Paul Finebaum Names College Football Powerhouse 'Trending Toward a Mess'

Several college football teams have reached the halfway point of their seasons in a new conference. Some, such as the Texas Longhorns, Oregon Ducks, SMU Mustangs and Arizona State Sun Devils, are off to strong starts.

However, the UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, California Golden Bears, Utah Utes and Oklahoma Sooners are among those experiencing some tough times in 2024.

Oklahoma fans might find it particularly tough to accept their team's performance considering the success of rival Texas. The Sooners have a 4-2 record after suffering a 34-3 loss to the Longhorns last weekend.

Although the Sooners have made significant improvements defensively, their offense has been struggling. They currently rank outside the top 100 in several offensive categories.

During the "Paul Finebaum Show," the SEC Network analyst discussed Oklahoma's issues. He believes that the team's decision to hire Brent Venables as the head coach was an unusual choice and may be the cause of their problems. Finebaum expressed concern that this season is heading toward disaster.

"Here's the problem with Oklahoma: they chose an unusual route when they hired Brent Venables," Finebaum said. "Some of it had to do with him being a beloved figure out there for having coached under Bob Stoops. So, he came in terrible first year, he bounced back, and this year is trending toward a mess."

Venables had a 6-7 record in his first season, marking Oklahoma's first losing season since 1998. However, he bounced back with an impressive 10-3 campaign in 2023.

Both of Oklahoma's losses this season are against ranked teams, and there are four more ranked teams remaining on the schedule -- No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 19 Missouri, No. 7 Alabama and No. 8 LSU. Venables has a 3-4 record against ranked opponents in two-plus seasons at Oklahoma.

Finebaum concluded that if Venables isn't careful and Oklahoma suffers a few more losses, fans will start "chirping again." He said that's just the nature of coaching at a school like Oklahoma. So, if he's not able to turn it around, the questions about whether he's the right person to lead the program into the future will only grow louder. This is something he'll need to address quickly.

The Sooners hope to rebound this Saturday against the South Carolina Gamecocks at 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

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