Brent Venables fired his offensive coordinator on Sunday, and when he spoke with local reporters on Tuesday, he said there is not a single unit on the offensive side of the football that is immune from criticism.

“We’ve been an abomination on offense this year,” Venables said.

Oklahoma is averaging just 22.1 points per game, a clip that sits well outside the top 100. The Sooners haven’t averaged fewer than 30 points per game in a single season since 2005. They’re on pace for the worst scoring output in a season since 1998 — the last year of the John Blake era.

Only 2 FBS teams are averaging fewer yards per play than the Sooners (4.3). Only 6 FBS teams are averaging fewer yards per pass play (5.8). Jackson Arnold’s touchdown pass against South Carolina last Saturday was the first touchdown Oklahoma had thrown since midway through the fourth quarter of the Tennessee game.

Injuries haven’t helped. The receiver room has been decimated. Turnovers have played a role. But OU’s inability to get started offensively begins with the offensive line.

“That’s been a group that we’ve fallen short,” Venables said.

Against the Gamecocks, Oklahoma allowed a school-record 9 sacks. All 9 were recorded by different South Carolina defenders.

The Sooners have seen 9 different linemen play at least 100 snaps this season. Logan Howland is just a handful of snaps away from making it 10. Geirean Hatchett played 51 in the opener and hasn’t played since.

Michael Tarquin, Troy Everett, and Howland are the only linemen with an offensive grade above 60 from Pro Football Focus.

That unit has been called for 14 penalties this season. They’ve been charged with allowing 73 quarterback pressures.

There’s been no consistency. Tarquin has played both tackle spots. Jacob Sexton has played tackle and guard. Four different players have manned the center spot. Injuries and ineffectiveness have led to a rotating cast of characters up front.

Hatchett, Tarquin, Febechi Nwaiwu, Branson Hickman, and Spencer Brown were all brought in from the transfer portal this offseason to rebuild a unit that lost all 5 starters from a season ago.

“In a perfect world, you have high school guys that you’ve developed. That group, the best-performing groups typically are ones that have spent a lot of time together,” Venables said. “We’ve had a lot of turnover. … Every year I think we’ve lost both starting tackles. We haven’t had a lot of guys who have been here for 3, 4, 5, 6 years.

“It’s hard for a high school kid to come in and be an impact guy at that position at any school. … I guess we’ve missed on some guys.”

Oklahoma signed a pair of 4-star interior linemen in the 2024 class, as well as a pair of 3-star tackles. The 2025 class has seen a heavy emphasis placed on linemen, with a commitment from a 5-star tackle out of Texas and another 4-star, top-150 tackle.

But those young players don’t immediately solve the issue. Reliance on the transfer portal can be fickle. For Oklahoma, it has been a negative. Line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has his work cut out for him.