Embarrassing home has Oklahoma leading college football’s Misery Index after Week 8

At Oklahoma – before Saturday’s latest embarrassment, anyway – they’d blame the injuries in the wide receiver room. They’d talk about how well recruiting has gone this year. They’d point out all the little problems that weren’t Brent Venables’ fault in his first couple years on the job and how he was still the right guy to fix them as the Sooners transition to the Southeastern Conference.

It’s why Oklahoma, for some reason, gave Venables a new contract with a $44.8 million buyout after last season even though it’s hard to imagine any scenario in which he’d have left Norman or even been a legitimate candidate for any other job. It’s why the Sooners went all-in: They believed they had the right guy to lead their program into the toughest neighborhood in college football.

How’s that going now?

The Sooners’ 35-9 loss to South Carolina – in Norman, no less – represents one of the lowest points in the last quarter century of Oklahoma football. And that may be an overly kind way to frame what’s happened this season, as the Sooners are 4-3 with a remaining schedule that suggests they’ll be lucky to reach a bowl game.

South Carolina defensive back David Spaulding (29) and linebacker Debo Williams (0) tackle Oklahoma running back Jovantae Barnes (2) during the second half at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

This isn’t what Oklahoma football is about, whether it’s in the Big 12 or SEC. Regardless of the circumstance, there’s are no excuses. This is really, really bad.

Venables, 53, was a Hall of Fame-level defensive coordinator at both Oklahoma and Clemson but never made the leap into the head coaching realm. And he may have remained Dabo Swinney’s top lieutenant were it not for Lincoln Riley making the shocking move to Southern California after the 2021 regular season.

Caught a bit…

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Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-20 10:07:05

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