Brent Venables took the podium and summed up the Oklahoma Sooners' performance on Saturday in one phrase.
“Welp,” Venables said in his opening statement of his postgame press conference. “That was… That was ugly.”
In a game where the Sooners earned their second win of the season, the feeling amongst the Sooner nation likely isn’t very optimistic given the gauntlet of a schedule that’s ahead. No. 24 Oklahoma, a heavy favorite heading into its final nonconference game of the season, managed just a 14-6 win over the New Mexico Lobos. The 14 points Oklahoma scored were the fewest in a nonconference home game since its 30-13 loss to Notre Dame in 2012.
And it’s Oklahoma’s offense that once again is the topic of discussion. The Sooner defense did its
job, holding an opponent without a touchdown for the second time this season. But that was the only bright spot for OU. The Sooners lost the turnover battle, giving the ball away on offense and on special teams. John Mateer didn’t look comfortable running the offense and threw two interceptions, and OU managed just 61 total rushing yards. Just a week after the offense looked poor in Ann Arbor, leading to a 17-10 loss to Michigan, Oklahoma arguably looked worse at home against a non-power 4 program.
Sooners win‼️ pic.twitter.com/6SReWTWCVY
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) September 20, 2026
“At times it was really dirty and really sloppy,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said postgame of Saturday's performance. “I can just tell you, I’m going to watch the film, and there’s going to be things that we can get a little bit cleaner on, we can be a little faster, a little bit more physical on, and that’s going to be the frustrating thing.”
Oklahoma’s offensive struggles earned boos from the over 83,000 fans that were in attendance. It began on Mateer’s first pass of the game, which was intercepted. They rained down again when Oklahoma’s drive stalled on the next possession. And much more throughout the night as OU struggled to get anything going. Oklahoma recorded just 299 yards of offense. Oklahoma’s best rushing attack – running back Lloyd Avant had just 27 rushing yards on eight carries.
In a game many hoped would give Oklahoma some momentum heading into a conference matchup against Georgia, the Sooners likely did the opposite with an ugly performance on Owen Field.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables doesn't hold back on offense in Oklahoma's win
