Brent Venables understands how a successful deep passing game benefits Oklahoma’s offense, but he also knows dialing up the long ball repeatedly without success can be detrimental.
“There’s a delicate balance,” the Sooners’ head coach said. “At some point in time, you (say) ‘Hey chief, that ain’t working.’”
OU struggled to generate explosive pass plays against Iowa State last Saturday. Venables liked the play designs that accompanied offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s downfield shots, but several of those attempts didn’t connect.
“There's probably four times that we had a step plus and just couldn't quite get it done,” Venables said. He added: “You have to be efficient. You can’t live in 2nd-and-10 all day.”
Ultimately, Gabriel was limited to 148 yards by the Big 12’s top-ranked defense, his fewest in a full game this fall. Add in the roughest performance of star wide receiver Marvin Mims’ career and the offense was boating without wind. Despite that, Oklahoma’s 182-yard rushing game propelled it to a 27-13 win over the Cyclones and now the Sooners (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) can recalibrate their air attack ahead of a home matchup with Baylor (5-3, 3-2).
As Lebby and Gabriel continue to pick their spots, they have confidence the deep balls will soon fall, OU’s receivers will exude more aggression and Mims will rebound. For his part, Gabriel certainly won’t be timid about letting the ball fly.
“I’ve always had that mentality of just continuing to sling it and not being afraid to, or being gun shy,” Gabriel said. “So I continue to chew away and try to make it happen, but I know we're really close, and just continuing to work at it and eventually it'll fall our way.”
Gabriel is averaging 13.7 yards per completion this season, down from the 15.5 he averaged in 2019. His mark as a freshman in Lebby’s Central Florida offense led the American Athletic Conference and ranked fourth nationally. Additionally, OU’s 26 explosive plays this season — completions of 20-plus yards — rank tied for 70th nationally.
Redshirt junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel during the game against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Oct. 29.
Against Iowa State, Gabriel overshot an open Mims on what would have been a 47-yard third quarter touchdown that would have helped those numbers. But that aside, Lebby said most of the big play opportunities OU didn’t convert against the Cyclones weren’t because of ball misplacement by Gabriel.
“I think after going back and looking at the tape, and really felt it in the game, from a deep shot standpoint, really like ball placement all day,” Lebby said. “Had a chance to run under a couple that we didn’t, just bodying up the ball in the air.
"Not making competitive plays down the field kept the game really close. And they challenge you and they make it hard, but you've got to make those plays to get away from guys like that.”
Mims could’ve made an exemplary competitive play in the first quarter when Gabriel threw to him down the left side for a potential 32-yard score. Cyclones cornerback T.J. Tampa was blanketing him but Gabriel’s throw was perfectly positioned on Mims’ outside shoulder, only for it to hit the receiver’s left arm and fall incomplete.
Mims’ tough day had already started on the game’s first play when — after slithering out of the backfield, then cutting past a defender and running free down the sideline — he dropped another on-the-money throw from Gabriel.
He was also targeted on Gabriel’s final pass attempt on 3rd-and-5 in the fourth quarter. Mims muffed a short throw that would’ve picked up a first down, instead forcing OU to punt with a one-score lead.
“Personally, I’ve never had a game like that, and it got to me a little bit mentally,” Mims said. “But at the end of the day, I gotta learn from it. I wish I would have bounced back better than I did, but like I said, I’ve just got to learn from it and keep going.”
Lebby said he wants Mims to have a “short memory,” and expressed confidence in the Sooners’ leading receiver, who will continue to get plenty of opportunities.
OU’s passing offense is at its best when Mims touches the ball exceedingly. In the Sooners’ high-scoring 52-42 win over Kansas, he recorded a season-high nine catches for 106 yards while Gabriel threw for 403 yards.
Junior wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. during the game against Kansas on Oct. 15.
“I think in life, shoot, not everyone's gonna be perfect, and Marv has been really damn good for a bunch of time,” Gabriel said. “But shoot, he just had a bad day and had some catches he wanted back, but for the most part, he’s my guy and he's our guy. So, just continue to feed him and continue to instill confidence that he already has.
“But he knew, he obviously felt just tough about the day, but he came out like a pro on a Monday and just came back to work. So I'm proud of him and just love the guy he is every single day.”
As Mims looks to rebound, Lebby’s ready to keep calling deep shots against a Baylor defense that’s surrendering 223.8 passing yards per game, compared to just 180.1 being ceded by Iowa State.
Pass protection will be key as OU’s offensive line face perhaps the best defensive front it has seen this season, but the objective is the same regardless of opponent.
“We want to have the ability to create chunk plays,” Lebby said. “I don't think that's news to anybody at all. We want to be able to do that. So, pushing the ball down the field and making those plays is going to be a big part of who we are. We’ll continue to play that way, while staying patient and taking what people give us.”
Venables also preached patience, while joking that offensive coordinators can get too deep into their bag of tricks and sometimes lose sight of what plays led to success.
“They have this great play, they come out in the first 10 plays, they run it and then (I’m) like, ‘Where in the hell did that play go that worked so well?” Venables said. “And I think sometimes you think, ‘Well, I got all these other plays, I gotta get to all my plays, all these amazing plays, and we forget about the ones that worked.
"So I'm literally (saying), ‘Hey, Jeff, that one we had three receivers, that triple post? Call it again.”
That said, Venables has seen Lebby and Gabriel call their shots at the right times this season, and trusts them to get OU’s air attack rolling again.
“If you're executing, keep going to the well, and you gotta be mindful,” Venables said. “Timing is everything, use your instincts. Those big plays, explosive plays have been good for us. They’re good for any offense. And so you calculate it, you'll continue to go to those at the right time, but there's a level of patience that you gotta play with too, and match.
"Jeff’s done a good job and the players have done a good job of executing a lot of those this year.”
