Five OU football takeaways after ugly outing for Ben Arbuckle, Sooners vs South Carolina
· Yahoo Sports
NORMAN — Late in the first half, after a stop in the action due to a South Carolina injury, the chants began.
OU football fans had already booed its offense earlier after it started the game with four consecutive punts. But this was something different and it was targeted at the playcaller.
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“FIRE ARBUCKLE. FIRE ARBUCKLE. FIRE ARBUCKLE.”
Ben Arbuckle, the Sooners’ second-year offensive coordinator, was under fire for his unit’s lackluster performance. OU was outgained 307-71 in the first half.
Coach Brent Venables summed it up well to SEC Network before the break. And it felt like his sentiment could be used to sum up OU’s season offensively, not just its first half.
"We've got a lot to fix and not much time to do it,” Venables said.
Bingo.
The Sooners failed to correct their mistakes and ultimately fell to the Gamecocks, 42-25, Saturday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. OU’s offense mustered 359 yards of offense — much of which came during garbage time — compared to South Carolina’s 521.
Things didn’t improve much in the second half. The boo birds, from the smattering of fans who chose to stay and endure, picked up again after OU’s first drive after they went three-and-out.
Quarterback John Mateer, coming off perhaps his best performance with the Sooners, completed 26 of his 43 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns.
Wide receiver Ivan Carreon caught five passes for a team-high 88 yards and two touchdowns. Carreon hadn’t recorded a statistic all season before Saturday.
Throughout the fourth quarter, the environment was so desolate that the handful of fans remaining at the top of section 26 on the east side picked up the viral shirt-waving phenomenon that has plagued losing football programs the past couple of seasons.
There is an abundance of fixes to be made and time may be running out.
Here are more takeaways from OU’s blowout loss:
Defense cracks against Sellers
After two months of carrying OU (4-4, 2-3 SEC), its defense cracked.
The Sooners missed countless tackles, mostly while trying to corral South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
Sellers was sensational — through the air and on the ground. He completed 19 of his 24 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns while rushing 13 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
Kip-6 Part 2
Game day Kip showed up in the second quarter.
Lewis, the Sooners’ star linebacker, picked off Sellers and returned it 30 yards to the end zone to tie the game. He finished with five tackles and half a sack.
The fifth-year senior famously sealed an OU road win over Auburn with a 63-yard pick-six in 2024.
Michael Boganoswki records first career INT
Michael Boganowski recorded his first career interception in the loss.
On third-and-10 early in the third quarter, Sellers sailed a ball over a receiver’s head and into Boganowski’s hands. The interception went for naught as the Sooners’ offense punted.
The junior safety, who missed two games earlier this season due to injury, also finished with five tackles.
Sooners lose second consecutive home game
OU lost a second consecutive home game for the first time since the 2024 season.
Before that season, the last time the Sooners had lost consecutive home games was 1998.
When Ole Miss comes to town on Nov. 14, OU will likely be staring down three straight home losses for the first time since 1997.
Next, the Sooners travel to face Florida (5-3) at 6:30 p.m. CT next Saturday, Nov. 7 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. The Gators fell to Georgia, 27-8, Saturday.
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Five OU football takeaways after ugly outing for Ben Arbuckle, Sooners vs South Carolina