There is no easing into this one.
No tune-up game.
No opportunity to work through mistakes against an overmatched opponent.
No second chance to correct the problems that have followed Oklahoma through the first month of the season.
The bye week is over.
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are waiting.
And the Oklahoma Sooners have three burning questions that need answers before they step onto the Cotton Bowl turf Saturday afternoon.
Oklahoma enters the Red River Rivalry at 2-2 after scoring just 37 points over its last three games. The Sooners have failed to score more than 14 points in any of those contests, while their rushing attack ranks near the bottom of the FBS.
Meanwhile, Texas is 4-0 and has the nation’s No. 22 scoring defense.
That’s not exactly the matchup you want when your offense is searching for an identity.
But that’s where Oklahoma finds itself.
The bye week provided time.
Now the Sooners have to show what they did with it.
1. How Does Ben Arbuckle Get Isaiah Sategna III and Rocky Beers More Room to Work?
This is perhaps the most important schematic question facing Oklahoma.
The Sooners have playmakers.
They just haven’t consistently created favorable situations for them.
Isaiah Sategna III remains Oklahoma’s most proven explosive receiver. The fifth-year senior entered the season as the Sooners’ only returning receiver who caught at least 10 passes last season, and he has already demonstrated his ability to change a game with the ball in his hands.
Rocky Beers has become equally important from a different position.
The 6-foot-5 tight end arrived from Colorado State and immediately became one of John Mateer’s most trusted targets. He entered the season leading Oklahoma’s tight-end room and has continued to emerge as a significant part of the passing game.
The problem isn’t necessarily talent.
It’s space.
Oklahoma’s passing game has become too difficult to consistently sustain because defenses haven’t had enough reason to fear everything else.
When the running game isn’t threatening, safeties can play more aggressively.
When protection breaks down, routes can’t develop.
When the quarterback isn’t consistently getting the ball out on time, receivers aren’t being given enough opportunities to turn short completions into explosive plays.
That’s where Arbuckle has to earn his money.
He doesn’t necessarily need to reinvent the offense.
He needs to manufacture easier answers.
Get Sategna moving before the snap.
Use motion to force Texas to declare coverage.
Move Beers around the formation.
Create opportunities for Beers to work against linebackers and safeties rather than asking him to consistently beat defensive backs.
Use quick throws to get Sategna the ball and allow him to create after the catch.
And perhaps most importantly, give Mateer defined reads.
The Oklahoma offense doesn’t need Mateer standing in the pocket waiting for three receivers to uncover against an aggressive Texas defense.
It needs him playing fast.
That could mean more quick-game concepts, RPOs, play-action and designed quarterback runs.
There is historical evidence that this can work against Texas.
In Oklahoma’s 34-30 victory over the Longhorns in 2023, Dillon Gabriel rushed for 113 yards as the Sooners finished with 201 rushing yards. His legs forced Texas to account for another dimension of the offense.
Mateer doesn’t have to duplicate Gabriel’s numbers.
But Texas needs to feel his presence as a runner.
If the Longhorn defense can simply attack the running backs, rush Mateer and bracket Sategna, Oklahoma will have a very difficult time moving the football.
The challenge for Arbuckle is to force Texas to defend more than one thing at a time.
2. Can Oklahoma Protect John Mateer Long Enough to Let the Offense Work?
This is the question underneath every other offensive question.
It doesn’t matter how creative the playbook is if Oklahoma can’t block.
And it doesn’t matter how talented Sategna and Beers are if Mateer doesn’t have enough time to find them.
The Sooners’ offensive line has been wildly inconsistent to begin the season, and the situation has been complicated by injuries and lineup changes. Oklahoma has already been forced to navigate significant disruption along the front, including the absence of Michael Fasusi.
That’s a particularly troubling problem heading into Texas.
The Longhorns know exactly what Oklahoma’s offense is struggling to do.
They know the Sooners have struggled to run the football.
They know Mateer has struggled with turnovers.
They know Oklahoma’s passing game has been inconsistent.
So why wouldn’t Texas attack the offensive line?
The Longhorns’ defensive front doesn’t have to sit back and wait.
It can dictate.
That puts enormous pressure on Oklahoma’s front five to avoid the catastrophic mistakes that have plagued the offense.
And I’m not talking only about sacks.
A false start.
A missed protection.
A tackle losing his leverage.
A running back missing a blitz pickup.
A holding penalty that erases a first down.
Those are the plays that can turn an already difficult offensive situation into an impossible one.
Oklahoma doesn’t need the offensive line to dominate Texas.
It needs the line to give the offense a chance.
That’s an important distinction.
If Mateer has time to make his first read, Oklahoma has enough talent to create problems.
If he is immediately under pressure, the offense becomes predictable.
And predictability is exactly what Texas wants.
3. Can Oklahoma Find a Running Game Before Texas Takes It Away?
This might be the biggest question of all.
Because everything else depends on it.
Oklahoma’s rushing attack ranks 131st nationally in yards per game entering the rivalry.
That’s not sustainable against an elite opponent.
The Sooners don’t need 250 rushing yards Saturday.
They don’t even necessarily need 200.
But they need enough success to make Texas hesitate.
That’s the entire equation.
If Oklahoma runs for two yards on first down, Texas knows exactly what is coming next.
If Oklahoma can’t consistently get positive yardage on early downs, third down becomes a Mateer survival drill.
And if Texas can unleash its pass rush on obvious passing situations, Oklahoma’s offense is going to spend most of the afternoon fighting uphill.
This is why the offensive line and running game are connected.
It’s why Mateer’s legs matter.
It’s why Arbuckle’s formation choices matter.
And it’s why the tight ends could become so important.
Oklahoma has invested heavily in size at the position, adding Beers, Hayden Hansen and Jack Van Dorselaer to the room. Beers and Hansen have already demonstrated their ability to make plays in the passing game.
Now the Sooners need that size to help them establish some physicality.
Bring another blocker into the formation.
Change the point of attack.
Use motion.
Create numbers.
Give the running backs somewhere to go.
And don’t be afraid to use Mateer as part of the equation.
The goal isn’t to turn Oklahoma into a power-running team overnight.
The goal is to prevent Texas from knowing what’s coming.
The Bigger Question: Did the Bye Week Actually Change Anything?
That’s ultimately what Saturday will tell us.
Oklahoma didn’t need the bye week because it was 4-0 and looking for a tune-up.
It needed the bye because something was broken.
The Sooners needed to evaluate their quarterback.
They needed to address their offensive line.
They needed to find answers in the running game.
They needed to figure out how to get their best playmakers more involved.
And they needed to do it before facing the No. 1 team in the country.
Brent Venables has been clear that the bye-week emphasis wasn’t simply about installing a bunch of new plays.
It was about the details—formations, motions, stances and situational football.
That’s important.
Because Oklahoma probably doesn’t need a radically different offense.
It needs a functional one.
The Sooners need John Mateer playing confidently.
They need Sategna and Beers finding space.
They need the offensive line eliminating self-inflicted wounds.
They need the running game to provide enough resistance that Texas can’t devote its entire afternoon to stopping the pass.
And they need to stay out of their own way.
Because Red River Rivalry games have a funny way of making all of the preseason projections irrelevant.
Texas is the No. 1 team in the country.
Oklahoma is 2-2.
The Longhorns are favored.
The Sooners have struggled to score.
None of that will matter once the ball is kicked off.
But one thing will matter.
Whether Oklahoma actually fixed something during the bye week.