🏈 Gut Punch: Podcast Summary + Film

Charlie Joins the Pod and Film Study!

Oct 13, 2025

Champion Standard Podcast | Featuring Charlie from The Football Brainiacs

Episode Summary

The Reaction – Charlie Joins Champion Standard

The Cotton Bowl wasn’t a loss — it was an unraveling.
On Champion Standard, Rob, Brad, and guest analyst Charlie from The Football Brainiacs spent the opening half-hour dissecting a 23–6 defeat that left Oklahoma’s offense looking lifeless, predictable, and — in Charlie’s words — “collectively broken.”

“We don’t have a run game,” Rob opened. “It doesn’t exist. You’re just looking for four or five confident yards — bread and butter. And right now, there’s none.”

The group’s frustration poured out early. Oklahoma had 60 hours of practice over three weeks before Texas — and yet the same offensive flaws reappeared. Mateer, the offensive line, and coordinator Ben Arbuckle all came under the microscope.

Brad didn’t mince words:

“You had three weeks to fix this and it somehow got worse. That’s what drives me crazy.”

Mateer’s rust was clear — three weeks without live reps, no full-speed practice, cleared only on Thursday before facing one of the SEC’s best defenses.

“He was playing hurt,” Rob added. “You could see it — he couldn’t grip the ball. He’s hit that seam route 15 times this year, and Saturday he missed it by 10 yards. His hand was toast.”

Charlie pushed the conversation toward preparation and coaching philosophy:

““Mateer hadn’t practiced — no good-on-good, no full-speed reps. He’d just been throwing on air and doing 7-on-7s for three weeks. He was finally cleared on Thursday, then thrown straight into one of the top defenses in the country.”

Time Mismanagement & Missed Momentum

The group revisited the end-of-half meltdown — OU in scoring position, opting for a risky throw instead of a safe field goal.

Brad was blunt:

“That was such a letdown. It changed the mental tone of the game. Take the three points — always take points in a defensive fight.”

Brad quipped, half-serious, half-furious:

“We have a kicker! That decision made me get my fourth drink of the day.”

The mismanaged series before halftime led to what Charlie called “one of the worst quarters in the Venables era.”
Texas dominated the third quarter, holding the ball for nearly 14 minutes, while OU’s offense possessed it for 88 seconds.

Defense Loses Its Edge

The trio turned to defense — a unit that started strong (eight tackles for loss in the first half) before collapsing after halftime.

“At the half, it was eight TFLs for OU, two for Texas,” Charlie recalled. “But then… nothing. They went rush-three, drop-eight, and just let Arch get comfortable. You can’t do that.”

Charlie echoed the sentiment:

“Texas is 117th nationally on third downs, and you couldn’t get them off the field. That’s the most disturbing quarter of football I’ve seen in the Venables era.”

Brad summed it up like a coach in postgame shock:

“Whatever the opposite of complementary football is — that’s what we played.”

The Run Game Crisis

When the focus shifted back to offense, all three voices converged: OU’s run game has no identity, no tone-setter, and no physicality.

“Our tight ends can’t block,” Rob said flatly. “Helms got one-armed into the ground. Kent can’t stay in front. You don’t need pancakes — just stay in the way.”

Rob added the cultural critique:

“We don’t have an H-back, a fullback — a Ripkowski or Trey Millard type who hits somebody in the mouth. Those guys set the tone. That’s Oklahoma football.”

The hosts agreed that identity starts with personnel. Without a fullback or a physical tight end presence, OU’s offense is soft where it must be violent.

“We’re a finesse team trying to fake physicality,” Brad said. “That doesn’t fly in the SEC.”

Thanks for reading Champion Standard! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Brent Venables’ Accountability

Brad posed the question that hung over the entire episode:

“Do we turn the seat warmer on Brent after this game?”

Rob replied:

“Not yet — but the clock starts now. You’re 1–3 against Texas. You’ve got light boxes, and still can’t run. If the head coach doesn’t demand identity, more losses are coming.”

Charlie agreed but stressed structure over panic:

“This is fixable. But it has to start with leadership. You have to self-scout, adapt, and make the scheme fit the roster.”

Rob reminded fans of Arbuckle’s track record:

“Last year at Washington State, Arbuckle’s backs averaged 5.1 yards per carry through six games. At OU? 3.7. It’s not the concept — it’s the fit. You can’t force a system on mismatched personnel.”

Charlie’s Final Thoughts Before Signing Off

Before exiting, Charlie urged perspective:

“Fans are pissed, and rightfully so. But OU is still 5–1. You had a QB playing hurt, a defense that lost its edge for one quarter, and no rhythm. It sucks — but it’s fixable.”

He added a challenge for next week:

“Against South Carolina, show life. Run the ball. Get back to aggression. And don’t play the third quarter from Texas ever again.”

The Film Room – Rob & Brad Dive In

After Charlie signed off, Rob and Brad flipped to tape mode.

Mateer’s Missed Reads

Rob froze the film: a seam route against Cover 3, the same play Mateer had hit all season.

“It’s the right call, right coverage — and he just throws a terrible ball,” Rob said. “That’s when I knew his hand was toast. He’s made that throw 15 times this year.”

Brad agreed:

“Even if you take the thumb out of it — the eyes weren’t right. He missed reads, stared down routes, and didn’t come off progressions. That’s mental rust.”

On a key third down, OU ran Mesh with an opportunity to adjust for an open rail route wide open — the kind of Air Raid concept Arbuckle built his name on. Mateer never checked the blitz.

“The rail route would have been open.” Rob said, pausing the film. “That’s what kills you. These are the type of adjustments you would expect from an year two Quarterback in this system, but you didn’t execute.”

Counter Collapse – Again

Then came the infamous GY Counter clip.

“Just watch,” Rob said. “We had a fantastic opportunity for an explosive run play if blocked perfectly — until Ozaeta commits to the the wrong defender. One mistake and boom — the whole play collapses.”

“We’ve seen it all year. Counter’s a chain reaction of reads — one guy misses, and it dies.”

The counter has become OU’s boom-or-bust identity, and lately, it’s all bust.

This looks like to be a communication issue on handling the ETX stunt on counter.

(End over Tackle) Simmons blocks this properly by sealing the inside threat. But with the exchange of responsibilities between the 3tech and wide 9.

The End becomes the new B gap.

Here’s the thing, The play would have worked regardless if we either decided to Run or Wrap. But EVERYONE has to be on the same page. It just depends on how you coach it. Stunts and twist games takes a lot of practice.

Ozeata attacks the outside shoulder of the tackle.

Technically, Kanak should follow his block to the outside.

This is counter sweep mentality. It would have still worked for yardage.

Kanak wraps inside. Now, we’re wrong as a team.

I drew up the counter-trap mentality — get downhill fast. Let Simmons seal his man to the outside and hammer this straight up the gut. Ozeata kicks out the exchange end, Kanak folds up to the scraping linebacker, and Deion cracks down on the safety.

We’re off to the races.

Tight End Disaster

“Watch 19 here,” Rob said. “Helms gets blown up — runs into his own lineman. You can’t even call this blocking.”

Brad summed it up:

“It’s not one guy. It’s everyone. That’s the problem.”

This is damn tough block for Kaden Helms. He’s at the y-off position. He loses his momentum and force making that extra step to close space. Defender gets underneath him.

I love the double yo-yo formation but lets make these blocks on wide 9’s easier on our already struggling auxiliary blockers!

Disappointing because this the movement created by Fasusi and Ozeata is exactly what you want in wide zone!

Missed Explosives, Missed Momentum

Rob rolled through a string of missed opportunities — from a wheel route in Cover 3 to a blown double-post read in the red zone.

“You’ve got JerMichael Carter wide open for six — he never sees him,” Rob said. “Then he takes a sack the next play. That was the ballgame right there.”

Mateer’s final stat line: 20 completions, 3 interceptions, 0 touchdowns — and multiple misreads that could’ve changed the game.

“He admitted his eyes were bad,” Brad said. “He didn’t blame the thumb — that’s leadership. But man, it was rough.”

Texas 20 - OU 6 4th Quarter- 7mins - 1st 10 - Last Scoring Opportunity

Plenty of time to get back into this game.

Play Call - DBL Posts/Field, Peel/Boundary.

Texas shows spilt safeties. Mateer obviously believes Cover 2 or Cover 4.

He stares down his Split Safety route- Post. Delivers the ball. Incomplete.

Why?

Texas rotates safeties into Cover 3.

You got the right call for the perfect defense.

Skinny Post to the Boundary wide open for the score.

Now, Mateer has lived off the seams in Cover 3 and this one got away.

Bad Read.

The Next Play:

Texas 20 - OU 6 4th Quarter- 7mins - 2nd down 10

Ben makes another great call. Texas goes Quarters.

Play Call - 6 Shallow Fly

Texas backers vacate and turn their backs… This should be automatic throw to your shallow cross.

Kanak is wide open.

This may be subjective if Mateer has enough time to deliver this ball.

Air Raid Mentality.. THROW SHORT TO YOUR PLAYMAKERS!

Sack pushes us to 3rd and 20.

Drive is dead.

Run Game by the Numbers

Brad highlighted another stat:

“In the first 20 scripted plays of each game, 58% have been passes. You’re opening searching for the chunk throws instead of setting tone with the run game. That’s impatience — that’s a young OC chasing fireworks instead of foundation.”

A screenshot of a graph

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

That is not Oklahoma football.

It’s one thing to struggle for a game or two — but as an OC, you script those first 20 plays for a reason. You’re setting the tone. You can adjust as the game unfolds, sure, but this feels like a complete abandonment of the run mentality. Defenses are gifting you light boxes, daring you to run, and we’re just ignoring it.

Lean on the offensive line.

They have no choice now. Every defense we face will copy exactly what Texas did. So crank the mentality, the attitude, and the effort through the roof. Demand excellence.

Ben, commit to it — put the identity of this offense squarely on the shoulders of those young men up front. Trust that you recruited the right ones — the guys who are ready to puke before kickoff and still work their asses off for sixty minutes.

They’ll rise to the standard.

Run the damn ball.

Looking Ahead: South Carolina and Beyond

As the episode wound down, the tone shifted from frustration to focus.

“I don’t care how ugly it is next week,” Brad said. “Just win. Show grit. Show identity.”

Rob closed with a stat-driven mandate:

“We averaged third-and-nine against Texas. You can’t win like that. Get it to third-and manageable with a solid run game and everything changes.”

Thank you for reading!

Boomer!

Rob

Throughout the week, all eyes are on the defense — and the burning question remains: what exactly went wrong in that third quarter?