Venables pushing for points after OC change at Oklahoma, doesn't say if QB switch coming

NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables just wants the Sooners to score as many points as possible in any way they can after he fired second-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.

“Put incredible pressure on the defense and take care of the football,” Venables said Tuesday, a day after making the move. "Score however you need to score, throwing it, running it, all of it. That’s literally what we want.”

Venables said the Sooners (4-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) have regressed on offense this season after making the College Football Playoff last year.

“Obviously we didn’t make the improvement,” he said. “We played inconsistently. We lead the world in the turnover margin. We’re on the wrong side of it. We’ve got to have better, more consistent quarterback play.”

When asked if transfer and fifth-year senior John Mateer would remain the starting quarterback for Saturday's game at No. 25 Florida (5-3), and what could change with interim offensive coordinator Jason Witten calling plays, Venables said everything is on the table and that everybody has a fresh slate after the coaching change.

Mateer, the quarterback who came with Arbuckle from Washington State before last season, junior Whitt Newbauer and freshman Bowe Bentley, have gotten reps in practice this week, Venables said.

"We want to win ... and that takes everybody,” he said. “That expectation hasn’t changed whatsoever and we want to win this week and we want to win the next week and the week after and so forth.”

Venables didn't have much interest in elaborating on Arbuckle's departure or Mateer's status while talking to reporters during his weekly availability.

“My focus with you all today is really about what we’ve got to do this week to win and what that looks like here over the next four weeks,” he said. “Incredibly important that we get someone to come in here and help us score touchdowns.”

The Sooners fired Arbuckle in the aftermath of a 42-25 home loss to South Carolina when they had only 118 total yards and no offensive touchdowns through three quarters before Mateer threw two TD passes.

Oklahoma's offensive numbers have slipped this season. They rank 111th out of 138 FBS teams at 336.9 total yards per game, and are 108th with 22.0 points a game — down from 354.3 yards and 26.2 points in a 10-win season last year. Washington State ranked sixth nationally with 36.6 points a game and gained 442.8 yards per game in 2024 with Arbuckle and Mateer before they went to Norman.

Witten was hired in January as Oklahoma's tight ends coach after going 44-7 with two state championships over five seasons as a high school head coach at Liberty Christian, a private school in Texas. He was an 11-time Pro Bowl tight end with the Cowboys in an NFL career than spanned 17 seasons, all but one of those with Dallas.

“He’s got an incredible wealth of knowledge and his communication skills are elite,” Venables said. “He’s built trust and real relationships with our entire staff but also the players, which is important. They’re going to follow people that they believe in. He makes people better with his passion, his energy, his details, his readiness, his toughness, all of those things. He’s elevated several parts of our program in a very short amount of time.”