We’re not going to grave-dance on Brent Venables or Oklahoma soccer. A 49-0 loss to Texas is actually dangerous, however that doesn’t imply a lot when assessing the long-term way forward for OU soccer. The 2022 season? Yeah, that’s toast. OU won’t make a bowl recreation this 12 months if beginning quarterback Dillon Gabriel doesn’t get wholesome quickly. Even if Gabriel does get wholesome, OU will lose at least 5 video games. Its bowl bid can be a fourth-tier bowl towards a 7-5 or 6-6 crew. This 12 months is a catastrophe for Oklahoma, however the huge image is unclear. It’s simply approach too Soon(er) to make any long-term verdicts.
Nevertheless, a 49-0 loss to Texas will naturally increase questions about Brent Venables … and Lincoln Riley. Oklahoma followers are definitely questioning about the situation during which Riley left the Sooner program. USC followers can definitely say that Lincoln Riley is a extremely good coach, and that OU followers’ “we’re glad you’re gone!” angle within the offseason was misguided and misplaced.
Can we’ve got an actual conversation about Venables and Riley? Sit down. Let’s discuss. Let’s compose ourselves and be trustworthy about this:
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Yes, Oklahoma is actually dangerous, far worse than any of us imagined. Oklahoma was a preseason top-15 crew and the bulk decide to win the Big 12. I believed OU would win the Big 12. I acquired that decide flawed and received’t disguise from it.
SECOND THING
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel being damage doesn’t account for the entire collapse of the OU protection beneath Venables, but when OU may rating 42 factors, the protection clearly doesn’t have to play with almost as a lot stress — and it might have much more help. Lincoln Riley received plenty of shootouts at Oklahoma, and not having an offense able to doing something definitely adjustments the equation.
It’s actually laborious to say Venables is incompetent when he’s working with out his QB1, a confirmed FBS starter who has made a New Year’s Six bowl (with UCF).
CALEB WILLIAMS
OU is with out Dillon Gabriel. Caleb Williams is significantly better than Gabriel, however the bigger level is that if both Oklahoma or USC had to go to a QB2 this 12 months, huge issues have been all the time going to emerge. If USC misplaced Caleb Williams, the Trojans could be up a creek with no paddle. Miller Moss may in all probability beat Arizona State, however not Washington State and definitely not Utah. Let’s be actual in evaluating these conditions.
ONE MORE QB POINT
Where Brent Venables did fail: Not going to the switch portal to get a greater backup quarterback. OU is a barren desert behind Dillon Gabriel. No elite program needs to be caught shorthanded to that extent. Miller Moss is unquestionably higher than Davis Beville or anybody else OU has as a backup to Dillon Gabriel, and that’s a big drawback Venables failed to deal with.
DEFENSE
Was Venables, a defensive coordinator beneath Dabo Swinney, anticipated to repair OU’s defensive issues? Yes. Was he supposed to do it in a single 12 months? No.
Not having any type of offense is what’s making the scores actually dangerous for Oklahoma. The protection is absolutely uncovered with the offense being fully impotent. OU was supposed to win video games 42-35 this 12 months, not 20-17.
RILEY’S EDGE
What Riley has performed much better than Venables — and the place Venables has to develop rapidly as a head coach — is use the switch portal to instantly restock a roster. Venables didn’t do this. Riley did. That’s one space the place Riley has separated himself from Venables.
RECRUITS
Venables has recruited rather well for the Class of 2023. Good gamers are coming into the Oklahoma program. The 2022 marketing campaign is, as said above, a complete catastrophe, however we’d like to wait to see what 2023 seems to be like. OU followers needs to be upset, however they shouldn’t be in a panic. Venables will usher in his gamers and ought to find a way to coach them up. If he can’t, THEN it’s time for Sooner followers to panic.
YEAR 1
Riley has rapidly remade USC into crew in a single 12 months. He deserves credit score for that. It definitely helped that he was ready to carry Caleb Williams with him. If Caleb stayed at Oklahoma, this can be a completely different conversation. We can reward Riley for his large work, however he did want gamers to be a part of him from Oklahoma and elsewhere (Jordan Addison from Pitt, Eric Gentry from Arizona State).
Not everybody goes to remake a crew the suitable approach in a single 12 months. Praising Riley is the suitable level of emphasis, as opposed to viewing Venables as being worthy of a quick-trigger coach firing.
FIRING A COACH IN HIS FIRST SEASON
A coach needs to be fired in his first season if he shows whole incompetence, will get immersed in an off-field scandal, or squanders a championship-level roster.
The harm to Dillon Gabriel makes it laborious to assign OU’s struggles to teaching incompetence. The Sooners didn’t have backup QB. They acquired caught. That drawback was one they weren’t prepared for. That’s not a sign the coach has no clue; it’s a sign of what Venables has to make sure to guard towards (and repair) in future seasons. Big distinction there.
OU AND USC
USC’s crew is constructed to win video games primarily with its offense, as a result of it has the higher quarterback on the sector in each recreation it performs. Lincoln Riley’s earlier Oklahoma soccer groups have been constructed equally. One may say that in 2017 and 2018, the Sooners have been constructed to win video games as a result of their offensive line was higher than their opponent’s line of defense. Still, OU had elite quarterbacks and may win video games even when permitting 38 or 41 and even 59 factors. (OU beat Texas Tech and Patrick Mahomes, 66-59.)
Oklahoma has not had an elite protection lately, excluding 2020, which we talked about on The Riley Files.
You would possibly need to hear to that 12-part podcast particular in case you haven’t. It’s very illuminating on the matters of Lincoln Riley and OU soccer.
RESOURCES
Brent Venables is getting a full funding from Oklahoma energy brokers by way of upgraded services. He’s not going to be fired. People belief him. Based on a decade of elite work at Clemson beneath Dabo Swinney, plus a earlier profitable stint as OU’s defensive coordinator beneath Bob Stoops, they need to. One horrible season — in Year 1 — doesn’t change that. The Sooners want to wait to see if Venables generally is a good steward of their investments.
BOTTOM LINE
Let’s see the place we’re at the tip of 2023. Then we are able to start to make some evaluations right here. In the meantime, nobody needs to be calling for Brent Venables to be fired at Oklahoma.
Let’s simply acknowledge that Lincoln Riley is fairly good about assembling a roster on the fly, utilizing the portal, and calling performs for elite quarterbacks who reduce the failings of a protection.
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