Paul Finebaum after latest Oklahoma loss: 'Brent Venables is dead'

Following Oklahoma’s loss to South Carolina on Saturday, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum declared head coach Brent Venables DOA. Well, not literally of course! But Venables’ Sooners’ team is now 4-4 and lost all good fortune from their win over Texas a few weeks back. Oklahoma fell at home to South Carolina 42-25 despite a decent day from QB John Mateer. The run game was non-existent, as well as the defense, considering the Sooners trailed 28-10 at halftime. $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Despite a contract extension going into the year, Venables’ job security is certainly up for debate. Finebaum is ready to end this experiment in Norman and move onto something else. “Brent Venables is dead,” Finebaum said on Sunday’s edition of The Matt Barrie Show. “He is not getting back. He is out of ammunition. This has been an abject disaster for him, and unfortunately for Oklahoma fans, they are stuck with him.” Mateer stepped it up in the second half and finished 26-of-43 passing for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but it was too little too late for the Sooners. Everyone was inconsistent and Venables maintained he would not make any changes at this time or at least, not address those types of situations with four games remaining. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not there, Barry,” Venables told reporters Saturday about this season’s struggles following a CFP run. “I’m just kind of living in what just happened tonight. And for as good as things went a week ago with finding a way to go win, this is equally as poor in every way.” Venables is 36-24 since 2022 with Oklahoma after spending a decade at Clemson as their defensive coordinator. His return to Oklahoma as head coach has had its moments, but not up to championship standard following the Lincoln Riley era where the Sooners were a consistent CFP threat. “With the best players and the best teams, if they had a quality that you desired for them, or it’s a trait that is foundational to being a good unit, you’re consistent,” Venables said. “So it takes showing up every day. It takes consistent habits. All these things. I’m not going to sit here and bore everybody, but at the end of the day, games matter. “And we haven’t been consistent like we need to. Some of the errors that we made tonight, it was too much for this football team to be able to overcome in timely fashion. Again, the expectation is for our guys to keep playing. And there’s no badge of honor at the end of the third quarter. They’ve got 400 and whatever yards to your 150 whatever it was. Not good. So I love our guys. I don’t love them any less, or respect them any less or believe in them any less. None whatsoever. But I’m incredibly pissed at myself. And for all of us, it’s just embarrassing. It’s embarrassing in every way.”