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While watching film on OU’s plane ride home from Provo, Brent Venables didn’t see any glaring issues from OU’s narrow 31-24 win over BYU on Saturday.

It was just the same story for the Sooners’ previous run-stop blunders, which has been a missed tackle here or the wrong gap there. But, for Venables — commonly known as one of the best defensive gurus in all of college football — Oklahoma’s issues are fixable.

To start, it’s about tackling the issues the right way, both figuratively and literally. And, he thinks he has the right tools to fix OU’s issues before the end of the season.

“I've got a body of work,” Venables said on Monday. “If we would've had this problem all week, all year, that would be another theme. ….If we couldn’t find the ball, or we lacked instincts and other things, that would be an issue. That's a hard thing to fix. But we got the right guys, no question.”

Against BYU, the Sooners allowed 217 rushing yards, one touchdown and 5.7 yards per carry on 38 rushing attempts. Cougars running back Aidan Robbins led the way with 22 carries, 182 rushing yards and an average of 8.3 yards per carry. Going into the game, BYU had the worst ranked rushing offense in the Big 12.

Made with Flourish

Despite their recent struggles against the run, the Sooners were able to escape Provo with a win after forcing three takeaways, which resulted in 21 points. Venables avoided a fate similar to OU’s 38-33 loss to Kansas, when it allowed 225 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to KU in cold, rainy conditions.

Notably, OU has struggled against the run in its last four conference games compared to the first four. In the first four games of Big 12 play, the Sooners’ defense was allowing an average of 149 yards per game. In the last four games, however, Oklahoma is giving up an average of 191 yards per game. The issue for Venables isn’t a lack of talent. Instead, it's the small things like a lack of discipline, falling for fakes and missing the right gaps. He’s seen glimpses of improvement, but OU is still searching for the right formula.

“There’s no alarm,” Venables said of OU’s run defense. “I truly felt… more relieved it wasn't somebody getting their butt whooped. When you get your butt whooped, you don’t like it, (because) that's your pride. It always hurts a little bit and you're invested in your coach (because) ‘Oh, yeah, that’s my guys.’

“It wasn't some guy getting run through. It was — and we missed tackles, don't get me wrong — that there's not been the right fits (most of the time).”

Alongside some of the mental errors, Venables attributed some of the Sooners’ struggles to youth in the linebacking corps. Outside of junior linebacker Danny Stutsman, who leads the team with 91 total tackles on the season, OU has relied on the likes of Jaren Kanak, Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie.

Lewis, a redshirt freshman, and Kanak, a sophomore, each have 52 and 55 tackles, respectively, while McKinzie has 22 tackles on the season.

At times OU was reliant on this trio in the absence of Stutsman, who missed Bedlam and most of the second half vs the Jayhawks with an ankle injury. He was hampered with food poisoning during Oklahoma’s contest against the Cougars, where he forced a fumble and had 10 tackles.

Venables and No. 14 Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) hope to fix the run defense before their final conference bout against TCU (5-6, 3-5) at 11 a.m. on Black Friday in Norman. The Horned Frogs currently have the 10th best rush offense in the Big 12, but that didn’t stop BYU’s 14th ranked rushing offense from finding success last Saturday.

“What I watched on the plane is exactly what I watched out on the field,” Venables said. “So, not surprised. Every once in a while we kind of found our way into the right spot, and we'd stop them. …(There were) maybe five or four runs for 20 yards plus, not a good defense.”

Sexton finds starting role

Venables was not shy to praise Jacob Sexton on Monday.

The sophomore offensive lineman has taken over as the starting right tackle on Oklahoma’s offensive line, taking the place that was once held by redshirt junior Tyler Guyton.

The Manor, Texas, native was a surprise inactive after suffering an undisclosed injury before OU’s home contest against West Virginia. According to Venables, he was available to play against the Cougars, but they opted for Sexton instead.

“He was back,” Venables said. “Jake just did a great job, there’s something to that too. He did a really good job making the most of his opportunity. So, I think there’s more about Jake than there is about Tyler. But, he’s available.”

After transferring from TCU in 2022, Guyton made five starts last season and then started in OU's first nine games of 2023.

It remains unclear if he'll see the field again with the emergence of Sexton at right tackle.

Bowl projections

As Oklahoma gears up for the final game of the 2023 regular season, its chances at making a New Year's Six Bowl are still alive.

The Sooners remain in contention for a bid to the Big 12 Championship in Arlington, but will need some help to get there. Most outlets project Oklahoma to take on Arizona in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 28.

Other places like FOX, predict the Sooners will face off against future SEC foe Alabama in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington on Dec. 29. On3 has OU taking on Tulane in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Team Captains

Oklahoma announced its permanent team captains Monday for its final home game.

The list includes redshirt senior wide receiver Drake Stoops, redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, redshirt senior defensive back Woodi Washington, Stutsman, redshirt senior offensive lineman McKade Mettauer, junior defensive lineman Ethan Downs and junior safety Billy Bowman.

Venables had high praise during his weekly press conference for every player announced on the list.

“That's from their teammates,” OU’s head coach said. “They're just a good model of consistency, highly invested guys and sometimes people say, ‘How come not these other guys?’ It's not a reflection of anybody else. (It’s) the guys that got the most votes. Consistency, buy-in passion and love for the game, love for the university, love for the teammates, they’ve all been amazing. They make everybody around them better.”

Venables continued his response by stating the importance of each player in building on top of the foundation that he created in his first season.

“They have the kind of toughness that you want your program to be all about,” Venables said. “They value their opportunity every single day. They know that their time is limited and their roles are important and their platform is important and their influence is important… I got tremendous thankfulness for that group of guys and their work ethic, their consistency. And their ability just to be a light sometimes (even) in the dark moments too.”

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