Brent Venables on lessons learned from Oklahoma Sooners' first season in the SEC 'Every patch of grass is occupied'

Oklahoma's first season in the SEC didn't exactly go as planned, with a 6-7 finish and several disappointing losses. Despite some enjoyable moments, such as their wins over Auburn and Alabama, the Sooners overall fell flat on their face in year one of the SEC.

At SEC Media Days, head coach Brent Venables discussed lessons he learned in his first season coaching in the SEC.

"In many ways, it was exactly like I thought. Again, it’s a one-possession league. It’s a league that’s determined at the line of scrimmage. There’s elite players on every single team that you’re going to play at every single position. If you show up on a Saturday and you’re not ready to play, you’re going to get it handed to you. I know this, that if you give the ball back more than you take it away, you’re going to have a hard time winning. Just elite coaching and elite players across the board.

Every patch of grass is occupied when they kick off on a Saturday. And the margin for error is really, really small. That’s what I know. But competitive depth, I think, top to bottom, is really, really good."

Do you think Venables is still angry about Oklahoma's turnover woes at quarterback from last season? His comments about the frequent turnovers is poignant, and doomed the Sooners in multiple games (Tennessee and South Carolina immediately come to mind). Oklahoma's defense forced 21 turnovers last year, tying them at 36th in the country, and ahead of some terrific defenses like Georgia, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Oregon.

Despite that, they had a completely even turnover margin at zero. 

Venables is completely right, you cannot turn the ball over 21 times against the SEC and expect to win. If Oklahoma wants to put the past behind them and succeed this year, hopefully, they have learned their lesson.