The biggest win of Brent Venables young tenure at Oklahoma came on Saturday in a classic Red River Shootout where the Sooners executed brilliantly down the stretch to remain undefeated with a 34-30 win over the Longhorns.
With 1:17 left, the Sooners drove the ball 75 yards in five plays as quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the offense operated impressively to score the go-ahead touchdown with ice in their veins in a pressure packed group of moments that will have the fan base talking for decades to come.
Heading into the highly anticipated matchup where both teams entered undefeated and Texas had been getting talked about as a national title contender after their win over Alabama earlier in the year, one had to wonder what practices at both places were like with the stakes so high.
A reporter opened up a question to Venables recently with "You can't practice the pressure and the tension..." to which Venables quickly snapped back with a grin, "You can't? Yeah you can."
Then he went into a short explanation of what practices must have looked in Norman like heading into Saturday's game, and it's all about chasing excellence.
"I believe it starts with the coaches. If it ain't Game 7 mentality from the coaches, then it ain't going to be for the players. If it ain't the biggest third and fourth down period that you've ever had in your entire life as a coach, in that moment, then it's not going to be for the players."
"And I believe in living and dying in that moment. I believe in that, and I believe in that atmosphere, and it's our job to create that environment, to create that buy-in, to create that response, to create that sense of urgency and that sense of desperation, that's how you chase excellence."
Hear his full thoughts in the clip.
1. With the game on the line in OU-Texas: "You can't practice the intensity and the pressure—"
— RJ Young (@RJ_Young) October 8, 2023
2. Brent Venables: "Yes, you can."
3. Don't mind Oklahoma.pic.twitter.com/cJa7t1L7uy