No. 8 OU's (8-2, 4-2 SEC) offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and head coach Brent Venables addressed the media Tuesday after a 23-21 win over No. 10 Alabama (8-2, 6-1). The Sooners will face Missouri (7-3, 3-3) next at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on ABC.
Here are key takeaways:
Need for pass game growth
OU is set to face a Missouri defense that ranks No. 15 in rushing yards per game, and while its offense has the opportunity to lean toward the pass game, it has experienced a drop in air production over the past five games.
Redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer has averaged 174 passing yards the past five games in comparison to 304 per game through the first four before he returned from a hand injury he suffered against Auburn on Sept. 20. He came back to action 17 days after surgery in a 23-6 loss to Texas on Oct. 11, initiating a negative trend.
Mateer recorded his lowest passing yards so far this season in OU's win over Alabama with 138, but Arbuckle said that his quarterback's mindset has remained the same.
"He hasn't changed the way that he's approaching it; we haven't changed the way that we're coaching him," Arbuckle said. "He hasn't changed the way he's been at practice. He hasn't changed his process throughout the week going into it. So he is a special kid; he's a talented kid. And ultimately, on every single play he's trying to put the team in the best position to be successful, ... so nothing has changed about his process."
Arbuckle said that he and the rest of the offense take accountability for shortcomings in addition to Mateer.
"It can be a lot of different things," Arbuckle said. "One, maybe I got to call (vertical plays) a little bit more. John's got to hit it downfield. Or three, we got to make the catches. It's all of us. It's not just one singular aspect of it, but in terms of the offense, in terms of being efficient on offense, it definitely has its role in keeping us on the field and generating explosive plays."
Above all, Arbuckle feels that Mateer and the offense needs to not be concerned with style of play or the opponent and simply do whatever it takes to win.
"Ultimately, you have to do what winning requires," Arbuckle said. "They're a phenomenal defense, ... but we can't worry about them. We have to go out there and do what winning requires, and if that means throwing the ball a lot, OK, awesome. If that means, OK, we got to run the ball out to go win the game, awesome, all right, but we have to go out there prepared not to worry about Missouri but worry about Oklahoma."
Sooner defense in rhythm with turnovers
The Sooners have found momentum with defensive turnovers.
They forced three turnovers against Alabama after causing three in a 33-27 win over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium the game before. The turnover success comes after they did not force one through the first four games of the season.
"Our guys were relentless and obsessed about creating the turnovers, and really, I think, talking about what is the formula for winning, I think that the mindset was, there's no possible way, no path, without winning the turnover margin," Venables said. "And our guys bought into that. They recognize the physicality and the focus that takes."
OU's turnovers against Alabama included sophomore defensive back Eli Bowen's pick-six, sophomore defensive back Jaydan Hardy's forced fumble and redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Taylor Wein's forced fumble. Bowen, Hardy and Wein also have 16, 10 and 31 tackles on the season, respectively.
Hardy's 10 tackles so far in 2025 come after only six in 2024, and Venables praised his talent and growth.
"High-level football intelligence, very competitive, I think he's instinctively a really good, natural football player," Venables said. "He obviously bought into the message and not that it's just a last-week thing. ... That play was a huge play where he pops the ball out, but he has, through both successes and some failures, really become a reliable role player for us this year."
OU set to face Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy
The Sooners are preparing to face Missouri sophomore running back Ahmad Hardy, who leads college football in rushing yards with 1,346.
Hardy also comes off recording 300 rushing yards in a 49-27 win over Mississippi State and poses a threat to OU's defense. His Missouri success comes after he put up 1,351 rushing yards at University of Lousiana-Monroe in 2024.
However, the Sooners rank No. 2 in defending the run game.
"You got a great rush defense. Then they're going to want to stay on schedule. ... It takes physicality and discipline," Venables said.
Venables said that stopping Missouri's run game begins with OU's defensive line playing well up front.
"You got to win up front. ... That's where it starts, Venables said. "They're doing a great job of knocking people off the line of scrimmage, both the inside and outside run game or all their gap schemes, and they do a nice job with all the presentations. But that's where it all starts, and then you got to have great discipline in your running fits."
