Oklahoma coach Brent Venables makes stunning confession on team's QB play last season

21 hours ago 1

It was a Murphy’s Law type of season Oklahoma experienced in 2024 - particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

What possibly could go wrong did.

The offense struggled to score while dealing with a slew of injuries, particularly at wide receiver and on the line. Jackson Arnold, who was anointed as the person counted on to continue the Sooners’ grand lineage of quarterback play going back to the turn of the century, was benched in their very first SEC game.

They set a single-season school record for sacks allowed. The woeful performance eventually cost Seth Littrell his job midway through his first season as offensive coordinator.

Say what you want about Brent Venables, he's nothing if not honest:

"I hired the wrong guy. It obviously wasn't the right guy. And it's not centered on Seth (Littrell). I failed. I own that. That's not earth-shattering news. Okay, now what do I got to do to fix it?"#Sooners: pic.twitter.com/KLiET9WGwB

— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) November 26, 2024

And, perhaps fittingly, a chance to salvage a winning season and a bowl game trophy went awry when Oklahoma failed to convert on a potential game-winning two-point conversion in its Armed Forces Bowl loss to Navy.

OKLAHOMA SCORES THE LATE TD, BUT NAVY STOPS THE TWO-POINT CONVERSION TO SECURE THE WIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/pgRsDgZUrD

— ESPN (@espn) December 27, 2024

But after Brent Venables - entering his fourth season as OU head coach - received his very first question during his appearance at Wednesday’s SEC Media Days in Atlanta, he immediately made a confession.

Venables admitted that he put both Arnold and freshman Michael Hawkins Jr., who replaced Arnold as OU’s starting quarterback, in a bad spot due to the litany of injuries on offense, particularly at receiver.

“Certainly, it’s hard to get a first down or two (with several receivers injured),” Venables said. “But I take this moment just to say what type of a future that Jackson Arnold and Mike Hawkins, both of those guys put in a really tough spot as first-year players. It’s a supporting cast that you know they can’t play quarterback by themselves and ended up putting them in a really tough position, based on what happened, and both of them are going to be incredibly successful in the future.

“But that made it really difficult, and no excuses. What you would ideally like to see on any given Saturday, if you're going to be competitive and have a chance to win as an offense and a defense and in special teams that complement one another, not compensate for one another, and when you give the ball back more than you take it from the opponent. I know it’s hard to win.”

Arnold, of course, moved on from Oklahoma after the season, transferring to SEC rival Auburn. Hawkins did stay with the Sooners, but appears to be the backup to new starting QB John Mateer, the Washington State transfer.

Sporting News: What Auburn and former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold said about his return to Oklahoma

But if Hawkins finds himself under center for the Sooners in a key situation, hopefully for OU fans, he will have a healthy assortment of teammates, especially receivers, at his disposal.