COLUMBIA, Mo. — The air hung thick inside a cramped storage room off the south end zone of Faurot Field on Saturday night.
After OU’s 30-23 loss to Missouri, putting the Sooners on the brink of their first bowl-less season since 1998, not only was OU coach Brent Venables short on words but reporters quizzing Venables on the loss struggled for a moment to come up with just what to ask.
What more is there to ask?
What can Venables say?
There wasn’t much to say after the most stunning loss of the season and probably the most stunning of Venables’ three seasons at the helm.
But still, Venables tried to explain it and give at least a vague sense of hope heading into a bye week and then a two-game gauntlet where the Sooners will need to pull off at least one stunning upset to extend their bowl streak in improbable fashion.
“Our guys fought with everything they had,” Venables said. “Wasn’t good enough. We have to do a better job to help them. They converted way too many third downs on defense.”
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Venables hangs his hat on defense and for much of the game, the Sooners’ defense stood tall.
They made it difficult for Drew Pyne to move the ball through the air.
They bottled up the Tigers’ ground game.
But then Pyne and Missouri’s offense came alive late, with a 75-yard touchdown drive that took less than a minute to tie the game with just more than a minute remaining.
Just a few moments after Pyne hit former Sooner Theo Wease for a 10-yard touchdown, OU’s offense coughed up the ball and gave up a defensive touchdown, sealing a stunning defeat.
“It wasn’t like there was a big bust and somebody was wide open, you know? We just had a couple mistakes in a game in the SEC,” Sooners defensive coordinator Zac Alley said. “The margin for victory and the margin for error is small. When you make a mistake like that and everything matters, you never know when the play to win the game is happening, and so you gotta play every single down like that.”
Soon enough after the early moments of silence in Venables’ postgame press conference, the questions came — about the Sooners’ late collapse, the thinking of trying to move the ball through the air late, the special teams which both helped and hurt, and where OU goes from here — and Venables did his best to answer.
But the truth is, after the most stunning loss in a season filled with different ways not to get the job done, there’s only so much to be said.
“Heartbreaking loss,” Venables said. “Feel so bad for our players.”
Sooners defensive end R Mason Thomas acknowledged it was the toughest loss of the season.
“This was very hard,” Thomas said, adding that he and his teammates leaned on their faith to add perspective. “It’s hard because you put a lot of emotion into it. It’s not like we just go out to practice and not bleed, cry, sweat and give tears to it. … Man, it’s hard.”
In three seasons under Venables, the Sooners are 11-13 in conference play.
After Saturday, OU fell to 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.
“Unfortunately I cannot (explain what happened),” said OU safety Billy Bowman, who returned a fumble 43 yards to put the Sooners ahead with 2:00 left. “I’m speechless, out of words. I just — myself, I just don’t understand, but it is what it is. We’ll get back to work.”
Time for that work to pay off is in short supply, though.
“To finish like that, I would say, it hurts,” Thomas said. “It’s heart-wrenching. There’s a lot of words for it, but I’m glad I’m on this team.”
Alley said Venables has been unwavering behind the scenes.
“Every single day I’m just so proud,” Alley said. “I love him so much and you just see the belief that never wavers and the accountability. That part’s there, do doubt about it. But man, he loves our guys. I love our guys, man. They play so hard.”
Once again, it wasn’t enough.
“We’ll grade this thing tonight (then) we’ll flush it Monday,” Alley said. “Correct everything we can and go right back to work, ’cause that’s just who we are and the culture of this team.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football coach Brent Venables short on answers after Missouri loss
