NORMAN: Let’s get back to business.

It wasn’t exactly a bye week for Oklahoma football—it’ll come next week—but it won’t be any easier for the Sooners than what they had last week against Maine.

OU returns to SEC action on Saturday When they visit Missouri – Ranked No. 22 in the Coaches’ Poll, No. 26 in the AP Top 25 – followed by open history and then back-to-back shutouts against No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU.

The Sooners need a win to make their 25th straight bowl appearance, and they also need to get their hands on those all-important postseason practices so the team can continue to move toward a successful 2025.

Did beating the Black Bears 59-14 help OU prepare for this close contest in any way?

I asked Brent Venables To put this in the context of where the Maine game ranks in this most difficult of seasons.

“It’s just the next game,” he shrugged, “and the next opportunity to improve. That’s what we wanted to see.”

“Today, again, for the last three weeks, we were talking about seeing improvements at points that we didn’t have in the first part of the season where we weren’t that good, whether it’s offensively, everywhere offensively. Over the last three weeks or so, we’ve seen players get better in practice, and to do that today against someone else and it was an opportunity to do the basics at a high level.”

There are words the Sooner Nation has been patiently waiting to hear: “kids get better with practice.”

Doctors’ offices are closed, so we can only take Venables’ word for it. But if that actually happened, then OU will benefit from that, not from there, when they step into Faurot Field on Saturday night. dragging poor Maine around last weekend.

“It’s certainly far from perfect,” Venables said after the Maine incident, “but our men I did the basics well..”

Where Oklahoma could really benefit from such a comprehensive victory — OU had 665 yards of total offense while Maine managed just 251 — was to gain confidence from something, anything good. Especially for the offensive line, which has struggled to do everything right all year long.

“It wasn’t always the best,” the center said Troy Everett“but today was great. “It’s a good confidence builder.”

“Increased confidence going forward,” the playmaker said jackson arnold. “We had a bunch of young players online today and for them to be able to go out there and dominate today and build that confidence is huge for us.”

Arnold is one of those who needs self-confidence after the difficult performances he has put in all season long. He was benched for a turnover, then watched as his replacement was also taken off the game for the same reason. Arnold knows he needs to see some good things happen before he gets back into SEC play.

“I think it’s a sign of progress for us,” Arnold said after completing 15 of 21 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 45 yards and another score — no turnovers and no sacks. “The way we prepare, the way we mentally go into the game, I think it says a lot about how the coaches prepare us for the week and the game plan they come up with.”

offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley He knows the Sooners have outplayed the Black Bears. Although the OU offense broke open with a punt and the defense gave up a 68-yard touchdown pass, the final score was always inevitable. What Finley wanted to see starting last Saturday was something that went much deeper than the scoreboard.

“I think it’s just our guys continuing to step up and learning how to compete,” Finley said. “ Our first big run today. (Jovantae Barnes‘ 74-yard TD) was a big effort play from our outside receiver, Brenen Thompsonon the left. He goes all the way to secure the field and Barnes has done a great job of missing the corner. You prepared it this way and our men implemented it. Bauer Keskin finished in blocks. I think you see our offense getting better every day, every week. That’s exactly what we wanted.”

Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Zac Street He wasn’t too happy about giving up a touchdown on the Bears’ opening drive after Maine “showed us some new things we probably haven’t seen or studied,” but he was pleased with the way his defense continued its performance. They focused and went back to what they had been working on all week in practice.

“We are Oklahoma. We will always give someone their best shot,” Alley said. “It’s nothing new that we can respond to something like this, but the reality is that when you face difficulties again in the remaining games of the season, we will respond to it in the right way.”

wide receiver J. J. HesterThe Tulsa native, who started his college career at Missouri, will be additionally motivated to play with his former team this week. He said his 90-yard field goal against Maine “threw everybody out,” and it was the shot of confidence he needed to finish this season strong.

“He could help us a lot,” Hester said. “Sometimes you have to see it happen and it happened today. So we’ll let that motivate us to keep going.”

Venables relayed a brief conversation he had with the true freshman Daniel AkinkunmiOffensive lineman from England who came to Norman from the NFL Academy. Like most Londoners, he grew up on the football field, but Akinkunmi’s magnificent height – 6ft 4in and 323lbs (that’s 19.5 hands and 23.07 stone by the King’s measurements) – attracted him to American football.

Akinkunmi played his first game on Saturday, and although he and two other true freshmen were predictably nervous, his head wasn’t exactly spinning. Akinkunmi played eight snaps, did his job, got good grades and could be ready for additional duty in November.

“His first words were: ‘It was much easier than I thought. I’ve been thinking too much about this,” Venables said.

“It’s just the details,” Alley said. “Be prepared, you will have an opportunity when you get out there. … You have to bring to life in detail the things we see and do. Sometimes the environment and the ‘Oh my God, we’re playing a game’ – you get an adrenaline rush. We have to stay calm and do what we have to do.”

And for a team that’s 5-4 and trying to get just one more win (even though Venables said last week he’d rather start a winning streak), the result of defeating an FCS opponent might actually mean winning a little more. Good luck in the SEC.

“Be a little better at everything you do,” Finley said. “We ran the ball very well today, and you’ve got to be able to do that in this conference as well. Everything else is better. We’ve got some young O-line players who are kicking their tails off, rotating, but have to continue to find ways to run the ball. When you do that, you have a chance to win.”

“We still need to work on some things,” Barnes said, “but I definitely feel like we’ve taken it up a notch.”