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Can Seth Littrell fix OU's football offense after blowout loss to Texas?

Posted on by Kennedy
Can Seth Littrell fix OU's football offense after blowout loss to Texas?

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DALLAS – A sea of ​​purple flooded the exit ramps leading out of the Cotton Bowl in the smell of Fletcher's Corny Dogs and the sound of the Midway with just under nine minutes to play Saturday.

Nearly half of the 92,100 fans in attendance were fed up with No. 16 OU's offense, which averaged 3.4 yards per play and failed to reach the end zone in a 34-3 loss to No. 1 Texas. Sooners coach Brent Venables shares his frustration.

“Obviously we haven’t been very good this season,” Venables said of the offense after the game, before pausing and chuckling.

Even though OU's offense didn't perform well on Saturday, perhaps the most troubling question is: Are there answers to fix the problem going forward? The Sooners will be without their top five receivers – Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony, Deion Burks, Jayden Gibson and Jalil Farooq – and aside from Burks, whose play was questionable in the SEC's initial injury report on Wednesday, there is no timetable for their return. The offensive line is still learning its way after injuries early in the season, and 25 players made their first appearances at OU this season.

More: OU Football struggles in every way against Texas in the loss to Red River. Can the Sooners bounce back?

Michael Hawkins Jr., who became the Sooner's first true freshman start in the rivalry game, finished the game with a deep-ball pass attempt. Despite some formation wrinkles, including split draws and handoffs with horizontal movement, offensive coordinator Seth Littrell never seemed to find the rhythm that called for plays. OU's remaining conference schedule doesn't do it any favors: against South Carolina, at Mississippi, at Missouri, against Alabama and at LSU. What do the Sooners have to offer offensively?

“We have to get better everywhere,” Venables said. “I like the leadership, the desire of this team and the hunger. We have to help guys. We have to continue to help them, show them what to do every play and be able to play competitively against whoever we play.”

As he has done all season, Littrell took full ownership of OU's lackluster offensive performance and inability to find a rhythm. He said he will never point the finger at any other coach or player and that it's up to him to figure out how to get the Sooners' offense going. Venables reiterated that he had to find a way to regain momentum after losing it within a game. From the two-minute, 21-second mark in the first half until the final whistle of the game, OU fumbled twice, fumbled three times, turned the ball over on downs and did not score.

“It’s the consistency of overall execution,” Littrell said. “It will be frustrating for everyone. Listen, it's a great group. They work extremely hard. Ultimately we have to incorporate this into the game plan and on Saturdays you have to be able to perform at your best. For some reason we haven't been able to do that yet. That’s what makes you get back on your feet and work hard to get it right.”

More: Michael Hawkins Jr. couldn't save the Sooners against Texas, but OU's offense is past this point

From what we hear, the players have bought into it and believe change can happen within six games.

The Sooners have yet to have a quarterback throw for 200 yards in a game this season. It was always going to be a difficult task for Hawkins to pull off an upset as a complete newcomer in this environment, but he was never satisfied.

“There are a lot of young guys out there,” said Littrell, who along with Venables said they never considered replacing Hawkins. “It’s not just Mike. Again, we’ve got to do a good job of making sure these guys are comfortable and understand how we’re trying to execute that part of things.”

Hawkins completed 19 of his 30 passes for 148 yards.

Freshman wide receiver Zion Kearney led OU with four catches for 45 yards after entering the game with one catch for 12 yards. Tight end Bauer Sharp was second on the team in receiving with 21 yards.

Sharp tried to answer the question that arose.

“A lot of it was our own making,” Sharp said. “It’s been a big struggle for us at the moment.”

More: Any hope of an OU football upset against Texas is doomed by a three-minute stretch in the Red River Rivalry

A similar feeling prevailed in the postgame press conference area of ​​the Cotton Bowl 735 days ago. The Sooners had suffered their worst shutout loss since 1945 without their quarterback.

Now, after Venables' second crushing loss to OU's arch-rival in three seasons and with two losses already, a host of injured receivers and a staggering schedule ahead of them, the question becomes what will happen next for the Sooners.

OU is on third-and-long this season and can't let Saturday's loss derail its season the way the offense plateaued against the Longhorns.

“We need to do a much better job of maintaining balance in these situations,” Littrell said, “and making sure we stay in front of the chains.”

“We don’t want to be in the third or second league. We were in too many third-and-long situations.”

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