Oklahoma Sooners DOMINATE Temple! | Jackson Arnold, Deion Burks WORK, Brent Venables defense RAVES!

Brent Venables knows that Oklahoma was lucky to come away with a win against Houston on Saturday. The Sooners seemed to be doing everything they could to give the game away, as they had a defensive stop on the very last play.

On a day where the offense struggled and failed to score any points in the second half, the defense came through in the end to win 16-12. Speaking to SEC Network after the game, the OU coach didn’t mince his words about his team’s performance.

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“We certainly deserved to lose, but our guys found a way,” Venables said. “Great defensive effort to create the safety. The offense did a really good job until we lost our minds and didn’t play with discipline.”

“We deserved to lose because we did everything you can do to give someone a chance to win. But they found a way to win. Again, the defense did a great job on the last drive to get them to use the clock and walk off the field with a win.”

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Oklahoma’s offense failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities created by the defense in the second half, including a play early in the fourth quarter where the Sooners forced an interception to gain the upper hand at the 33-yard line. OU responded with a three-and-out, then missed the field goal attempt and remained scoreless.

Oklahoma gave the ball back to Houston with two minutes left, but luckily pinned the Cougars at the five-yard line, giving the defense a chance to score a safety, the only points the Sooners would score in the entire second half.

OU then nearly tied the game, but a penalty stopped the clock on fourth down and Houston got the ball back with 29 seconds left. Once again, it was the defense that saved the day.

quarterback Jackson-Arnold looked bad all day, completing 19 of 32 passes for 171 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. It didn’t help that the offensive line also struggled, allowing three sacks and just 2.6 yards per carry.

But as bad as it was, Venables is grateful that his defense pulled it off in the end.

“You have to respect what it takes to win,” he said. “I felt like we weren’t in a good mood tonight from the start. We tackle well and use the ball on defense so they stay close. It really went exactly the script we’ve talked about all week. That’s how this team is, Houston. We stay close, get to the fourth quarter and throw you off your rhythm. We weren’t in a rhythm at any point in the game tonight.

“But again, you can’t be that bad and still find a way to win the game. Sometimes that’s a sign that you have enough good things going on. We had several guys tonight that were unavailable before the game or during the game. I’m so proud of the guys that stepped in and excelled.”

Ultimately, it’s better to learn the lessons from a game like this when you win, and Oklahoma is certainly happy to still be undefeated after the close game against Houston. The Sooners will look to bounce back next week when they face Tulane before moving into SEC play the following week.