Oklahoma’s Brent Venables fires OC Ben Arbuckle as season goes down drain

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The Oklahoma Sooners are 4-4 on the season after suffering a 42-25 Week 9 loss to the No. 23 South Carolina Gamecocks. Outside of the 27-24 Week 6 win over the Texas Longhorns, it’s been a disastrous season for the Sooners. That’s especially true on offense, as the team has struggled to move the ball down the field with John Mateer at quarterback. As a result, Oklahoma football head coach Brent Venables decided to fire offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.

CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz first reported Monday that Arbuckle was expected to be fired Multiple media reports soon confirmed that Arbuckle was out as offensive coordinator. Rumblings emerged Sunday that Venables could make this move, and he followed through with the decision on Monday.

With Arbuckle out of the picture, the Sooners will turn to tight ends coach Jason Witten to call plays for the remainder of the campaign, according to Sooner Scoop and other reports. Witten, a Dallas Cowboys legend, just joined Venables’ staff this year.

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The Sooners hired Arbuckle in early December 2024. He served as the program’s offensive play caller for one and a half seasons before being let go from Venables’ staff. This season, Oklahoma’s offense is ranked near the bottom of the nation. The team is averaging 336.9 total yards of offense per game and just 22.0 points per game.

It doesn’t help that Mateer has been so inconsistent for the Sooners this season. Through eight games, the redshirt senior has accumulated 1,835 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while completing 65.6% of his pass attempts. Mateer has also had some disastrous fumbles.

Despite Mateer’s struggles, Venables has refused to bench him. Instead, the Oklahoma head coach is making a change at offensive coordinator.

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