How Oklahoma Took on Becoming More Explosive and Dynamic in 2025

Venables set about repairing the offensive dysfunction last December when he hired Ben Arbuckle as coordinator from Washington State. Another huge step came when he and Arbuckle landed Washington State quarterback John Mateer, who led the nation in total touchdowns in 2024. Another hit when the Sooners brought in a posse of wide receivers from the transfer portal who showed explosive qualities at their previous schools. The last piece came when Cal’s Jaydn Ott, a 1,300-yard runner in 2023, transferred to OU. 

“No doubt we've improved our roster,” Venables said.

But for Oklahoma to make real, lasting improvement — the kind that transcends portal hauls and recruiting cycles — the offseason needs to come with more than just new names.

Most years, college football games are won or lost in the winter, spring and summer. And that’s where Venables feels the Sooners made some of the biggest strides.

“Top to bottom, we’ve made great gains in the weight room with building more mass, improving our strength (at the) point of attack,” Venables said. “We needed to do that.”

Venables said the Sooners’ 48-man two-deep for the Armed Forces Bowl included 24 freshmen. It showed as Navy outscored OU 21-6 over the final three quarters and finished with 226 yards rushing, including a 95-yard touchdown run by quarterback Blake Horvath.

Oklahoma finished with just 158 yards on the ground and averaged just 4.0 yards per carry. 

Jovantae Barnes led OU in rushing last year with just 577 yards. Bauer Sharp led the Sooners in receiving with 42 catches and just 324 yards, and averaged just 7.7 yards per catch. Jackson Arnold’s passing total of 1,421 yards was OU’s lowest to lead the team since Jake Sills threw for 502 yards 1998.

As a team, OU’s passing total of 2,286 yards was the Sooners’ lowest since 2005. Opponents sacked Sooner quarterbacks 50 times, shattering the previous school record of 39 set in 2004.

The Sooners averaged just 4.8 yards per offensive play in 2024 — the worst since the 1984 squad averaged 4.3. It’s only the third time since 1970 that an OU team has not averaged at least 5.0 yards per play.

With the offensive line in flux the first half of 2024 due to injuries, the OU running game also struggled. The Sooners’ average of 3.9 yards per rush was the lowest by an Oklahoma team since 2010 (a school record 3.3 average).

Among SEC teams, only Missouri, LSU and Georgia averaged fewer yards per rush after contact and forced fewer missed tackles in the ground game than Oklahoma. The Sooners averaged 3.35 yards after contact and forced just 80 missed tackles on the ground.

“We needed to become more functionally strong and be a better point-of-attack team,” Venables said.

“Our defense was pretty solid in that space. Offensively we struggled moving people like we need to in this conference, a conference that's made up, in my opinion, of lines of scrimmage.”

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The 2025 preseason roster was released last week, and although the weight gains of the defensive line have been dramatic (eight interior players gained an average of 6.9 pounds since spring practice, putting the average Sooner defensive tackle at 305), Venables thinks the offense — particularly the o-line — made notable progress as well.

Of the 16 offensive linemen on the roster who were here in spring, 12 got bigger this summer by an average of 7.2 pounds per man. Three players — Logan Howland (12), Daniel Akinkunmi (11) and Jake Taylor (13) — saw double-digit gains.

“We have improved our strength, gotten faster,” he said. “Our acceleration numbers ... I'm not here guessing and reaching for everything. I want to quantify a lot of hard work our guys have put in over the last several months.”

Venables also highlighted the OU tight ends as a group that should be significantly improved after an extremely productive offseason.

“I think Carson Kent, he ran 21-something miles per hour,” Venables said. “I’m really fired up because we have a better team, (and) tight ends are a great example of that. 

“We have a team that has made real progress in the weight room losing body fat, gaining muscle mass and all the sport science data from where guys started. So we’re faster. I won’t bore you with all the details. Our acceleration numbers are better. A lot of ways to quantify.

“Every year you have to recreate, reinvent, develop a new identity. I'm excited about seeing where that goes. But I love what I've seen up to this point in time. A lot goes into creating that identity, the challenges that will present will also shape an identity for this football team.

“Couldn't be more excited about what I've seen up to this point in time. This is a team I love to be in the building with every single day. I believe they have what it takes to claw our back to where I believe Oklahoma belongs. The expectations here and in the locker room are to win at the very highest level and to compete for a championship.”