Oklahoma coach Brent Venables states out of favor OC Ben Arbuckle can take the heat

NORMAN, Okla.– Ben Arbuckle isn’t even troubling to pretend he does not hear the cynics.

Oklahoma’s 31-year-old offending planner is extremely undesirable with the Sooners’ wild fanbase. His system has actually been stuck in quicksand for the previous 3 video games, scoring a combined 37 points as the Sooners have actually gone 1-2 in the run-up to the yearly face-off versus competing Texas.

He comprehends why the fans are disappointed and sees Saturday’s video game in Dallas versus the Associated Press’ No. 1 group as a chance to get things.

“You don’t like what people are saying, do something about it, right?” Arbuckle stated. “And ultimately, we get to go do that between the lines. Tough teams win. Tough players win. And that’s been our message throughout the entire building is just, toughness wins.”

This circumstance needs Arbuckle to show a brand-new type of strength. His success in his 20s as an offending planner at Washington State made him the chance at Oklahoma. His offense had a hard time sometimes last season, however that was rather concealed by the reality that the Sooners still reached the College Football Playoff.

This is the very first time he’s handled the mix of bad production, losing and upset fans at the exact same time.

“Do something about it:” OU offending planner Ben Arbuckle states the group knows the criticism they are dealing with ahead of the Red River Rivalry. https://t.co/ub8CNC4hi3– KOKH FOX 25 (@OKCFOX) October 6, 2026

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables stated Arbuckle can take the heat and has the tools to turn things around.

“It becomes a story when you make it a story,” he stated. “He’s not naive. He’s a young guy from an age standpoint, but a guy that — he’s a tough guy. He’s got great awareness, incredibly bright, and takes great pride. And he knows when maybe his unit’s not meeting the expectations and standards, and so he gets knee-deep in all the work and the things that it takes to improve and get better and figure out where we fall short, what we need to do, what the remedies are, and things of that nature.”

Simply how out of favor is Arbuckle? Well, in 2 entirely unscientific surveys I worked on X in the previous 2 weeks, I asked Sooners fans if previous OU coach Lincoln Riley in some way appeared to run the offense, would fans desire him back.
Such a concern was unimaginable as just recently as a month back. Almost half the fans addressed yes.

Some background is needed to totally understand how really remarkable that is.

Riley led Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff 3 times in 5 years and coached Heisman winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Sooners fans were all in on him, and he was commemorated as a worthwhile follower to Bob Stoops.

Nearly instantly after a squashing loss at Oklahoma State in 2021, Riley loaded up and left for USC. He ultimately took appealing quarterback Caleb Williams with him, leaving Oklahoma in chaos and Riley with uncomplimentary labels.

Riley has actually had to do with as disliked as previous Thunder star Kevin Durant in these parts, yet, desperate times require desperate steps from a fanbase with Oklahoma’s lofty requirements. In my very first survey, 53% of 204 participants stated they ‘d take Riley back. In the 2nd survey, about a week later on, 41% of 152 participants stated they ‘d take Riley back.

Sure, not an enormous sample size. For more than absolutely no percent to state they ‘d invite Riley is a quite strong indication. If Arbuckle might be voted out in the November mid-terms, he ‘d remain in huge problem.

Arbuckle thinks the service remains in the procedure.

“We’re talking about doing the hard things better,” he stated. “Doing the little things better. That’s toughness to me. And ultimately, the players said it, coach Venables said it — you don’t like what people are saying, then do something about it. Change it. There’s no point in wallowing in anything. And all you can do is get back to work, be better, be better at the basics and go execute at a high level.”

MORE: Why crossing out Oklahoma coach Brent Venables may be a bad concept

Venables made it clear it’s not all on Arbuckle. He invested much of Tuesday’s schedule discussing the offending line’s battles.

“We all work together,” Venables stated. “It’s not just him, it’s all of us together trying to figure that out. But I think that as much as anything, it’s just getting busy with the doing, the work, putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”

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