Brent Venables does not believe Oklahoma’s Week 9 loss to Ole Miss is anything to lose sleep over. Although he acknowledged that the Sooners have work to do to right the ship, Venables does not view the result as a “setback.”
The defeat marked Oklahoma’s second loss in the last three weeks. When asked whether he felt his team had taken a step back recently, Venables instead emphasized the need to “coach better” down the stretch.
“I don’t know, setback, that’s for everybody else to say. Losing ain’t ever good. And there’s nothing necessarily that we’re gonna be bragging on anything. There’s nothing to brag about. We need to coach them better and play better, be better situationally. We made some critical mistakes in the game. And if the players are making the mistakes on the field, then we gotta look at ourselves and what we’re asking them to do,” Venables said.
Coming into Week 9, Oklahoma boasted one of the nation’s best defenses, but they allowed 431 total yards to Ole Miss. The Sooners have been particularly strong against the pass, yet ceded 315 passing yards and a touchdown to Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.
Despite the recent struggles, Oklahoma remains 6-2 on the year. However, two conference losses could be difficult to overcome in the ultra-competitive SEC. The Sooners currently hold a 2-2 conference record, tied for eighth place in the league alongside Florida and Missouri.
### Brent Venables Leads Oklahoma Into Brutal Schedule Stretch
If Oklahoma was hoping for a tune-up week, that won’t be happening anytime soon. The Sooners face an arguably brutal end-of-season schedule, with each of their final four regular-season opponents currently ranked in the top 20.
After facing Ole Miss’ high-powered offense, Venables’ defense will be tested again in Week 10 against Tennessee. The Volunteers currently average an impressive 45.6 points per game, the second-most in the FBS. Tennessee has scored 34 or more points in all but one game this season.
Oklahoma will get its final bye week in Week 11 before entering a season-ending three-game stretch. The Sooners will come out of the bye week on the road against Alabama and then return home to face Missouri and LSU to close out the year.
https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-football/oklahoma-football-news-brent-venables-back-setback-narrative-ole-miss-loss