Coming into the season, OU's hopes were as lofty as ever. But with four games remaining, the Sooners sit at 4-4, and any dreams of a promising postseason are officially out the door. Although the door to the Playoff is soundly shut in the Sooners, there are still plenty of intriguing questions for fans tuning in to Oklahoma's first-ever visit to The Swamp to take on the Gators Saturday evening.
1. After Ben arbuckle's departure, what will a jason witten-led offense look like?
Perhaps the most pertinent question on everyone's mind this week has been what to expect from Jason Witten the interim playcaller after it was announced on Monday that Ben Arbuckle had been let go. With only a handful of practices to prepare, fans likely shouldn't expect a dramatic overhaul of the general scheme and style that they've seen to this point in the season. Terminology, formations, and overall scheme takes weeks or months to prepare and install, and with only a couple of full practices this week, the most noticeable changes will likely instead be limited to personnel packages (how many tight ends are on the field?), game planning (how to they try to attack Florida's weaknesses?), and general rhythm (do they completely abandon the run game for no reason?). Whatever it looks like, the goal should be to generate some level of optimism that the offense can be successful moving forward to next season, both for fans and for potential recruits.
2. How long is John Mateer's leash?
It has been much-discussed to what extent OU's unwillingness to play another QB at any point this season was more due to Ben Arbuckle's loyalty to Mateer, or if the backups are just so bad in practice Venables believes it would make the offense be somehow even worse. With Arbuckle gone, it's likely that question is answered much sooner than later. While it's also entirely possible Mateer thrives this evening (pretty much every outcome is on the table at this point), if he does struggle early with a few of his patented untimely turnovers or inability to read a defense sufficiently, fans should expect to either see a new QB, or get a pretty definitive answer about the talent (or lack thereof) waiting in the wings behind Mateer.
3. Can the defense bounce back after their worst performance this season?
While the offense certainly struggled against South Carolina, the defense was most surprising letdown, and primary reason they did eventually lose the game. In wet and slippery conditions, they missed 25% of their entire season's missed tackles in one game, and gave up explosive play after explosive play to the Gamecock's offense. Obviously you wonder if they can bounce back in general, but the deeper question is can Venables motivate his defense (and team) with nothing left to play for but pride and a meaningless bowl game half the starters will skip anyway? If he's truly the man for the job longterm, he has to. In the era of NIL, the transfer portal, and unprecedented need for donors to buy in and pay up, the program literally can't afford to mail it in for the last four games, or they will start to feel the squeeze that fan ambivalence and a lack of hope for recruits can have on a program in this day and age.
Playoff hopes may be dead in the water, but Sooner fans across the world will still tune in tonight, and every Saturday the rest of the way, because it's what they do. But that love and passion isn't infinite. If it really bottoms out, there will be those who choose to invest their time and money elsewhere (like a contending NBA team just down the road, perhaps...). Showing promise and potential for next season can go a long way in building back some trust with the fans, and buy-in from key donors heading into a make-or-break 2027 season for Brent and his entire staff.