Two weeks ago, Oregon hung 69 points on Oklahoma State in Eugene. That was bad enough — a humiliation on national TV that stripped whatever false bravado still clung to a program sleepwalking into irrelevance. Friday night, coming off a bye week, the Cowboys managed to dig deeper. They lost 19–12 at home to Tulsa. Yes, Tulsa.
_____________________________
MORE
Oklahoma State's Wasted Season After Failing to Fire Mike Gundy
______________________________
Not since 1951 had Oklahoma State dropped a home game to the Golden Hurricane. Not since 1998 had they lost to Tulsa at all. And yet here we are, 2025, staring at a box score that reads like a eulogy. Tulsa racked up 424 yards of offense. Quarterback Baylor Hayes completed 23-of-36 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. Dominic Richardson — the same running back Gundy and staff couldn’t keep in Stillwater — gashed his old program for 146 yards on 31 carries. That’s what it looks like when the transfer portal takes and the other sideline collects the spoils.
A Postgame of Deflection
Afterward, Gundy sat at the podium with his trademark squint, steering every question back to the same well-worn refrain: player mistakes, untimely penalties, breakdowns in execution. He dissected the granular — missed blocks, poor gap fits, mental lapses — while refusing to acknowledge the rot staring him down.
This isn’t about a holding call in the second quarter. It’s about a program whose roster is so barren of Big 12-caliber talent that losing to Tulsa doesn’t feel like an aberration, but an inevitability.
Ask Gundy about roster construction and he pivots to turnovers. Push him on NIL and he shrugs about patience. Bring up job security and he stares past you, nose angled just high enough to remind everyone he still sees himself as the smartest guy in the room.
But Friday night, for the first time, even Gundy’s well-practiced spin couldn’t shield him. By 1 a.m. Saturday morning, his employment in Stillwater was still on life support.
NIL, Narratives and the Wrong Enemy
Let’s be clear: Gundy knows the terrain. He’s been hammering the NIL narrative for years now, insisting Oklahoma State can’t compete financially, painting himself as a victim of circumstances rather than an architect of failure. And in a vacuum, he’s not wrong — OSU’s war chest pales in comparison to Texas, Oklahoma or even Texas Tech.
But here’s the catch: NIL didn’t make him lose to Tulsa. NIL didn’t cause Oregon to boat-race his team 69–3. NIL didn’t build a roster where a transfer castoff from Stillwater could come back and run for 146 yards in Boone Pickens Stadium. That’s evaluation. That’s development. That’s a head coach either unable or unwilling to adapt.
The new era of college football requires adaptability. Aggressive portal moves. Innovative offensive schemes. Recruiting that isn’t allergic to blue-chip zip codes. Instead, Gundy clings to the stubborn conservatism that once made him an iconoclast but now just makes him outdated.
Once the Architect, Now the Arsonist
This is the cruel irony. Mike Gundy built Oklahoma State football into something worth caring about. He raised the ceiling, modernized facilities, turned Boone Pickens Stadium into a real home field and dragged the program out of mediocrity.
But the same hubris that once allowed him to build has now burned the foundation down. He believed his way — the Gundy way — could withstand the sport’s tectonic shifts. He believed the Big 12 would always be there for him to rack up 9–10 win seasons against Kansas, Iowa State, and Baylor. He believed his reputation alone would insulate him from criticism.
And so, when the iceberg came into view — NIL, the portal the SEC and Big Ten arms race — he didn’t alter course. He tightened his grip on the wheel and dared the iceberg to move. It didn’t. Now Oklahoma State is taking on water faster than even he can bail.
Avoiding the Big Picture
Friday’s press conference was almost tragic in its predictability. A man who once owned every room now deflecting like a mid-tier assistant coach. Every question steered back to micro mistakes, never the macro collapse. A deliberate refusal to acknowledge that the walls are closing in.
“Do you think you’ll last the weekend?” one reporter finally asked. Gundy’s response was telling: the length of his employment was no longer a question he could answer. He didn’t deny it. He didn’t crack a joke. He didn’t bark back. He simply admitted that his fate rests in someone else’s hands.
His answer was louder than any sound bite he’s ever given.
From Oregon to Tulsa: The Final Descent
The reality is this: the coffin was already being nailed shut after the Oregon disaster. Losing to Tulsa just hammered the lid down. It confirmed that this isn’t a blip, it’s a freefall.
Fans don’t forget score lines like 69–3. They don’t forget losing to Tulsa at home for the first time in 74 years. They don’t forgive a coach who shrugs at systemic failure while blaming penalties.
The clock has been ticking on Gundy for years, but Friday night may well have been the moment it struck midnight. Not because Tulsa is some mighty conqueror — but because Tulsa is exactly who you don’t lose to if you want to keep pretending your program still has a pulse.
A Program Umoored
Oklahoma State football now stands at a crossroads. It can either cling to nostalgia, knowing the man who once gave it everything isn't capable of pulling another rabbit out of his hat. Or it can acknowledge the obvious: Mike Gundy is no longer the solution. He is the problem.
The game has passed him by. His program has regressed into irrelevance. His players aren’t good enough, his staff isn’t innovative enough and his excuses aren’t convincing enough.
The Gundy era deserves gratitude. It also deserves an ending. And Friday night, Tulsa may have finally delivered it.
____________________________________________________
Jason Watkins is the founder and managing editor of HOF Media Group and the HOF College Football YouTube channel. He can be reached at jw@hofmedia.us.
The SEC transition has been harsher on Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners than anticipated, with a tough 1-4 start sparking fan concerns over Venables’ leadership.
Despite glimpses of offensive progress in their latest 26-14 loss at Ole Miss, Oklahoma’s 4-4 record has fueled doubts about Venables’ ability to steer the program through the SEC’s relentless competition. While injuries to key offensive players have created challenges, Venables’ hesitance to address coaching issues and poor communication within the offensive staff have only deepened the Sooners' struggles.
The failure of the offensive staff to communicate effectively and Venables’ hesitance to manage his coaching staff proactively have compounded the difficulties presented by mounting injuries.
Hesitancy on Display: The 4th-Down Decision
Venables' hesitation was encapsulated on Saturday, just six days after finally relieving Littrell of his duties as offensive coordinator: the 4th-and-4 timeout against Ole Miss late in the third quarter. Trailing by two scores, Oklahoma needed a jolt to stay in the game.
The situation was critical, but hardly complex. Coaches make these calls instinctively, often without a second thought. Instead, Venables used a timeout — only to ultimately bring out the punt team, a decision that deflated the offense and left fans scratching their heads.
If the choice was to punt, Venables could’ve delayed the game for a mere five yards instead of burning a precious timeout. If he intended to go for it, why not get his new play caller’s best play for the situation and make the call confidently?
Even if the Sooners fail to pick up the four yards, it would have signaled a willingness to take a chance — or give one — to an offense that has been less-than-inspiring all season.
In that one instance, Venables’ hesitation was as costly as a missed play. With the momentum squarely in favor of Lane Kiffin’s Rebels, burning that timeout only to punt sent the wrong signal to a young group on offense that is in serious need of someone who believes in them. Instead, he proved he didn’t trust them to get a measly four yards and extend a drive to get back into the game.
OU’s Identity Crisis on Offense
What we’re witnessing with OU’s offense is not merely a slump — it’s an identity crisis. Oklahoma fans are accustomed to high-powered, fast-paced offenses that can score almost at will. Littrell’s offense was anything but explosive for seven weeks, and Joe Jon Finley had a lackluster, scoreless latter half of Week 8, too.
To say the Sooners struggled to establish consistency would be an overwhelming understatement.
OU has struggled with untimely penalties and turnovers and suffered through a complete lack of innovation and creativity. The plays feel uninspired, lack direction and are devoid of explosive results.
As a unit, this offense is drawing comparisons to the infamous John Blake era, and has the numbers to back the comparison up. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
There’s no other way to say it but bluntly … OU has no clear identity with its offense on the field.
The offensive woes go beyond play-calling; they’re structural. Reports from inside the Switzer Center suggest that there have been significant communication breakdowns within the offensive staff. Coaches have reportedly been on different pages regarding even the most fundamental elements, like blocking schemes. If those rumors are reaching the public, it’s safe to say Venables has known about these issues for some time.
A head coach — even a defensive-minded one like Venables — cannot allow such dysfunction to persist. These aren’t minor misunderstandings; they’re symptoms of a team struggling to find cohesion. Venables needed to address these issues early, before they became embedded in the team’s culture, but his delay in doing so has turned what might have been small fires into an inferno.
Mailed-In Hire: The Problem with Littrell
When Venables hired Seth Littrell, it felt like a placeholder decision. It wasn’t the bold, visionary hire that programs like Oklahoma should be making. Littrell’s track record showed some promise, but he had yet to prove himself as the kind of offensive mind that could elevate a program to championship contention.
Looking back on the decision to elevate Littrell and Finley, the hire seems more like an afterthought, a half-measure rather than a commitment to offensive excellence.
The results have been glaringly obvious. The offense lacks explosive creativity that OU fans are used to seeing, and that lack of energy has translated into downright unacceptable performances on the field, as evidenced by the Sooners’ historically bad statistical rankings in FBS football.
In just ten months on the job, Littrell and his offensive staff failed to the tune of numbers nobody in their right minds would have predicted following the Sooners’ 2023 season that saw the offense rank in the Top 5 in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense, and alone at the top of the Big 12 Conference in Points, Yards and Yards Per Play.
This despite having two of the most electric quarterbacks from their respective recruiting classes in the fold:
2023 5-star and Elite 11-winning Jackson Arnold of Denton Guyer, the 2023 Gatorade National HS Player of the Year and twice a Class 6A State Finalist in Texas.
And former Allen and Frisco Emerson (Texas) superstar Michael Hawkins, Jr., a Sooner legacy trained by Kyler's father Kevin Murray, and who, as a senior, accounted for 55 touchdowns and just three turnovers, leading Emerson to within a game of playing for a Texas State Championship in Class 5A.
Neither were able to sustain success under Littrell's tutelage, and rumors have swirled this week about none of OU's QBs feeling as though been properly developed by the now-fired Littrell as the QBs coach.
Both started a games after being inserted for the other following ineffective play, and both came into their first appearances under Littrell with confidence and swagger that appeared missing by the time they were pulled from games after committing three turnovers and allowing the Sooners to fall behind teams they likely could have beaten were it not for the turnovers they committed.
In other words, Seth Littrell had to go.
Saturday’s loss leaves Oklahoma at 4-4, staring down a potential losing season -- the second for Venables since he arrived after the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley to USC.
These are unacceptable at Oklahoma, a school with one of the richest football traditions in the country. What makes it even more alarming is that no longer can OU fans blame the losses on a ineffectice, suoddr defense — OU seems to have mostly turned the corner on that side of the ball — but to say the fan base is frustrated, would again be a massive understatement.
Oklahoma fans don’t want excuses; they want results. And for a head coach like Venables, the time for excuses is running out.
The Next OC Hire: BV’s Defining Moment
After Finally punting the Littrell experiment — once again needing more time than most believe he should have — Venables again finds himself in the market for a new offensive coordinator — for the third time in three seasons.
This time, though, the choice Venables makes will ultimately define his second tenure in Norman, possibly his entire future as a head coach in college football. Mailing it in would be tantamount to a dereliction of duty in the eyes of Sooner Nation.
Venables MUST get this one right. He has to bring in someone with a proven track record of offensive success, someone who can bring energy, innovation, and a clear identity to the offense. Anything less than a home-run hire will only deepen the cracks in Venables’ foundation as head coach.
If Venables fails to find the right offensive coordinator, his job security will slip through those cracks, and his tenure as the Head Ball Coach of the Sooners will die in a whimper. Even if he builds a defense that resembles the ’85 Bears, it won’t matter if OU’s offense can’t score points.
The OU fan base is patient to a degree, but they expect excellence. For Venables, this is a make-or-break moment.
Either he finds the right offensive coordinator and proves he can lead a balanced, championship-caliber team, or he risks being shown the door in a year or less.
The Venables Paradox: Championship Defense, JV Offense
The irony of Venables’ situation is that, in many ways, Oklahoma has become Lincoln Riley’s reverse image. Under Riley, the Sooners fielded prolific offenses but were plagued by a porous defense that could never quite get them over the championship hump.
With Venables, it’s the opposite: the defense has shown promise, but the offense is currently in full-on spiral.
The head coach role, especially at Blue Blood OU, requires more than defensive expertise or recruiting prowess. It demands a complete vision, a well-rounded team, and an unwavering commitment to excellence on both sides of the ball.
For Venables to truly establish himself as a championship-level head coach, he has to be willing to delegate offense to someone who can make people forget he’s a defensive guru and simply call him “Coach.” To reach the heights that Oklahoma fans demand, Venables needs to be remembered not as a defensive mind but as a leader who fields a complete team. That requires taking risks, making tough decisions, and, most importantly, holding his staff to the highest possible standard.
It requires a decisive, confident vision for a championship future. The clock is ticking on Brent Venables’ tenure in Oklahoma, and his window for turning things around is narrowing.
Being the head coach at Oklahoma is an honor, but it’s also a responsibility. Venables needs to rise to that responsibility, or he and Lincoln Riley might both be in the job market this time next year.
________________
Jason Watkins is the Publisher at HOF Media Group and the Host of the HOF College Football Podcast. Reach him at jw@hofmedia.us