Usually game balls are reserved for players, especially on Senior Day when 26 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-years participated in pregame festivities.
There were plenty of candidates.
Redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was in concussion protocol as late as Thursday, tossed for 400 yards and three touchdowns and moved to No. 7 on the NCAA’s career passing yards list. Redshirt senior wide receiver Drake Stoops tied his career-high with 12 receptions and recorded 125 receiving yards and a touchdown in an emotional final regular season game. Junior safety Billy Bowman picked his sixth ball of the season and scored a school-record third pick-6.
However, following No. 13 Oklahoma’s (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) 69-45 win over TCU (5-7, 3-6) Friday in Norman, which cemented the program’s 59th undefeated season at home, Stoops presented Sooners head coach Brent Venables with the ball, which signifies outstanding contribution.
“This game ball goes out to coach V man,” Stoops said postgame in OU’s locker room in front of the entire team before embracing Venables with a hug. “Undefeated home season, 10 wins on the season. Hard time last year, but we came back strong this year. It’s a testament to who you are. … Most consistent man I know, the best guy I’ve ever met in my life.”
Hold on Coach, we’ve got one more game ball 🏈@CoachVenables | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/miI7rbkcut
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 24, 2023
After a disastrous first season in which Oklahoma finished 6-7, its worst record since 1998, Venables has led the Sooners to double-digit wins and possibly a Big 12 Championship game if certain dominoes fall their way.
7-0 start. 34-30 win over then-No. 3 Texas. Two consecutive losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State. Three-straight wins to close a roller coaster season.
Venables has flipped the script. Following its final Big 12 game, OU looks more SEC ready than a year ago.
Bolstered by consecutive top ten recruiting classes, if its current No. 8 standing holds, and former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold at quarterback, Oklahoma is seemingly more prepared to win than USC, where former Sooners coach Lincoln Riley finished 7-5 this season.
“There's a lot to unwind (about this season),” Venables said. “But the finish is always better than the beginning. … Really, really thankful and proud of everybody’s hard work. The seniors have been nothing short of amazing, their commitment, belief and leadership.
“ … (10 wins), that is the standard and expectation here. I don’t take it lightly, I understand that’s what the expectation is. A lot of people have been able to do that, a lot of teams have, but it’s still hard to do. It still takes what it takes. I love the season that these guys have, up to this point in time, put together and there’s nothing easy about it.”
Against the Horned Frogs, it was all about OU’s offensive firepower. In addition to Gabriel and Stoops’ impressive performances, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby orchestrated Oklahoma to 607 total yards and called his most creative game of the season.
The offensive issues that plagued Oklahoma this season were nonexistent as the team found consistency through the air and on the ground. Seven players caught a pass and three scored (Stoops and sophomore wide receivers Jayden Gibson and Brenen Thompson).
Redshirt freshman Gavin Sawchuk rushed 22 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns. Cementing himself as the Sooners’ future feature back, Sawchuk has rushed for over 100 yards in four consecutive games and has combined for 483 yards and five touchdowns over that stretch.
“The plan was to be aggressive today,” Lebby said. “We really liked our matchups on the perimeter and I think as much as anything we loved how we had an opportunity to protect Dillon, letting him sit in there and give us a chance to pitch and catch. So I’m proud of our guys for making all of the plays down the field.”
The win was the seventh time in program history, and first since 2019, that OU registered three passing plays of 50-plus yards in a game.
Defensively, it was one of Oklahoma’s worst showings this season. Venables didn’t hold back either, calling his group’s second-half showing “abysmal” and an “abomination.” The Horned Frogs put up 520 total yards, primarily due to Sooners linebackers’ inability to plug gaps — something Venables stressed this week after the BYU game — allowing TCU running back Emani Bailey to rush for 150 yards.
In six red zone trips, the Horned Frogs scored five touchdowns and kicked a field goal.
“I’m disappointed in some ways,” Venables said. “But there is a lot to teach from and get better and again, just learning to come out of the locker room. We take great pride and we've been really good in the third quarter all season long. And then we were really bad on defense in the third quarter.”
A defensive-minded coach, Venables isn’t going to be pleased anytime his team allows 45 points. But a win is a win and is what OU wanted even if it’s going to need more to advance to the conference title game and possibly a New Year’s Six bowl game.
Oklahoma needs either Oklahoma State to lose to BYU and Texas to beat Texas Tech or for Texas to lose to Texas Tech and Iowa State to beat Kansas State. The Big 12 explained its confusing tiebreakers in a release Sunday night and will follow it up with another announcement following Friday’s games.
Whatever happens, the Sooners are proud of the regular season behind them and the growth that took place.
“Losses always hurt,” Gibson said. “So I'm gonna look back at those as a loss regardless but at the end of the day, I won't be sitting in my bed like, ‘Yeah, we could’ve went to the Big 12 Championship Game if we did this, this and this. At the end of the day, losses happen, wins happen. As long as we stay together as a team, I think that's the most important thing, if we finish the season as a team.”
The weeks ahead will be filled with transfer portal and coaching departures around the country. Lebby’s name has been mentioned for Mississippi State’s head coaching vacancy and he interviewed for the job on Wednesday.
For the Sooners, Venables is building a family and a culture. The next time OU fans see the Sooners on Owen Field they’ll be in a new conference, but the mission will remain the same.
“Season of redemption coach,” fifth-year left tackle Walter Rouse shouted at Venables when he received his game ball.
Whether players or coaches leave, or Oklahoma plays for a championship or not, Venables succeeded in changing the narrative about the program. Given last season’s failures, most would consider 10 wins a success, but it’s the feeling of what Venables and Team 129 just accomplished that has the players more confident than ever this experiment will work.
“I feel like last year we were kind of broken up at the end just because we had gone through so many losses,” Gibson said. “And it was just like, man, so my biggest thing this year is it'd be considered a successful season that we just finished the season together.”
