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Mussatto: Are Brent Venables, Sooners ready for SEC? Why OU-Texas is bigger than ever

joe mussatto, the oklahoman
·4 min read

If Brent Venables is to follow the blueprint of Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley — the five winningest coaches in OU football history — Venables and the Sooners have to beat Texas on Saturday.

With a loss, Venables would slide to 0-2 against the Longhorns — a start Owen, Wilkinson, Switzer, Stoops and Riley all managed to avoid. Together, those five went 42-29-2 against Texas. Riley (5-1) had the best winning percentage against Texas, followed by Stoops (11-7), Switzer (9-5-2), Wilkinson (9-8) and Owen (8-8).

History, of course, will be the last thing on Venables’ mind as No. 12 OU faces No. 3 Texas at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Too much of the present is at stake for the Sooners: an undefeated season, Big 12 championship aspirations and College Football Playoff hopes included.

Also at stake is OU’s status under Venables. There would be no stronger signal that the Sooners are SEC-ready than if they beat the Longhorns, a future SEC foe which earlier this season won at Alabama — the kings of the Southeastern Conference.

The 119th edition of the Red River Rivalry will be the 19th game of Venables’ head coaching tenure. And there’s no question it’s the biggest.

More: OU vs. Texas football: What you need to know about Sooners-Longhorns in Red River Rivalry

OU head coach Brent Venables can pick up his first win vs. a top-5 opponent Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
OU head coach Brent Venables can pick up his first win vs. a top-5 opponent Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.

Venables is 11-7 as OU’s coach, and to date his signature win is a Bedlam victory last season against an OSU team that finished 7-6.

Just as Ohio State coaches are judged by what they do against Michigan, the same is true of Oklahoma coaches against Texas. At least in part.

“At Oklahoma, it isn’t OK just to beat Texas and not win the rest of them,” Stoops said in an OU-produced interview with Venables and Switzer. “So I found it hard. Why would I do something better this week than I did every week? Because at OU you’re expected to win every game.”

Good point by Stoops. Maybe the coaches prepare for Texas just as they do for Iowa State, but that doesn’t mean the results carry equal weight.

“It’s probably the first week of the season when you actually want to talk about this week’s opponent, right?” Venables quipped to the media in his Tuesday press conference.

Well, yes, considering OU’s first five opponents were Arkansas State, SMU, Tulsa, Cincinnati and Iowa State.

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Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables, at right, and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talk before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022.
Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables, at right, and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talk before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, a Heisman contender, is surrounded by weapons.

Jonathon Brooks leads the Big 12 with 119 rushing yards per game, and Texas has three of the league’s top-12 receivers by yardage in Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Ja’Tavion Sanders. OU also has three of the top-12 receivers in Andrel Anthony, Jalil Farooq and Nic Anderson, catching passes from Dillon Gabriel — the most accurate quarterback in the league (75% completion rate).

Defensively, OU (4.61) and Texas (4.71) are allowing the fewest yards per play among Big 12 teams.

Rather than making several players available for interviews after practice Monday and Tuesday per usual, OU changed things up this week by only making four players, including Gabriel, available Monday with none talking Tuesday.

“A lot of times on Mondays or Tuesdays, when you talk to the guys, it’s still about last week,” Venables said to the media. “It’s never about this opponent.”

Venables knows that changes this week and wanted to avoid giving the fighting Bevos any bulletin board material.

“I still like y’all, respect y’all, but it’s like, ‘Let me see if we can get him to say something,’” Venables said.

More: OU 3-2-1 kickoff: Can Sooners slow down Longhorns WR Xavier Worthy in Red River Rivalry?

Venables went on to say of OU-Texas, “it’s not different for us in a lot of ways. Most ways it’s not, but I do think in the media it’s a bigger deal.”

Not to steal from the slogan of their future conference, but if you think OU-Texas doesn’t mean more to players and coaches — as it does to fans — think again.

As far as regular-season games go, it means the most.

History shows that to win big at OU, coaches have to beat Texas more times than not.

Look no further than Lincoln Riley and the Killer Bs of Bennie, Bud, Barry and Bob.

We’ll see if Brent can join them.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

No. 12 OU vs. No. 3 Texas

KICKOFF: 11 a.m. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (ABC)

More: Mussatto: Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark will not be at OU-Texas. I don't blame him.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football, Brent Venables can show they're SEC-ready with win vs. UT