loss of 1, and Stone smothers McDowell for no gain. On third-and-11, former Sooner QB Davis Beville comes in but is dropped by Adebawore for a 13-yard sack. After the 2-minute timeout, Kroeger punts it away for 56 yards.

Following Devon Jordan’s 10-yard punt return, Hicks is back on the field and gets the handoff from Arnold behind another block by Helms — but fumbles his first-down carry after a gain of 4. Howland alertly recovers, however. Arnold’s throw to Carreon is off target and incomplete, and his throw over the middle to Jacob Jordan is under duress and also hits the grass. On fourth-and-6, Arnold scoots away from another sack and valiantly struggles for a gain of 3.

Beville, who started at QB the last time the OU offense was this bad (a 49-0 loss to Texas in 2022 when Dillon Gabriel was hurt) and never got another shot, comes back in to complete the Sooners’ final indignation, taking a knee twice to end it. Beville embraces his old teammates and Beamer embraces Venables at midfield as the teams head off into uncertain futures.