NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma appears to have borrowed from the past to cure its recent offensive ills.
The Sooners, best known this century for a passing prowess that has produced four Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, took it back to the 20th century against then-No. 7 Alabama. Oklahoma ran 50 times for 257 yards while only throwing 12 times in a 24-3 win over the Crimson Tide that took coach Brent Venables off the hot seat. The Sooners more resembled Barry Switzer’s squads that dominated the old Big 8 with the wishbone offense in the 1970s and ’80s than the more recent Air Raid teams.
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Venables said the change was a matter of necessity for a unit that has been besieged by injuries at receiver and offensive line.
“I think this staff has done a really good job with trying to figure that out, get better every week, put together a great gameplan but also figure out, ‘OK, what does this group of guys, what does this team — what do we need to do?'” Venables said.
To make it work, Oklahoma needed to trust that such a change would work in the modern Southeastern Conference. They had to implement it with an interim play-caller in Joe Jon Finley, who stepped in after the Sooners fired Seth Littrell last month.
Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5 SEC) pulled it off, and LSU coach Brian Kelly has taken notice ahead of their game on Saturday.
“This is now much more about controlling the football, running the football, playing with physicality," Kelly said. "They've got perimeter skill, but I think it's centered around much more of a run-centric, quarterback run and take care of the football."
The Sooners started to see success on the ground against Maine. They ran 52 times for 381 yards in a 59-14 win that got the wheels turning. Jovantae Barnes ran for career highs of 203 yards and three touchdowns that day.
Venables said the timing of the opportunity to play that non-conference game against Maine in early November and figure some things out was perfect.
“Everybody has some degree of vulnerability and maybe some self-doubt,” he said. “And just developing some confidence and putting something on tape other than practice, like, ‘Man, look, see what you’re capable of?’ And executing against, again, a well-coached team — certainly, we played off of that in all the right ways like you would expect us to. And so there’s a real place for that.”
After a bye week, the Sooners tried the same approach against Missouri. It wasn't as successful — they ran 36 times for 122 yards — but they hung tough before losing 30-23.
The Sooners went all in against Alabama. Jackson Arnold — the same guy who threw 45 times in the Alamo Bowl last year, ran 25 times for 131 yards and threw just 11 passes.
The Sooners found something in running back Xavier Robinson. With Barnes out with an injury, Robinson carried 18 times for career highs of 107 yards and two touchdowns.
Suddenly, a team that had been forcing the pass and getting sacked at an alarming rate was moving the line of scrimmage and controlling the tempo. Oklahoma had the ball for more than 34 minutes against the Crimson Tide, lending support to a talented defense that had been spending way too much time on the field.
The new approach could be helpful on Saturday — LSU (7-4, 4-3) ranks 14th out of 16 conference teams against the run.
Venables said the Sooners still need to throw the ball well to win, but he's glad to know his squad can run with force when necessary.
“I think that’s the art of having a system that’s adjustable, flexible, adaptable, week in and week out, but also has an identity — toughness, physicality," he said. "You’ve got to be able to run the ball at every level of football, but you do have to throw it. You can’t just do one thing. But we need to be efficient.”
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