Well, Oklahoma fans must feel like they’re trapped in a nightmare with no snooze button. Now, just when they thought the 6-7 train wreck in 2024 was rock bottom, the football gods just cranked up another level of difficulty. Look, Brent Venables is already facing the heat of last season’s loss, and here comes another blow, and it’s not his workload but the schedule itself. And this isn’t some cupcake parade; it’s a full-blown SEC gauntlet. Now, the burden of Sooner’s hopes rests entirely on their $3 million-priced weapon, John Mateer.
Brent Venables’ Sooners suffered a crash and burn last season, with the offense at the forefront of the disaster. At the beginning of 2024, Oklahoma ranked second to the bottom in the SEC for scoring offense, managing only 24.3 points per game. Then, against all odds, they shocked Alabama, achieving one of their biggest wins ever. Now, to mount a stronger comeback, they’ve got John Mateer, the country’s best transfer quarterback. Sounds great, right? Well, not so fast. With a struggling offense, the new offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, is already facing skepticism. And to crank up the uncertainty, Venables himself will take over play-calling duties because, in his own words, “because I’m good at it.”
While confidence plays a role, Spencer McLaughlin of Locked on College Football highlighted another obstacle: Oklahoma’s tough schedule. As he puts it out, saying, “This is a question that I’m going to be asking for the Sooner quarterback going into this year. Are you ready to go up against the SEC? And look, I have been one of many people that I know of in this content space that have looked at the SEC in the past year and said, yeah, it’s not the big bad wolf that it used to be when I was a kid because guess what? It’s not. It’s still a higher level of competition than what you were facing before. So that’s the first challenge that John Mateer has.”
That’s the harsh reality facing Oklahoma as they confront a challenging schedule. They have tough matchups against Michigan, Temple, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Alabama. Adding to the difficulty, they only have two home games against LSU and Missouri. It’s evident that Brent Venables is putting all his faith in John Mateer, but even he may also find himself in a tough position moving ahead in the game if Venables doesn’t fix the looming trouble.
Spencer McLaughlin launches a straightaway warning for Brent Venables and John Mateer, saying, “Here’s the second challenge that John Mateer faces going into the season with Oklahoma. There’s a lot of turnover for the Sooners, and he’s trying to elevate guys who are trying to make that same sort of jump for the most part on the perimeter.”
Remember their game against the Missouri Tigers? They fumbled the pigskin six times and lost four of them. The worst part was that two of those resulted in Tigers’ TDs. That’s exactly the issue Spencer is talking about. But that’s not the only stress sitting on Sooners’ HC shoulders.
Doubts looming on Brent Venables’s future
Oklahoma faced a challenging situation in 2024, leading to a complete rebuild. But with a hefty $34.9 million buyout, firing Brent Venables was not an option. Then, the focus shifted to recruiting, resulting in a 2025 class ranked 17th nationally, featuring 18 commits and 15 transfers. Key players like five-star OT Michael Fasusi and four-star WR Elijah Thomas led the group. Now, here comes the stressful part.
For now, all eyes are set on the 2026 class, which currently has only four commits. Notable among them are four-star WR Daniel Odom and four-star QB Jaden O’Neal. However, there is concern as O’Neal recently visited Georgia. Insights from John Williams and Jay Smith on ‘Locked on Sooners’ discussed the potential implications for the talented quarterback, saying, “Oklahoma Sooners quarterback commit Jaden O’Neal reportedly visited UGA spring practice on Monday, according to Steve Wiltfong and one of the Georgia guys over there at On3. A little bit discouraging, man. I’m a big Jaden O’Neal fan. I think he’s got a ton of talent. I think the ceiling is high for this kid, and we knew about the Bowe Bentley pursuit. Oklahoma is trying. Trying to add a second quarterback just seems like this one might be trending to where Jaden O’Neal might be exploring these other options pretty seriously at this point.”
To add to the uncertainty, O’Neal skipped Oklahoma’s Future Freaks Weekend while Bentley attended. Meanwhile, Florida State, Auburn, and Arizona are working hard to convince him to switch allegiances. With all this activity, it’s unclear whether O’Neal will remain loyal or switch sides. But here’s the twist: O’Neal recently transferred to Mustang High School in Oklahoma for his final year. Standing at 6’3” and weighing 200 lbs, with an impressive 2,475 passing yards as a sophomore, he is the perfect fit for Oklahoma. The focus now shifts to whether Venables can secure his commitment or watch him join the SEC ranks. The future holds many possibilities; for now, we wait to see if Brent Venables can eliminate the uncertainty and establish a strong presence with the Sooners this season.
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