Similar to how Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made his third year at the helm his best so far, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables looks to make his third time a charm with the Sooners.
Venables took over in Norman after the departure of Lincoln Riley, who left the program in 2021 following an impressive 11–2 record to end the season. Riley now commands the USC Trojans.
While Venables had previous experience working for the Sooners as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 1999-2011, the legacy of Riley would be nothing short of challenging to live up to.
In his first stint with the program, the Sooners went 6–7 overall and only won three games in Big 12 Conference play. It was also an unforgettable first Red River Rivalry as head coach for Venables when Texas served up a 49-0 beatdown in Dallas. That year marked the addition of starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel from the transfer portal and gave Venables various building blocks to shape a championship team — it was just a matter of piecing them all together.
The 2023 season looked much brighter for Venables, and Oklahoma ended up tied for second in the Big 12 with Gabriel as quarterback after going 7–2 in conference play and an impressive turnaround record of 10–3. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, the Sooners were the only opponent during the regular season to hand them a loss, a defeat that solidified Venables as a sure threat within not only the conference, but all of college football.
Now the program sits at No. 18 in the AP Poll coming out of a bye week, having its only loss come from its first SEC opponent, then-No. 6 Tennessee, in week four, and holding on to a six-point lead to overcome unranked Auburn the weekend after.
Sarkisian has emphasized how Venables has been able to create an intimidating defense, as the Sooners have held their opponents to an average of just 2.6 yards per rush attempt and 7.86 yards per passing attempt.
“Coach Venables has done a really nice job. They play excellent defense,” Sarkisian said. “They do a good job of getting to the quarterback, they do a great job of creating turnovers.”
It seems that Venables has been tapping into his roots as a defensive coordinator, a position he not only held at Oklahoma, but at Clemson from 2012 to 2021.
His defense has recorded 18 sacks for a total loss of 109 yards so far this season alongside 40 tackles for loss, taking away another 154 yards from their opponents.
Against strong offensive play -calling from Sarkisian, Venables will surely look to stophis tactics and prevent junior quarterback Quinn Ewers from a successful return to the field come Saturday.
