Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3 SEC) suffered a 35-9 loss to South Carolina (4-3, 2-3 SEC) on Saturday at the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Here is what OU co-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said after the game:
On the quarterback change:
"First and foremost, it's unacceptable to come out and play that way early. We got to do a much better job of taking care of the football and give ourselves an opportunity to stay in the game. We're one of three phases - offense, defense and special teams. The biggest thing we talked about every week is making sure we have great ball security and win the turnover margin. We just put ourselves in a really unfortunate spot early on. Once you get in a spot like that, we weren't able to dig ourselves out of a hole. I hate it. It's unfortunate. It's not acceptable. We have to be much better. I have to be much better. We'll continue to fight to do that."
On dealing with South Carolina's edges:
"We knew they had a really good defense. Obviously they had a lot of length. They are a really physical team. They played extremely hard. They played downhill. But I still felt that we had the speed advantage at some areas where we could create some matchups and have some explosive plays. They're a good football team. I felt good about the game plan. I felt good about where we could gain some advantages, take advantage of them."
On the game plan after being down 21-0:
"It's a challenge. You got to try to get them settled in and quit allowing us to beat ourselves. So where do we get that back to comfortable, back to ground zero? You just start chipping away and try to make one play at a time, one drive at a time, one score at a time. You aren't going to get it back in one drive or one quarter. It's just continuing to try to put them in the situations that they are comfortable in and where we can have some success. We weren't able to do it. We got to be much better."
On the offensive line giving up sacks:
"Absolutely. Again, it's all unacceptable. We have to play much better all the way around, whether it's running the football or throwing the football or protecting the football or making decisions at the quarterback position. I hate it because I'll tell you ... the thing I hate and the thing that hurts me the most, I would say, it these guys work their ass off. They do. They come to work and grind and fight. They love each other and they stick together."
"What hurts is when they don't go out and have the success they want, obviously, with the amount of work they put in. I think you got to find a way when your back's against the wall. You got to find different ways to fight. You got that mental toughness and that mental courage and it's not easy. It's a challenge. Every single day you have to believe in one another and you have to do out there and fight and see what happens. You can't worry about the result as much as the process and the work you put in and the trust in one another and trying to go out and find ways to have fun and play well together instead of letting you know when one thing goes bad, it just feels like the weight of the world is one them sometimes."
"We got to be better. I got to grow. I got to continue to mature. Listen, I'm a fighter. I always have been. I'm going to continue to fight. I love this place. I hate it. It's unacceptable. But I love where I'm at. I'm going to keep fighting. I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as a coach. I believe in our guys. That won't change. I love our guys. That won't change. So result-driven or not, I"m going to go to work and I'm going to work my butt off every single day. I'm going to love our guys. I'm going to coach them hard. I'm going to have fun with them. I'm going to figure out a way where we can get better and have the success that we want and this university deserves."
On him being confident the offense can get better:
"Obviously I do believe that. I believe that obviously you're got to. Do I believe in our guys? Absolutely I do. Sometimes I feel like — again, some of this is youth, some of this is inexperience. Sometimes I feel like I believe in them more than they believe in themselves at times. You have to have that success and you have to gain that confidence in each play you make independently and with the guys around you."
"Looking out there, there's not a lot of veteran guys who have done a lot of veteran things. It's learning and growing together, which is challenging at times. That's not an excuse, trust me. I'm not an excuse-driven guy. I don't think you're able to learn and grow and get better when you do that. So I got to be much better. Obviously, I got to find different ways to get them to execute at a high level even when we're playing the competition we are. That's coaching. That's what I'm supposed to do.… I do believe in this team. I do believe we can get much better. I do believe we can take care of the football; I’ve seen it in other weeks. The last couple weeks we have been not good. We can’t allow that to happen.”
On Jackson Arnold's performance today:
“Jackson has great character, and I’ve never worried about Jackson. Jackson has great character. He’s going to work his tail off. He’s always going to be ready, and he’s always going to be prepared for the moment he’s called upon. Mike’s no different. Mike’s the same, had unbelievable character himself. We have a great quarterback room. Our guys, again, it’s that way as a team. Coach Venables has done a great job with the culture, who’s in the locker room—that has never been anything I’ve ever second-guessed and never even questioned. I knew when and if Jackson had that next opportunity, he was going to be ready for it. Those guys handled it the right way. They’re great teammates. They’re going to continue to stick together and continue to fight their asses off to make this offense what it needs to be to be successful.”
On quarterback battle moving forward:
“You know, I’ll talk with BV kind of moving through this weekend, but again, I think both of those guys have had some ups and downs. We’ve had some real success. We’ve had some real failures. I’ve had some failures as a coach, so they’re going to continue to work hard; I do know that. My biggest thing is making sure that I try to, again, make sure along with the other guys, get them in positions to where they’re comfortable, they can have the success, and they can play fast. Obviously, we’re going to have to do some different things in order to help them. They, just like the rest of them, that’s the unfortunate thing. That’s what hurts: They put in the work. They grind and watch a ton of film. I know it’s unfortunate when you don’t have the success that you want.”
On Joe Jon Finley being in the booth:
“You know, honestly, it’s just another set of eyes. I felt like we just needed something different, obviously with the last couple of weeks, making sure we were seeing the same things. I think it was—it was great.”
On the quarterback battle decision moving forward:
“I think, one, first and foremost is always talk within the staff, within the guys that are inside the building every single day and work together. So, I’m going to keep that right here between us moving forward. I believe in both those gentlemen. I think they work extremely hard. They’re going to be unbelievable players in the future; I really believe that. I know both of them can go out and play at a high level and win us football games. There’s no doubt in my mind, so moving forward—listen, I’m not naïve, and neither one of them are. They understand that there’s one guy that goes out on the field every single week at a lot of positions that’s going to be the starter. You know, you look at every other position on the field, and they may get pulled for a few plays, and you put the next guy in, he goes in there for a few plays, gives the other guy a rest and can see things from the sideline. A quarterback doesn’t have that privilege, so it’s always going to be the biggest talking (point), especially when you’re not having the success that you want offensively. They understand that. Listen, they both have big shoulders; they’re both going to do the right things moving forward throughout the week, and we’ll stick together.”
On if he has been in a situation like this:
“Yeah, there’s been moments in seasons I’ve gone through that have been very challenging, especially early on. That’s part of, I think, most guys, most coaches that have been in this profession longer than I have: You’re going to have some ups and downs. That’s why when things are great, you better humble yourself. At the end of the day, it can go sideways real quick. Again, coaching is challenging, whether you’re having success or not, it’s right around the corner; you’re a fine line away, whether it’s injuries, you’re a fine line away from the wrong locker room, the wrong character — I’ve seen a lot of different things over the years. The one thing I do appreciate here is Coach Venables does an unbelievable job with his players, the culture, the buy-in with each other. They really do love each other, work for each other, have each other’s back on offense, defense, special teams. That’s one thing I know because the base of that, the foundation he has built, that won’t change. I guarantee you our players are going to look within their locker room; they’re not going to listen to outside voices. Our coaching staff isn’t.
“Yes, this is my alma mater. Obviously, I want to win championships here, just like everybody else, and just like every other coach and every other player in the locker room, that means a lot to me. But at the same time, you really got to focus in on who you go to battle with every day. You got to trust and believe in one another, have each other’s back. There’s going to be ups and downs throughout a season, and at the end of the day, that’s what truly matters — those relationships and the trust they put in one another.”
